The Monument of Aemilius Paullus was erected in the Sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi shortly after 167 BCE in order to commemorate the Roman victory over King Perseus of Macedon at the Battle of Pydna. The incomplete pillar was intended as a base for a portrait of King Perseus. It was originally created to establish the Macedonian presence in Delphi, and to remind the Delphians of the tradition of friendship existing between them and the royal family. However, the monument was taken over by Aemilius Paullus to celebrate himself and Rome's victory noting that, "it was only proper that the conquered should give way to the victors." The Monument of Aemilius Paullus stood in front of the Temple of Apollo along with two other commemorative pillars to Eumenes II of Pergamon and Prusias II of Bithynia. However, this pillar dominates over the other two. The completed monument had a bronze equestrian statue that sat on top of a rectangular pillar over 9 meters high. Although the bronze statue that originally sat atop the pillar no longer remains, the cuttings in the plinth show that the horse would have been in a rearing position. An inscription at the base of the pillar survived, L(ucius) Aimilius L(uci) f(ilius) inperator de rege Perse / Macedonibusque cepet, which translated, reads, "Lucius Aemelius, son of Lucius, Imperator, took it from King Perseus and the Macedonians."