the Achaean League's independence through a formal treaty. This aggressive attitude towards Sparta and towards Rome split Achaean politics. However, Philopoemen died before these matters were resolved. In 183 BC, Dinocrates, who strongly opposed Philopoemen, encouraged Messene to revolt against the League. After Dinocrates announced that he would capture Colonis, Philopoemen decided that he needed to subdue the rebellion. In the ensuing battle, Philopoemen found himself behind the enemy's lines and was captured by the Messeneans after his horse threw him. He was then invited to drink poison to allow him to have what was then regarded as an honourable death. On hearing of his death, the members of the Achaean League joined forces to capture Messene. With his death, Philopoemen's body was cremated. At his public funeral, the historian Polybius carried the urn with Philopoemen's ashes and later wrote a biography and defended his memory in his Histories. Pausanias wrote that after Philopoemen's death, 'Greece ceased to bear good men'. References Attribution Sources Polybius' Histories (x–xxiii) is the chief authority on the life of Philopoemen. These and a special treatise on Philopoemen (now lost) were used by Plutarch "Philopoemen", Pausanias (viii. 49SI), Livy (xxxi–xxxviii), and indirectly by Justin (xxx–xxxiv). Plutarch, The Lives, "Philopoemen" Polybius, The Histories of Polybius, Books X–XXXIII Junianus Justinus, Marcus Junianus Justinus, Epitome of the Philippic History of Pompeius Trogus, Books XXX–XXXIV The Oxford Classical Dictionary (1964) The Oxford History of the Classical World (1995) The Oxford Who's Who in the Classical World (2000) External links ancienthistory.about.com Tarantine Cavalry Plutarch's Lives Ancient Greek generals Ancient Arcadians Ancient Megalopolitans 3rd-century BC Greek people 2nd-century BC Greek people 253 BC births 183 BC deaths Achaean League