The Mycenaean acropolis of Ephyra remained inhabited for many centuries. And then Aemilius Paulus decided to pay a visit. He was a Roman general and consul who defeated, in 168 BCE, the king of Macedonia, Perseus. He was ready to return to Rome when he received an order to punish the cities of Epirus for their friendly attitude towards the Macedonian king. Aemilius Paulus destroyed seventy cities, including Ephyra. He took with him considerable loot and thousands of prisoners who were transported to Rome and sold as slaves. Ephyra is abandoned for a century and a half. Then, during the Roman period, it springs back to life.