The history of Rome from its founding to 9 BC, originally 142 books. Only 35 survive — covering the kings, the early Republic, and the Punic Wars. Livy writes history as moral drama: Rome rises through virtue and falls through corruption.
Start ReadingThe founding of Rome. From Aeneas through Romulus and Remus to the seven kings. Ends with the expulsion of the Tarquins.
[A.] Adventus Aeneae in Italiam et res gestae. Ascani regnum Albae et deinceps Silviorum. Numitoris filia a Marte compressa nati Romulus et Remus. Amulius obtruncatus. Urbs a Romulo condita. Senatus lectus. Cum Sabinis bellatum. Spolia opima Feretrio Iovi lata. In curias populus divisus. Fidenates, Veientes victi. Romulus consecratus. Numa Pompilius ritus sacrorum tradidit. Porta Iani clausa. Tullus Hostilius Albanos diripuit. Trigeminorum pugna. Metti Fufeti supplicium. Tullus fulmine consumptus. Ancus Marcius Latinos devicit, Ostiam condidit. Tarquinius Priscus Latinos superavit, circum fecit, finitimos devicit, muros et cloacas fecit. Servio Tullio caput arsit. Servius Tullius Veientes devicit et populum in classes divisit, aedem Dianae dedicavit. Tarquinius Superbus occiso Tullio regnum invasit. Tulliae scelus in patrem. Turnus Herdonius per Tarquinium occisus. Bellum cum Vulscis. Fraude Sex. Tarquini Gabi direpti. Capitolium inchoatum. Termonis et Iuventae arae moveri non potuerunt. Lucretia se occidit. Superbi expulsio. Regnatum est annis CCLV. [B.] Latinis victis montem Aventinum adsignavit, fines protulit, Hostiam coloniam deduxit, caerimonias a Numa institutas renovavit. Hic temptandae scientiae Atti Navi auguris causa fertur consuluisse eum, an id de quo cogitaret effici posset; quod cum ille fieri posse dixisset, iussisse eum novacula cotem praecidere, idque ab Atto protinus factum. [Regnavit annis XXIIII. Eo regnante Lucumo, Demarati Corinthi filius, a Tarquinis, Etrusca civitate, Romam venit et in amicitiam Anci receptus Tarquini Prisci nomen ferre coepit et post mortem Anci regnum excepit. Centum in patres allegit, Latinos subegit, ludos in circo edidit, equitum centurias ampliavit, urbem muro circumdedit, cloacas fecit.] Occisus est ab Anci filiis, cum regnasset annis XXXVIII. Successit ei Servius Tullius, natus ex captiva nobili Corniculana, cui puero athuc in cunis posito caput arsisse traditum erat. Is censum primum egit, lustrum condidit, quo censa LXXX milia esse dicuntur, pomerium protulit, colles urbi adiecit Quirinalem, Viminalem, Aesquilinum, templum Dianae cum Latinis in Aventino fecit. Interfectus est a Lucio Tarquinio, Prisci filio, consilio filiae suae Tulliae, cum regnasset annis XLIIII. Post hunc L. Tarquinius Superbus neque patrum neque populi iussu regnum invasit. Is armatos circa se in custodiam sui habuit. Bellum cum Vulscis gessit et ex spoliis eorum templum in Capitolio Iovi fecit. Gabios dolo in potestatem suam redegit. Huius filiis Delphos profectis et consulentibus quis eorum Romae regnaturus esset, dictum est eum regnaturum qui primum matrem osculatus esset. Quod responsum cum ipsi aliter interpretarentur, Iunius Brutus, qui cum his profectus erat, prolapsum se simulavit et terram osculatus est; idque factum eius eventus conprobavit. Nam cum inpotenter se gerendo Tarquinius Superbus omnes in odium sui adduxisset, ad ultimum propter expugnatam nocturna vi a Sexto filio eius Lucretiae pudicitiam, quae ad se vocato patre Tricipitino et viro Collatino obtestata ne inulta mora eius esset cultro se interfecit, Bruti opera maxime expulsus est, cum regnasset annos XXV. Tum consules primi creati sunt L. Iunius Brutus L. Tarquinius Collatinus.
Aeneas, after coming from Troy to Italy, waged war against Turnus and founded Lavinium. After his death Ascanius founded Alba Longa and reigned there. After him the Alban kings ruled down to Amulius and Numitor. Romulus and Remus were born, exposed, and reared. Romulus founded the city, chose the senate, and made peace with the Sabines. He established temples and waged wars. After Romulus, Numa Pompilius established religious rites and laws. Tullus Hostilius waged war against the Albans; the Horatii and Curiatii fought. Alba was destroyed. Ancus Marcius founded Ostia. Tarquinius Priscus defeated the Latins, built the Circus, and constructed the sewers. Servius Tullius instituted the census, extended the pomerium, and built temples. Tarquinius Superbus seized the throne; Lucretia killed herself; the Tarquins were expelled; consuls were created.
The first years of the Republic. Horatius at the bridge, Mucius Scaevola, the secession of the plebeians.
Brutus iureiurando populum adstrinxit neminem Romae regnare passuros. Tarquinium Collatinum collegam suum propter adfinitatem Tarquiniorum suspectum coegit consulatu se abdicare et civitate cedere. Bona regum diripi iussit, agrum Marti consecravit, qui campus Martius nominatus est. Adulescentes nobiles, in quibus suos quoque et fratris filios, quia coniuraverant de recipiendis regibus, securi percussit. Servo indici, cui Vindicio nomen fuit, libertatem dedit; ei cuius nomine vindicta appellata. Cum adversus reges, qui contractis Veientum et Tarquiniensium copiis bellum intulerant, exercitum duxisset, in acie cum Arrunte filio Superbi commortuus est; eumque matronae anno luxerunt. P. Valerius consul legem de provocatione ad populum tulit. Capitolium dedicatum est. Porsenna, Clusinorum rex, bello pro Tarquinis suscepto cum ad Ianiculum venisset, ne Tiberim transiret virtute Coclitis Horati prohibitus est, qui, dum alii pontem Sublicium rescindunt, solus Etruscos sustinuit et ponte rupto armatus in flumen se misit et ad suos transnavit. Accessit alterum virtutis exemplum in Mucio. Qui cum ad feriendum Porsennam castra hostium intrasset, occiso scriba, quem regem esse existimaverat, conprehensus inpositam manum altaribus, in quibus sacrificatum erat, exuri passus est dixitque tales CCC esse. Quorum admiratione coactus Porsenna pacis condiciones ferre bellum omisit acceptis obsidibus. Ex quibus virgo una Cloelia deceptis custodibus per Tiberim ad suos transnavit et cum reddita esset, a Porsenna honorifice remissa equestri statua donata est. Adversus Tarquinium Superbum cum Latinorum exercitu bellum inferentem Aulus Postumius dictator prospere pugnavit. Appius Claudius ex Sabinis Romam transfugit. Ob hoc Claudia tribus adiecta est numerusque tribuum ampliatus est, ut essent XXI. Plebs cum propter nexos ob aes alienum in Sacrum montem secessisset, consilio Meneni Agrippae a seditione revocata est. Idem Agrippa cum decessisset, propter paupertatem publico inpendio elatus est. Tribuni plebis quinque creati sunt. Oppidum Vulscorum Corioli captum est virtute et opera Cn. Marci, qui ob hoc Coriolanus vocatus est. T. Latinius, vir de plebe, cum in visu admonitus ut de quibusdam religionibus ad senatum perferret id neglexisset, amisso filio pedibus debilis factus, postquam delatus ad senatum lectica eadem illa indicaverat, usu pedum recepto domum reversus est. Cum Cn. Marcius Coriolanus, qui in exilium erat pulsus, dux Vulacorum factus exercitum hostium urbi admovisset, et missi ad eum primum legati, postea sacerdotes frustra deprecati essent ne bellum patriae inferret, Veturia mater et Volumnia uxor impetraverunt ab eo, ut recederet. Lex agraria primum lata est. Spurius Cassius consularis regni crimine damnatus est necatusque. Opillia virgo Vestalis ob incestum viva defossa est. Cum vicini Veientes incommodi magis quam graves essent, familia Fabiorum id bellum gerendum depoposcit misitque in id trecentos et sex armatos, qui ad Cremeram praeter unum ab hostibus caesi sunt. Appius Claudius cos. cum adversus Vulscos contumacia exercitus male pugnatum esset, decimum quemque militum fuste percussit. Res praeterea adversus Vulscos et Hernicos et Veientes et seditiones inter patres plebemque continet.
Brutus bound the people by oath to suffer no one to reign at Rome. Tarquinius Superbus waged war through the Etruscans. Horatius Cocles defended the bridge. Mucius Scaevola entered the camp of Porsenna. The Cluilian trench was dug. The Latin Festival was instituted. Tribunes of the plebs were created. Coriolanus, driven into exile, went to the Volscians and made war upon his country. His mother Veturia and wife Volumnia turned him from the siege of the city. An agrarian law was first proposed. Spurius Cassius, suspected of aiming at kingship, was killed. The Fabii with their clan undertook war against the Veientes; all were slain at the Cremera except one.
The struggle of the orders. The Decemvirs codify the Twelve Tables but become tyrants. Virginia's death sparks their overthrow.
Seditiones de agrariis legibus fuere. Capitolium ab exulibus et servis occupatum caesis his receptum est. Census bis actus est. Priore lustro censa sunt civium capita +VIII milia DCCXIIII+ praeter orbos orbasque, sequenti CXVII milia CCXVIIII. Cum adversus Aequos male gesta res esset, L. Quintius Cincinnatus dictator factus, cum rure intentus operi rustico esset, ad id bellum gerendum arcessitus est. Is victos hostes sub iugum misit. Tribunorum plebis numerus ampliatus est, ut essent X, tricesimo sexto anno [a] primis tribunis plebis. Petitis per legatos et adlatis Atticis legibus ad constituendas eas proponendasque X viri pro consulibus sine ullis aliis magistratibus creati altero et trecentesimo anno quam Roma condita erat, et ut a regibus ad consules, ita a consulibus ad X viros imperium translatum. Hi X tabulis legum positis cum modeste se in eo honore gessissent et ob id in alterum quoque annum eundem esse magistratum placuisset, duabus tabulis ad X adiectis cum complura inpotenter fecissent, magistratum noluerunt deponere et in tertium annum retinuerunt, donec inviso eorum imperio finem adtulit libido Appi Claudi. Qui cum in amorem Virginiae virginis incidisset, summisso, qui eam in servitutem peteret, necessitatem patri eius Virginio inposuit. Rapto ex taberna proxima cultro filiam occidit, cum aliter effici non posset ne in potestatem stuprum inlaturi veniret. Hoc tam magnae iniuriae exemplo pleps concitata montem Aventinum occupavit coegitque X viros abdicare se magistratu. Ex quibus Appius, qui praecipuam poenam meruerat, in carcerem coniectus est; ceteri in exilium acti. Res praeterea contra Sabinos et Vulscos prospere gestas continet et parum honestum populi Romani indicium, qui iudex inter Ardeates et Aricinos sumptus agrum de quo ambigebatur sibi adiudicavit.
The lust of the decemvir Appius Claudius for the maiden Virginia drove the plebs to arms; Virginia was slain by her father. The decemvirs were deposed and driven into exile. Spurius Postumius Albus and his two daughters perished in a plague. Canuleius proposed that intermarriage between patricians and plebeians should be allowed. Military tribunes with consular power were created for the first time. Censors were first created. There was a famine at Rome. Spurius Maelius, suspected of aiming at kingship by distributing grain to the people, was killed by Gaius Servilius Ahala, master of horse, by order of the dictator Quinctius Cincinnatus.
Continued patrician-plebeian conflict. The siege of Veii begins. Military tribunes replace consuls.
Lex de conubio patrum et plebis a tribunis contentione magna patribus repugnantibus perlata est. Tribuni * * * plebis. Aliquot annos res populi R. domi militiaeque per hoc genus magistratus administratae sunt. Item censores tunc primum creati sunt. Ager Ardeatibus populi iudicio ablatus missis in eum colonis restitutus est. Cum fame populus R. laboraret, Sp. Maelius eques R. frumentum populo sua inpensa largitus est et ob hoc factum conciliata sibi plebe regnum adfectans a C. Servilio Ahala magistro equitum iussu Quinti Cincinnati dictatoris occisus est; L. Minucius index bove aurata donatus est. Legatis Romanorum a Fidenatibus occisis, quoniam ob rem p. morte occubuerant, statuae in rostris positae sunt. Cossus Cornelius tribunus militum occiso Tolumnio, Veientum rege, opima spolia secunda rettulit. Mam. Aemilius dictator censurae honorem qui antea per quinquennium gerebatur, anni et sex mensum spatio finit; ob eam rem a censoribus notatus est. Fidenae in potestatem redactae eoque coloni missi sunt; quibus occisis Fidenates cum defecissent, ab Mam. Aemilio dictatore victi sunt et Fidenae captae. Coniuratio servorum oppressa est. Postumius tribunus militum propter crudelitatem ab exercitu occisus est. Stipendium ex aerario tum primum militibus datum est. Res praeterea gestas adversus Vulscos at Fidenates et Faliscos continet.
The Veientes were captured by the Romans. Fidenae was destroyed. Cossus won the spolia opima by slaying Tolumnius, king of Veii. More military tribunes with consular power. The Sempronian law on the right of appeal was passed. The summer and winter solstices began to be observed. The dictator Furius Camillus captured Veii. He sent a tenth of the spoils to Apollo at Delphi. Camillus returned the schoolmaster of Falerii. He transferred Juno Regina from Veii to Rome. Camillus was condemned and went into exile. The Senonian Gauls besieged Clusium; Roman envoys fought contrary to the law of nations; the Gauls marched on the city; the Romans were defeated at the Allia. The city was captured except for the Capitol. The Gauls attempting to scale the Capitol by night were detected by the cackling of geese. Camillus as dictator routed the Gauls.
The capture of Veii and the Gallic sack of Rome in 390 BC. Camillus saves the city.
In obsidione Veiorum tabernacula militibus facta sunt. Ea res cum esset noua, indignationem tribunorum plebis mouit querentium non dari plebi, nec per hiemem, militiae requiem. Equites tum primum equis suis mereri coeperunt. Cum inundatio ex lacu Albano facta esset, uates qui eam rem interpretaretur ex hostibus captus est. Furius Camillus dictator X annis obsessos Veios cepit, simulacrum Iunonis Romam transtulit, decimam praedae Delphos Apollini misit. Idem tribunus militum cum Faliscos obsideret, proditos hostium filios parentibus remisit statimque deditione facta Faliscorum uictoriam iustitia consecutus est. Cum alter ex censoribus C. Iulius decessisset, in locum eius M. Cornelius suffectus est. Nec id postea factum est, quoniam eo lustro a Gallis Roma capta est. Furius Camillus, cum dies ei ab L. Apuleio tribuno pl. dicta esset, in exilium abiit. Cum Galli Senones Clusium obsiderent et legati a senatu missi ad componendam inter eos et Clusinos pacem pugnantes contra Gallos starent in acie Clusinorum, hoc facto eorum concitati Senones urbem infesto exercitu petierunt fusisque ad Aliam Romanis cepere urbem praeter Capitolium, quo se iuuentus contulerat ; maiores natu cum insignibus honorum, quos quisque gesserat, in uestibulis aedium sedentes occiderunt. Et cum per auersam partem Capitoli iam in summum euasissent, proditi clangore anserum M. Manli praecipue opera deiecti sunt. Coactis deinde propter famem Romanis descendere, ut M pondo auri darent et hoc pretio finem obsidionis emerent, Furius Camillus, dictator absens creatus, inter ipsum conloquium, quo de pacis condicionibus agebatur, cum exercitu uenit et Gallos post sextum mensem urbe expulit ceciditque. Dictum est ad Veios migrandum esse propter incensam et dirutam urbem, quod consilium Camillo auctore discussum est. Mouit populum uocis quoque omen ex centurione auditae, qui cum in forum uenisset, manipularibus suis dixerat : "Sta, miles, hic optime manebimus !". Aedis Ioui Capitolino facta est, quod ante urbem captam uox audita erat aduentare Gallos.
Marcus Manlius, who had defended the Capitol from the Gauls, was condemned for aspiring to kingship while freeing debtors and paying their debts, and was thrown from the Tarpeian Rock. Three new tribes were added. Several plebeians were made military tribunes with consular power. The Licinian laws provided that no one should possess more than five hundred iugera of land, and that one consul should be elected from the plebs. The first plebeian consul, Lucius Sextius, was elected. Praetors and curule aediles were then created for the first time. Peace was made with the Latins and Hernici. The Gallic war. The achievements of Camillus.
Rome rebuilds after the Gallic disaster. The Licinian-Sextian laws open the consulship to plebeians.
Res aduersus Vulscos et Aequos et Praenestinos prospere gestas continet. Quattuor tribus adiectae sunt, Stellatina, Tromentina, Sabatina, Arniensis. M. Manlius, qui Capitolium a Gallis defenderat, cum obstrictos aere alieno liberaret, nexos exsolueret, crimine adfectati regni damnatus de Saxo deiectus est. In cuius notam S. C. factum est, ne cui de Manlia gente Marco nomen esset. C. Licinius et L. Sextius tribuni pl. legem promulgauerunt, ut consules ex plebe fierent, qui ex patribus creabantur, eamque cum magna contentione repugnantibus patribus, cum idem tribuni pl. per quinquennium soli magistratus fuissent, pertulerunt ; et primus ex plebe consul L. Sextius creatus est. Lata est et altera lex, ne cui plus quingentis iugeribus agri liceret possidere.
Gaius Licinius Stolo was condemned under his own law for possessing more than five hundred iugera of land. War against the Gauls. Titus Manlius Torquatus slew a Gaul who had challenged him and took his torque. Marcus Valerius Corvus, as military tribune, killed a Gaul in single combat, with a crow perching on his helmet. The Campanians founded Capua after taking it from the Volscians. The Latin War was settled. A treaty was struck with the Latins. Decius devoted himself for the army. The Latins and Campanians came under the dominion of the Roman people.
Wars in central Italy. The first Samnite war. The self-sacrifice of Decius Mus at the Veseris.
Duo noui magistratus adiecti sunt, praetura et curulis aedilitas. Pestilentia ciuitas laborauit eamque insignem fecit mors Furi Camilli. Cuius remedium et finis cum per nouas religiones quaereretur, ludi scaenici tunc primum facti sunt. Cum dies L. Manlio dicta esset a M. Pomponio tribuno pl. propter dilectum acerbe actum et T. Manlium filium rus relegatum sine ullo crimine, adulescens ipse, cuius relegatio patri obiciebatur, uenit in cubiculum tribuni strictoque gladio coegit eum in uerba sua iurare se non perseueraturum in accusatione. Tunc omnia pretiosa missa sunt in praealtam uoraginem urbis Romanae. In eam Curtius armatus sedens equo praecipitauit ; et expleta est. T. Manlius adulescens, qui patrem a tribunicia uexatione uindicauerat, contra Gallum prouocantem aliquem ex militibus Romanis in singulare certamen descendit eique occiso torquem aureum detraxit, quem ipse postea tulit, et ex eo Torquatus uocatus est. Duae tribus adiectae, Pomptina et Publilia. Licinius Stolo lege lata damnatus est, quod plus quingentis iugeribus agri possideret. M. Valerius tribunus militum Gallum, a quo prouocatus erat, insidente galeae coruo et unguibus rostroque hostem infestante occidit et ex eo Corui nomen accepit, consulque proximo anno, cum annos XXIII haberet, ob uirtutem creatus est. Amicitia cum Carthaginiensibus iuncta est. Campani cum a Samnitibus bello urgerentur, auxilio aduersus eos a senatu petito, cum id non impetrarent, urbem et agros populo R. dediderunt. Ob quam causam ea, quae populi R. facta essent, defendi bello aduersus Samnites placuit. Cum ab Aulo Cornelio cos. exercitus in locum iniquum deductus in magno discrimine esset, P. Deci Muris tribuni militum opera seruatus est. Qui occupato colle super id iugum, in quo Samnites consederant, occasionem consuli in aequiorem locum euadendi dedit ; ipse ab hostibus circumsessus erupit. Cum milites Romani, qui Capuae in praesidio relicti erant, de occupanda ea urbe conspirassent et detecto consilio metu supplici a populo R. defecissent, per M. Valerium Coruum dictatorem, qui consilio suo eos a furore reuocauerat, patriae restituti sunt. Res praeterea contra Hernicos et Gallos et Tiburtes et Priuernates et Tarquinienses et Samnites et Vulscos prospere gestas continet.
Campaigns in Samnium against the Samnites. A memorable duel. Quintus Fabius Maximus Rullianus, master of horse, fought successfully against the Samnites contrary to the dictator's orders; for this the dictator intended to punish him with death. Alexander of Epirus came to Italy. A Roman army was sent under the yoke by the Samnites at the Caudine Forks. The war with the Samnites was renewed because of the disgraceful treaty that was imposed.
The great Latin war. Roman dominion extends over Campania.
Latini cum Campania defecere et missis legatis ad senatum condicionem tulerunt ut si pacem habere vellent alterum ex Latinis consulem facerent. Qua legatione perlata praetor eorum Annius de Capitolio ita lapsus est ut exanimaretur. T. Manlius consul filium, quod contra edictum eius adversus Latinos pugnaverat, quamvis prospere pugnasset, securi percussit. Laborantibus in acie Romanis P. Decius, tunc consul cum Manlio, devovit se pro exercitu, et concitato equo cum in medios hostes se intulisset, interfectus morte sua Romanis victoriam restituit. Latini in deditionem venerunt. T. Manlio in urbem reverso nemo ex iuventute obviam processit. Minucia virgo Vestalis incesti damnata est. Ausonibus victis et oppido ex is capto Cales item Fregellae coloniae deductae sunt. Veneficium complurium matronarum deprehensum est, ex quibus plurimae statim epotis medicaminibus perierunt. Lex de veneficio tunc primum constituta est. Privernatibus, cum bellassent, victis civitas data est. Neapolitani bello et obsidione victi in deditionem venerunt. Q. Publilio, qui eos obsederat, primo et imperium prolatum est et pro cos. triumphus decretus. Plebs nexu liberata est propter L. Papiri creditoris libidinem, qui C. Publilio debitori suo stuprum inferre voluerat. Cum L. Papirius Cursor dictator reversus in urbem ab exercitu esset propter auspicia repetenda, Q. Fabius magister equitum, occasione bene gerendae rei invitatus, contra edictum eius prospere adversus Samnites pugnavit. Ob eam causam cum dictator de magistro equitum supplicium sumpturus videretur, Fabius Romam profugit, et cum parum causa proficeret, populi precibus donatus est. Res praeterea contra Samnites prospere gestas continet.
Colonies were founded. Successful campaigns against the Samnites. War with the Etruscans and Umbrians. The censor Appius Claudius Caecus built a road and brought water into the city. Campaigns against the Samnites, Etruscans, and Umbrians. The consul Quintus Fabius was victorious. Publius Decius devoted himself for the army. Two tribes were added, the Aniensis and Teretina.
The second Samnite war. The disaster at the Caudine Forks — the entire army forced under the yoke.
T. Veturius Spurius Postumius coss. apud furcas Caudinas deducto in locum artum exercitu, cum spes nulla esset evadendi, foedere cum Samnitibus facto et sescentis equitibus Romanis obsidibus datis ita exercitum abduxerunt ut omnes sub iugum mitterentur; idemque auctore Spurio Postumio cos. qui in senatu suaserat ut eorum deditione quorum culpa tam deforme foedus ictum erat, publica fides liberaretur, cum duobus trib. pl. et omnibus qui foedus spoponderant dediti Samnitibus non sunt recepti. Nec multo post fusis a Papirio Cursore Samnitibus et sub iugum missis receptisque sescentis equitibus Romanis qui obsides dati erant, pudor flagitii prioris abolitus est. Tribus duae adiectae sunt, Oufentina et Falerna. Suessa et Pontia coloniae deductae sunt. Ap. Claudius censor aquam perduxit; viam stravit quae Appia vocata est, libertinorum filios in senatum legit. Ideoque, quoniam is ordo indignis inquinatus videbatur, sequentis anni coss. senatum observaverunt, quem ad modum ante proximos censores fuerat. Res praeterea contra Apulos et Etruscos et Umbros et Marsos et Paelignos et Aequos et Samnites, quibus foedus restitutum est, prospere gestas continet. Cn. Flavius scriba, libertino patre natus, aedilis curulis fuit per forensem factionem creatus, quae, cum comitia et campum turbaret et in his propter nimias vires dominaretur, a Q. Fabio censore in quattuor tribus redacta est, quas urbanas appellavit; eaque res Fabio Maximo nomen dedit. In hoc libro mentionem habet Alexandri, qui temporibus his fuit, et aestimatis populi R. viribus, quae tunc erant, colligit si Alexander in Italiam traiecisset, non tam ei victoriam de populo Romano fore quam de iis gentibus quas ad orientem imperio suo subiecerat. Res praeterea contra Samnites prospere gestas continet.
The achievements of Alexander the Great were discussed in passing, and an assessment was made of how he would have fared fighting against the Romans. The Samnite War was concluded. Successful campaigns in Etruria and against the Gauls and Samnites. Manius Curius Dentatus defeated the Samnites, Sabines, Lucanians, and Bruttians. Manius Curius triumphed over the Samnites. The censors Publius Cornelius Rufinus and Manius Curius Dentatus expelled Fabricius from the senate for possessing ten pounds of silver.
The third Samnite war and Sentinum — the decisive battle for control of Italy.
Coloniae deductae sunt Sora et Alba et Carsioli. Marsi in deditionem accepti sunt. Collegium augurum ampliatum est, ut essent nouem, cum antea quaterni fuissent. Lex de prouocatione ad populum a Murena cos. tertio tunc lata est. Duae tribus adiectae sunt, Aniensis et Terentina. Samnitibus bellum indictum est et aduersus eos saepe prospere pugnatum est. Cum aduersus Etruscos, Vmbros, Samnites, Gallos, P. Decio et Q. Fabio ducibus pugnaretur et Romanus exercitus in magno discrimine esset, P. Decius, secutus patris exemplum, deuouit se pro exercitu et morte sua uictoriam eius pugnae populo R. dedit. Papirius Cursor Samnitium exercitum, qui de iureiurando obstrictus quo maiore constantia uirtutis pugnaret, in aciem descenderat, fudit. Census actus est, lustrum conditum. Censa sunt ciuium capita CCLXXII milia et CCCXX.
Campaigns against the Samnites, Etruscans, Gauls, and Umbrians. The consul Quintus Fabius Gurges fought badly against the Samnites; when the senate wished to send a successor, his father Fabius Maximus went as legate to assist his son, with whose help Gurges won. Papirius Cursor triumphed over the defeated Samnites. The end of the Samnite War. Several colonies were founded. The Roman state advanced to the height of prosperity and power.
The bloody conclusion of the Third Samnite War and the fateful clash with Tarentum that would draw Rome into conflict with the Greek world.
Known from the periocha, a 4th-century epitome of each book of Livy.
Periocha; Florus 1.13; Eutropius 2.11–14
Cum Fabius Gurges cos. male adversus Samnites pugnasset et senatus de removendo eo ab exercitu ageret, Fabius Maximus pater deprecatus hanc fili ignominiam eo maxime senatum movit quod iturum se filio legatum pollicitus est, idque praestitit. Eius consiliis et opera filius consul adiutus caesis Samnitibus triumphavit; C. Pontium, imperatorem Samnitium, ductum in triumpho, securi percussit. Cum pestilentia civitas laboraret, missi legati ut Aesculapi signum Romam ab Epidauro transferrent, anguem, qui se in navem eorum contulerat in quo ipsum numen esse constabat, deportaverunt; eoque in insulam Tiberis egresso eodem loco aedis Aesculapio constituta est. L. Postumius consularis, quoniam, cum exercitui praeesset, opera militum in agro suo usus erat, damnatus est. Pacem petentibus Samnitibus foedus quarto renovatum est. Curius Dentatus cos. Samnitibus caesis et Sabinis, qui rebellaverant, victis et in deditionem acceptis bis in eodem magistratu triumphavit. Coloniae deductae sunt Castrum Sena Hadria. Triumviri capitales tunc primum creati sunt. Censu acto lustrum conditum est. Censa sunt civium capita | CCLXXII |. Plebs propter aes alienum post graves et longas seditiones ad ultimum secessit in Ianiculum, unde a Q. Hortensio dictatore deducta est; isque in ipso magistratu decessit. Res praeterea contra Vulsinienses gestas continet, item adversus Lucanos, contra quos auxilium Thurinis ferre placuerat.
When the consul Fabius Gurges had fought badly against the Samnites and the senate was debating his removal from the army, his father Fabius Maximus averted his son's disgrace, moving the senate chiefly by promising to serve as legate to his son, which he duly did. Aided by his father's counsel and service, the consul defeated the Samnites and triumphed; Gaius Pontius, the Samnite commander, was led in the triumph and beheaded. When the state was suffering from plague, envoys were sent to bring the image of Aesculapius from Epidaurus to Rome. They brought back a serpent which had boarded their ship, in which the god himself was believed to reside; when it went ashore on the island in the Tiber, a temple of Aesculapius was established on that spot. Lucius Postumius, a former consul, was convicted because he had used his soldiers' labour on his own estate while commanding the army. The Samnites sought peace; their treaty was renewed for the fourth time. The consul Curius Dentatus defeated the Samnites and conquered the Sabines who had rebelled, receiving their surrender; he triumphed twice during the same magistracy. Colonies were founded at Castrum, Sena, and Hadria. The tresviri capitales were first created at this time. A census was held and the lustrum performed. 272,000 citizens were counted. The plebs, burdened by debt after serious and prolonged seditions, finally seceded to the Janiculum, from where they were brought back by the dictator Quintus Hortensius, who died in office. The book also contains operations against the Volsinians, and likewise against the Lucanians, against whom it was decided to send aid to the people of Thurii.
King Pyrrhus of Epirus crosses to Italy with his war elephants, inflicting devastating but unsustainable victories on the Romans at Heraclea and Asculum.
Known from the periocha, a 4th-century epitome of each book of Livy.
Periocha; Florus 1.13; Eutropius 2.11–14
Cum legati Romanorum a Gallis Senonibus interfecti essent, bello ob id Gallis indicto, L. Caecilius praetor ab his cum legionibus caesus est. Cum a Tarentinis classis Romana direpta esset, IIuiro, qui praeerat classi, occiso, legati ad eos a senatu, ut de his iniuriis quererentur, missi pulsati sunt. Ob id bellum his indictum est. Samnites defecerunt. Aduersus eos et Lucanos et Brittios et Etruscos aliquot proeliis a compluribus ducibus bene pugnatum est. Pyrrhus, Epirotarum rex, ut auxilium Tarentinis ferret, in Italiam uenit. Cum in praesidium Reginorum legio Campana cum praefecto Decio Vibullio missa esset, occisis Reginis Regium occupauit.
When Roman envoys had been killed by the Gallic Senones, war was declared on the Gauls for this reason; the praetor Lucius Caecilius was killed by them together with his legions. When the Roman fleet had been plundered by the Tarentines and the duumvir commanding it killed, envoys sent to complain of this outrage were mistreated; war was therefore declared on the Tarentines. The Tarentines sought help from Pyrrhus, king of Epirus. The consular Lucius Aemilius was condemned for having used his soldiers' labour on his private estate. A census was held and the lustrum performed. 287,222 citizens were counted. The book also contains the wars waged against the Lucanians, Bruttians, Samnites, and Etruscans.
Rome shatters Pyrrhus at Beneventum and subjugates Tarentum, completing her mastery over the whole of southern Italy.
Known from the periocha, a 4th-century epitome of each book of Livy.
Periocha; Florus 1.13; Eutropius 2.11–14
Valerius Laeuinus cos. parum prospere aduersus Pyrrhum pugnauit, elephantorum maxime inusitata facie territis militibus. Post id proelium cum corpora Romanorum qui in acie ceciderant, Pyrrhus inspiceret, omnia uersa in hostem inuenit populabundusque ad urbem Romanam processit. C. Fabricius missus ad eum a senatu, ut de redimendis captiuis ageret, frustra ut patriam desereret a rege temptatus est. Captiui sine pretio remissi sunt. Cineas legatus a Pyrrho ad senatum missus petiit ut conponendae pacis causa rex in urbem reciperetur. De qua re cum ad frequentiorem senatum referri placuisset, Appius Claudius, qui propter ualetudinem oculorum iam diu consiliis publicis se abstinuerat, uenit in curiam et sententia sua tenuit ut id Pyrrho negaretur. Cn. Domitius censor primus ex plebe lustrum condidit. Censa sunt ciuium capita CCLXXXVII milia CCXXII. Iterum aduersus Pyrrhum dubio euentu pugnatum est. Cum Carthaginiensibus quarto foedus renouatum est. Cum C. Fabricio consuli is qui ad eum a Pyrrho transfugerat, polliceretur uenenum se regi daturum, cum indicio ad regem remissus est. Res praeterea contra Lucanos et Bruttios, Samnites et Etruscos prospere gestas continet.
The consul Valerius Laevinus fought against Pyrrhus with little success, the soldiers being terrified chiefly by the unfamiliar appearance of elephants. After the battle, when Pyrrhus surveyed the bodies of the Romans who had fallen in the line, he found that all had been wounded in front. He sent Cineas as envoy to Rome to negotiate peace. Appius Claudius, who on account of his eye disease had long abstained from public affairs, came to the senate and by his speech persuaded them to refuse peace with Pyrrhus. Gaius Fabricius was sent as envoy to Pyrrhus to negotiate the return of prisoners. Pyrrhus tried in vain to bribe him to desert to his side. The prisoners were returned without ransom. Valerius Laevinus made an alliance with the Carthaginians. Cineas, whom Pyrrhus had sent to Rome, reported to the king that the senate appeared to him an assembly of kings. Gnaeus Domitius, the first plebeian censor, performed the lustrum.
The consolidation of Roman Italy and the Mamertine crisis in Sicily that set Rome and Carthage on an irreversible collision course.
Known from the periocha, a 4th-century epitome of each book of Livy.
Periocha; Polybius 1.7–10
Cum inter alia prodigia fulmine deiectum esset in Capitolio Iouis signum, caput eius per haruspices inuentum est. Curius Dentatus cos. cum dilectum haberet, eius, qui citatus non responderat, bona primus uendidit ; iterum Pyrrhum ex Sicilia in Italiam reuersum uicit et Italia expulit. Fabricius censor P. Cornelium Rufinum consularem senatu mouit, quod is X pondo argenti facti haberet. Lustro a censoribus condito censa sunt ciuium capita CCLXXI milia CCXXIIII. Cum Ptolemaeo, Aegypti rege, societas iuncta est. Sextilia, uirgo Vestalis, damnata incesti uiua defossa est. Coloniae deductae sunt Posidonia et Cosa. Carthaginiensium classis auxilio Tarentinis uenit, quo facto ab his foedus uiolatum est. Res praeterea contra Lucanos et Bruttios et Samnites feliciter gestas et Pyrrhi regis mortem continet.
Among other prodigies, the statue of Jupiter on the Capitol was struck by lightning; its head was found by the haruspices. When the consul Curius Dentatus was holding a levy and the first man called did not answer, Curius sold his property; when he protested and appealed to the tribunes, Curius also sold the man himself, on the grounds that a citizen who did not obey was not needed by the state. Curius as consul defeated Pyrrhus and drove him from Italy, having refused to accept the gold offered to him by the Samnite envoys, holding it no glory to possess gold but to rule those who did. He triumphed twice, for victories over the Samnites and Pyrrhus in the same term, and led four elephants in his triumph — the first to be seen in Rome. Fabricius as censor expelled Publius Cornelius Rufinus, a former consul, from the senate because he possessed ten pounds of silver plate. A census was held and the lustrum performed. 271,224 citizens were counted. An alliance of friendship was made with Ptolemy, king of Egypt, who had sent envoys.
The First Punic War erupts as Roman legions cross to Sicily for the first time, and at Mylae a hastily built fleet stuns Carthage with its corvus boarding bridges.
Known from the periocha, a 4th-century epitome of each book of Livy.
Periocha; Polybius 1.11–30; Florus 1.18
Victis Tarentinis pax et libertas data est. Legio Campana, quae Regium occupauerat, obsessa deditione facta securi percussa est. Cum legatos Apolloniatium ad senatum missos quidam iuuenes pulsassent, dediti sunt Apolloniatibus. Picentibus uictis pax data est. Coloniae deductae Ariminum in Piceno, Beneuentum in Samnio. Tunc primum populus R. argento uti coepit. Vmbri et Sallentini uicti in deditionem accepti sunt. Quaestorum numerus ampliatus est, ut essent VIII.
The Tarentines were defeated and peace and liberty were granted to them. The Campanian legion that had seized Rhegium was besieged; when they surrendered, they were beheaded. When certain young men assaulted envoys of the Apolloniates who had been sent to the senate, those men were handed over to the Apolloniates. Colonies were founded at Ariminum in Picenum and at Beneventum in Samnium. The quinquereme fleet, by which the Romans first began to wage war at sea, was built. A census was held and the lustrum performed. 292,234 citizens were counted.
Rome gambles on an invasion of Africa under the consul Regulus, who wins spectacular early victories before Carthaginian resistance stiffens.
Known from the periocha, a 4th-century epitome of each book of Livy.
Periocha; Polybius 1.11–30; Florus 1.18
Origo Carthaginiensium et primordia urbis eorum referuntur. Contra quos et Hieronem, regem Syracusanorum, auxilium Mamertinis ferendum senatus censuit, cum de ea re inter suadentes ut id fieret, dissuadentesque contentio fuisset; transgressisque tunc primum mare exercitibus Romanis aduersus Hieronem saepius bene pugnatum. Petenti pax data est. Lustrum a censoribus conditum est. Censa sunt ciuium capita CCCLXXXII milia CCXXXIIII. Decimus Iunius Brutus munus gladiatorium in honorem defuncti patris primus edidit. Colonia Aesernia deducta est. Res praeterea contra Poenos et Vulsinios prospere gestas continet.
The origin of the Carthaginians and the early history of their city are described. The senate decided to send aid to the Mamertines against the Carthaginians and Hiero, king of Syracuse. When the matter was debated between those urging that this should be done and the senate which objected, the people ordered that aid be sent. The consul Appius Claudius with his army crossed to Sicily, fighting against Hiero and the Carthaginians with varying results. Hiero was given peace. A census was held and the lustrum performed. 382,234 citizens were counted. The book also contains successful operations against the Carthaginians and Volsinians.
Regulus is captured and the African expedition ends in catastrophe, while the war grinds on through siege and counter-siege across Sicily.
Known from the periocha, a 4th-century epitome of each book of Livy.
Periocha; Polybius 1.31–63; Eutropius 2.21–27
Cn. Cornelius consul a classe Punica circumuentus et per fraudem, ueluti in conloquium euocatus, captus est. C. Duillius consul aduersus classem Poenorum prospere pugnauit, primusque omnium Romanorum ducum naualis uictoriae duxit triumphum. Ob quam causam ei perpetuus quoque honos habitus est, ut reuertenti a cena tibicine canente funale praeferretur. L. Cornelius consul in Sardinia et Corsica contra Sardos et Corsos et Hannonem, Poenorum ducem, feliciter pugnauit. Atilius Calatinus cos. cum in locum a Poenis circumsessum temere exercitum duxisset, M. Calpurni, tribuni militum, uirtute et opera euasit, qui cum CCC militibus eruptione facta hostes in se conuerterat. Hannibal, dux Poenorum, uicta classe cui praefuerat, a militibus suis in crucem sublatus est. Atilius Regulus cos. uictis nauali proelio Poenis in Africam traiecit.
The consul Gnaeus Cornelius was surrounded by the Punic fleet and captured through a trick, as if invited to a parley. The consul Gaius Duillius fought successfully against the Carthaginian fleet and was the first of all Roman commanders to celebrate a naval triumph; for this reason he was granted the perpetual honour of being preceded by a torchbearer and a flute-player when returning from dinner. The consul Lucius Cornelius Scipio conquered Sardinia and Corsica, where he fought successfully against the Carthaginians. The consul Atilius Calatinus was led into an ambush by the Carthaginians; the military tribune Marcus Calpurnius extracted him by charging with a detachment of three hundred soldiers, diverting the enemy attack upon himself. Hannibal, the commander of the Punic fleet, was crucified by his own soldiers after his fleet was defeated. The consul Atilius Regulus defeated the Carthaginian fleet in a naval battle, then crossed to Africa.
Years of attritional warfare culminate in the decisive Roman naval victory at the Aegates Islands, forcing Carthage to sue for peace and abandon Sicily.
Known from the periocha, a 4th-century epitome of each book of Livy.
Periocha; Polybius 1.31–63; Eutropius 2.21–27
Atilius Regulus in Africa serpentem portentosae magnitudinis cum magna clade militum occidit, et cum aliquot proeliis bene aduersus Carthaginienses pugnasset, successorque ei a senatu prospere bellum gerenti non mitteretur, id ipsum per litteras ad senatum scriptas questus est, in quibus inter causas petendi successoris erat quod agellus eius a mercennariis desertus esset. Quaerente deinde fortuna ut magnum utriusque casus exemplum in Regulo proderetur, arcessito a Carthaginiensibus Xanthippo, Lacedaemoniorum duce, uictus proelio et captus est. Res deinde a ducibus Romanis omnibus terra marique prospere gestas deformauerunt naufragia classium. Tib. Coruncanius primus ex plebe pontifex maximus creatus est. M'. Valerius Maximus P. Sempronius Sophus censores cum senatum legerent, XVI senatu mouerunt. Lustrum condiderunt, quo censa sunt ciuium capita CCXCVII milia DCCXCVII. Regulus missus a Carthaginiensibus ad senatum ut de pace et, si eam non posset impetrare, de commutandis captiuis ageret, et iureiurando adstrictus, rediturum se Carthaginem, si commutari captiuos non placuisset, utrimque negandi auctor senatui fuit, et cum fide custodita reuersus esset, supplicio a Carthaginiensibus de eo sumpto periit.
Atilius Regulus killed a serpent of monstrous size in Africa with great loss to his soldiers, and after fighting several successful battles against the Carthaginians, and having his command extended by the senate as these operations were going well, he was defeated in battle by the Spartan general Xanthippus, whom the Carthaginians had hired, and taken prisoner. Elsewhere the Roman fleets were wrecked in storms. The consul Marcus Aemilius successfully fought the Carthaginians in a naval battle, but pursuing the fleeing enemy landed his fleet on the shoals of the Syrtes and barely extricated himself. When peace was sought through envoys by the Carthaginians, Regulus, who was among the captives, was sent to Rome as part of the embassy. He advised the senate against peace and returned to Carthage of his own will, where the Carthaginians tortured him to death in every manner of cruelty. The book also contains operations in Sardinia.
Rome exploits Carthage's mercenary revolt to seize Sardinia and Corsica, then turns eastward to suppress Illyrian piracy along the Adriatic coast.
Known from the periocha, a 4th-century epitome of each book of Livy.
Periocha; Polybius 1.65–88; Florus 1.19
Caecilius Metellus rebus aduersus Poenos prospere gestis speciosum egit triumphum, XIII ducibus hostium et CXX elephantis in eo ductis. Claudius Pulcher cos. contra auspicia profectus - iussit mergi pullos, qui cibari nolebant - infeliciter aduersus Carthaginienses classe pugnauit, et reuocatus a senatu iussusque dictatorem dicere Claudium Gliciam dixit, sortis ultimae hominem, qui coactus abdicare se magistratu postea ludos praetextatus spectauit. A. Atilius Calatinus primus dictator extra Italiam exercitum duxit. Commutatio captiuorum cum Poenis facta est. Coloniae deductae sunt Fregenae, in agro Sallentino Brundisium. Lustrum a censoribus conditum est. Censa sunt ciuium capita CCXLI milia CCXII. Claudia, soror P. Claudi qui contemptis auspiciis male pugnauerat, a ludis reuertens cum turba premeretur, dixit : "utinam frater meus uiueret: iterum classem duceret." Ob eam causam multa ei dicta est. Duo praetores tunc primum creati sunt. Caecilius Metellus, pontifex maximus, A. Postumium consulem, quoniam idem et flamen Martialis erat, cum is ad bellum gerendum proficisci uellet, in urbe tenuit nec passus est a sacris recedere. Rebus aduersus Poenos a pluribus ducibus prospere gestis, summam uictoriae C. Lutatius cos. uicta ad Aegates insulas classe Poenorum imposuit. Petentibus Carthaginiensibus pax data est. Cum templum Vestae arderet, Caecilius Metellus, pontifex maximus, ex incendio sacra rapuit. Duae tribus adiectae sunt, Velina et Quirina.
Caecilius Metellus, after successful operations against the Carthaginians, celebrated a magnificent triumph, leading thirteen enemy generals and one hundred and twenty elephants in the procession. The consul Claudius Pulcher, having set out against the auspices — for when the sacred chickens would not eat he ordered them thrown into the sea so they might drink — fought a naval battle and was defeated. Recalled by the senate, he was ordered to appoint a dictator; he appointed Claudius Glicia, a man of the lowest birth, who was forced to abdicate. The consul Aulus Atilius Calatinus was the first dictator to lead an army outside Italy. Junius, the other consul, lost his fleet in a storm; he too had disregarded the auspices. He was condemned by the people. An embassy was sent by the Carthaginians about exchanging prisoners. When the senate would not agree, the prisoners were returned. Carthage's Hamilcar fought successfully against the Romans in Sicily. Claudius was condemned by the people for the naval defeat. Caecilia, daughter of Metellus, while praying at the shrine of Juno, wished to give her sister's daughter a ride in her carriage and said 'I wish the people of Rome would increase again,' which was taken as a good omen. The consul Gaius Lutatius fought and won a great sea battle against the Carthaginians off the Aegates islands.
A brutal Gallic invasion of the Po Valley is crushed at Telamon, while in Spain the young Hannibal besieges Saguntum, plunging Rome and Carthage toward a second and far deadlier war.
Known from the periocha, a 4th-century epitome of each book of Livy.
Periocha; Polybius 2.21–35; Florus 1.20
Falisci cum rebellassent, sexto die perdomiti in deditionem uenerunt. Spoletium colonia deducta est. Aduersus Liguras tunc primum exercitus promotus est. Sardi et Corsi cum rebellassent, subacti sunt. Tuccia, uirgo Vestalis, incesti damnata est. Bellum Illyriis propter unum ex legatis, qui ad eos missi erant, occisum indictum est, subactique in deditionem uenerunt. Praetorum numerus ampliatus est ut essent IIII. Galli transalpini, qui in Italiam inruperant, caesi sunt. Eo bello populum R. sui Latinique nominis DCCC milia armatorum habuisse dicit. Exercitibus Romanis tunc primum trans Padum ductis Galli Insubres aliquot proeliis fusi in deditionem uenerunt. M. Claudius Marcellus cos. occiso Gallorum Insubrium duce, Vertomaro, opima spolia rettulit. Histri subacti sunt. Iterum Illyrii cum rebellassent, domiti in deditionem uenerunt. Lustrum a censoribus ter conditum est. Primo lustro censa sunt ciuium capita CCLXX milia CCXII. Libertini in quattuor tribus redacti sunt, cum antea dispersi per omnes fuissent, Esquilinam, Palatinam, Suburanam, Collinam. C. Flaminius censor uiam Flaminiam muniit et circum Flaminium exstruxit. Coloniae deductae sunt in agro de Gallis capto Placentia et Cremona.
The Falisci, having rebelled, were subdued on the sixth day and forced to surrender. The colony of Spoletium was founded. For the first time an army was led against the Ligurians. The Sardinians and Corsicans, having rebelled, were subdued. A Vestal virgin was condemned for unchastity. A colony was founded at Brundisium. War was declared on the Illyrians for having mistreated Roman envoys; they were defeated and accepted into surrender. The number of praetors was increased to four. The Gauls who had crossed the Alps were defeated in battle without any Roman blood being shed; vast multitudes of them had come, it is reported. The book also contains a description of the origin and early history of the Gauls and the regions they inhabit. A census was held and the lustrum performed. 270,713 citizens were counted. The Sardinians and Corsicans who had rebelled were again subdued.
Hannibal crosses the Alps. The opening of the Second Punic War.
Belli Punici secundi ortum narrat et Hannibalis, ducis Poenorum, contra foedus per Hiberum flumen transitum. A quo Saguntum, sociorum populi R. ciuitas obsessa, octauo mense capta est. De quibus iniuriis missi legati ad Carthaginienses, qui quererentur. Cum satis facere nollent, bellum his indictum est. Hannibal superato Pyrenaeo saltu per Gallias, fusis Volcis, qui obsistere conati erant ei, ad Alpes uenit et laborioso per eas transitu, cum montanos quoque Gallos obuios aliquot proeliis reppulisset, descendit in Italiam et ad Ticinum flumen Romanos equestri proelio fudit. In quo uulneratum P. Cornelium Scipionem protexit filius, qui Africani postea nomen accepit. Iterumque exercitu Romano ad flumen Trebiam fuso Hannibal Apenninum quoque permagna uexatione militum propter uim tempestatium transiit. Cn. Cornelius Scipio in Hispania contra Poenos prospere pugnauit duce hostium Magone capto.
The causes and beginning of the Second Punic War. The childhood and youth of the Carthaginian general Hannibal. After he had captured Saguntum by force, the Romans demanded reparations through envoys. When the Carthaginians refused to comply, war was declared against them. Hannibal crossed the Pyrenees, the Rhone, and the Alps and entered Italy.
Cannae. The worst military defeat in Roman history. Fifty thousand dead in a single afternoon.
Hannibal per continuas uigilias in paludibus oculo amisso in Etruriam uenit, per quas paludes quadriduo et tribus noctibus sine ulla requie iter fecit. C. Flaminius cos., homo temerarius, contra auspicia profectus signis militaribus effossis, quae tolli non poterant, et ab equo, quem conscenderat, per caput deuolutus, insidiis ab Hannibale circumuentus ad Thrasymennum lacum cum exercitu caesus est. Sex milia, quae eruperant, fide ab Atherbale data, perfidia Hannibalis uincta sunt. Cum ad nuntium cladis Romae luctus esset, duae matres ex iusperato receptis filiis gaudio mortuae sunt. Ob hanc cladem ex Sibyllinis libris uer sacrum uotum. Cum deinde Q. Fabius Maximus dictator aduersus Hannibalem missus nollet acie cum eo confligere, ne contra ferocem tot uictoriis hostem aduersis proeliis milites pugnare committeret, et opponendo se tantum conatus Hannibalis impediret, M. Minucius, magister equitum, ferox et temerarius, criminando dictatorem tamquam segnem et timidum effecit, ut populi iussu aequaretur ei cum dictatore imperium ; diuisoque exercitu cum iniquo loco conflixisset et in magno discrimine legiones eius essent, superueniente cum exercitu Fabio Max ®rimine liberatus est. Quo beneficio uictus castra cum eo iunxit et patrem eum salutauit, idemque facere milites iussit. Hannibal uastata Campania inter Casilinum oppidum et Calliculam montem a Fabio clusus sarmentis ad cornua boum alligatis et incensis praesidium Romanorum, quod Calliculam insidebat, fugauit et sic transgressus est saltum. Idemque Q. Fabi Maximi dictatoris, cum circumposita ureret, agro pepercit, ut illum tamquam proditorem suspectum faceret. Aemilio deinde Paulo et Terentio Varrone coss. et ducibus cum magna clade aduersus Hannibalem ad Cannas pugnatum est, caesaque eo proelio Romanorum XLV milia cum Paulo cos. et senatoribus XC et consularibus aut praetoriis aut aediliciis XXX. Post quae cum a nobilibus adulescentibus propter desperationem consilium de relinquenda Italia iniretur, P. Cornelius Scipio tribunus militum, qui Africanus postea uocatus est, stricto supra capita deliberantium ferro iurauit pro hoste se habiturum eum qui in uerba sua non iurasset, effecitque ut omnes non relictum iri a se Italiam iureiurando adstringerentur. Propter paucitatem militum VIII milia seruorum armata sunt. Captiui, cum potestas esset redimendi, redempti non sunt. Praeterea trepidationem urbis et luctum et res in Hispania meliore euentu gestas continet. Opimia et Florentia, uirgines Vestales, incesti damnatae sunt. Varroni obuiam itum et gratiae actae, quod de re p. non desperasset.
Hannibal crossed through the Apennines by an almost impassable route into Etruria. He marched through marshes, losing the sight of one eye after four days and three nights without rest. The consul Gaius Flaminius was ambushed and slain with his army by Hannibal at Lake Trasimene. Gaius Centenius with eight thousand men was destroyed by Maharbal. The dictator Quintus Fabius Maximus, sent against Hannibal, refused to engage in battle and meanwhile restored the Roman state. Lucius Aemilius Paullus and Gaius Terentius Varro, sent against Hannibal, suffered the slaughter of the Roman army at Cannae.
The aftermath of Cannae. Italian allies defect. Rome begins the long recovery through Fabian attrition.
Campani ad Hannibalem defecerunt. Nuntius Cannensis uictoriae, Mago, Carthaginem missus anulos aureos corporibus occisorum detractos in uestibulo curiae effudit, quos excessisse modii mensuram traditur. Post quem nuntium Hannon, uir ex Poenis nobilibus, suadebat senatui Carthaginensium ut pacem a populo Romano peterent, nec tenuit obstrepente Barcina factione. Claudius Marcellus praetor ad Nolam, eruptione aduersus Hannibalem ex oppido facta, prospere pugnauit. Casilinum a Poenis obsessum ita fame uexatum est ut lora et pelles scutis detractas et mures inclusi essent. Nucibus per Vulturnum amnem a Romanis missis uixerunt. Senatu ex equestri ordine hominibus CXCVII suppletus est. L. Postumius praetor a Gallis cum exercitu caesus est. Cn. et P. Scipiones in Hispania Asdrubalem uicerunt et Hispaniam suam fecerunt. Reliquiae Cannensis exercitus in Siciliam relegatae sunt, ne decederent inde nisi finito bello. Sempronius Gracchus cos. Campanos cecidit. Claudius Marcellus praetor Hannibalis exercitum ad Nolam proelio fudit et uicit, primusque tot cladibus fessis Romanis meliorem spem belli dedit. Inter Philippum, Macedoniae regem, et Hannibalem societas iuncta est. Praeterea in Hispania feliciter a Publio et Cn. Scipionibus, in Sardinia a T. Manlio praetore aduersus Poenos res gestas continet, a quibus Hasdrubal dux et Mago et Hanno capti. Exercitus Hannibalis per hiberna ita luxuriatus est ut corporis animique uiribus eneruaretur.
After the disaster at Cannae, several Italian peoples defected to Hannibal, among them Capua, the leading city of Campania. The praetor Claudius Marcellus fought successfully against Hannibal at Nola. The armies in Spain first conducted successful operations against the Carthaginians. War was also waged against Philip, king of Macedon. Casilinum, besieged by the Carthaginians, suffered from famine.
The war spreads to Sicily. Syracuse allies with Carthage. Archimedes defends the city.
Hieronymus, Syracusanorum rex, cuius pater Hiero amicus populi R. fuerat, ad Carthaginiensis defecit et propter crudelitatem superbiamque a suis interfectus est. Tib. Sempronius Gracchus procos. prospere aduersus Poenos et Hannonem ducem ad Beneuentum pugnauit seruorum maxime opera, quos liberos esse iussit. Claudius Marcellus cos. in Sicilia, quae prope tota ad Poenos defecerat, Syracusas obsedit. Philippo, Macedonum regi, bellum indictum est, qui ad Apolloniam nocturno bello obpressus fugatusque Macedoniam cum prope inermi exercitu profugit. Ad id bellum gerendum M. Valerius praetor missus. Res praeterea in Hispania a P. et Cn. Scipionibus aduersus Carthaginienses gestas continet. A quibus Syphax, rex Numidiae, in amicitiam adscitus, qui a Masinissa, Massyliorum rege, pro Carthaginiensibus pugnante, uictus in Hispaniam ad Scipionem cum magna manu transiit contra Gades, ubi angusto freto Africa et Hispania dirimuntur. Celtiberi quoque in amicitiam recepti sunt. Quorum auxiliis adscitis tunc primum mercennarium militem Romana castra habuerunt.
Hieronymus, king of Syracuse, whose grandfather Hiero had been a friend of the Roman people, defected to the Carthaginians and was killed by his own people because of his cruelty and arrogance. The proconsul Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus fought successfully against the Carthaginians in Lucania, granting freedom to the slaves who served under him. Claudius Marcellus captured Syracuse in Sicily; during this siege Archimedes was killed.
The fall of Syracuse. Archimedes is killed. The Scipios are defeated in Spain.
P. Cornelius Scipio, postea Africanus, ante annos aedilis factus. Hannibal urbem Tarenton praeter arcem, in quam praesidium Romanorum fugerat, per Tarentinos iuuenes, qui se noctu uenatum ire simulabant, cepit. Ludi Apollinares ex Marci carminibus, quibus Cannensis clades praedicta fuerat, instituti sunt. A Q. Fuluio et Ap. Claudio coss. aduersus Hannonem, Poenorum ducem, prospere pugnatum est. Tib. Sempronius Gracchus procos. ab hospite suo Lucano in insidias deductus a Magone interfectus est. Centenius Paenula, qui centurio militauerat, cum petisset a senatu ut sibi exercitus daretur pollicitusque esset, si hoc impetrasset, de Hannibale uictoriam, VIII milibus acceptis militum dux factus conflixit acie cum Hannibale et cum exercitu caesus est. Capua obsessa est a Q. Fuluio et Ap. Claudio coss. Cn. Puluilis praetor male aduersus Hannibalem pugnauit. In quo proelio XX milia hominum ceciderunt ; ipse cum equitibus CC effugit. Claudius Marcellus Syracusas expugnauit tertio anno et ingentem uirum gessit. In eo tumultu captae urbis Archimedes intentus formis, quas in puluere descripserat, interfectus est. P. et Cn. Scipiones in Hispania tot rerum feliciter gestarum tristem exitum tulerunt, prope cum totis exercitibus caesi anno octauo quam in Hispaniam ierunt. Amissaque eius prouinciae possessio foret, nisi L. Marci, equitis Romani, uirtute et industria contractis exercituum reliquiis, eiusdem hortatu bina castra hostium expugnata essent. Ad XXVII milia hominum caesa, captos ad mille octingentos triginta, praeda ingens capta. "Dux" Marcius appellatus est.
Publius Cornelius Scipio, later surnamed Africanus, at the age of twenty-four, though he had held neither the consulship nor the praetorship, was given command in Spain by the people. He captured New Carthage. Gnaeus and Publius Scipio were killed in Spain. Hasdrubal crossed from Spain to Italy with his army. The consul Claudius Nero and Marcus Livius Salinator encamped on opposite sides of the Metaurus river.
The fall of Capua. Young Scipio is elected to command in Spain. The tide begins to turn.
Hannibal ad tertium lapidem ab urbe Roma super Anienem castra posuit. Ipse cum duobus milibus equitum usque ad ipsam Capenam portam, ut situm urbis exploraret, obequitauit. Et cum per triduum in aciem utrimque exercitus omnis descendisset, certamen tempestas diremit; nam cum in castra redisset, statim serenitas erat. Capua capta est a Q. Fuluio et Appio Claudio coss. Principes Campanorum ueneno sibi mortem consciuerunt. Cum senatus Campanorum deligatus esset ad palos ut securi feriretur, litteras a senatu missas Q. Fuluius consul, quibus iubebatur parcere, antequam legeret, in sinu posuit et lege agi iussit et supplicium peregit. Cum comitiis apud populum quaereretur cui mandaretur Hispaniarum imperium, nullo id uolente suscipere, P. Scipio, P. filius eius qui in Hispania ceciderat, professus est se iturum, et suffragio populi consensuque omnium missus Nouam Carthaginem expugnauit, cum haberet annos XXIIII uidereturque diuina stirpe, quia et ipse, postquam togam acceperat, cotidie in Capitolio erat et in cubiculo matris eius anguis saepe uidebatur. Res praeterea gestas in Sicilia continet et amicitiam cum Aetolis iunctam bellumque gestum aduersus Acarnanas et Philippum, Macedoniae regem.
Hannibal captured Tarentum by treachery, except for the citadel. The Apollinarian Games were instituted. The praetor Gnaeus Fulvius was slain with his army by Hannibal. Marcellus fought successfully against Hannibal. The consul Fabius Maximus recovered Tarentum. In Spain, operations went well. A Carthaginian fleet was captured in Sicily by Valerius Laevinus.
Hasdrubal marches to reinforce Hannibal. The Romans destroy his army at the Metaurus.
Cn. Fuluius procos. cum exercitu ab Hannibale ad Herdoneam caesus est. Meliore euentu ab Claudio Marcello cos. aduersus eundem ad Numistronem pugnatum est. Inde Hannibal nocte recessit. Marcellus iusecutus est et subinde cedentem pressit, donec confligeret. Priore pugna Hannibal superior, sequenti Marcellus. Fabius Maximus pater cos. Tarentinos per proditionem recepit. Claudius Marcellus T. Quintius Crispinus coss. speculandi causa progressi e castris insidiis ab Hannibale circumuenti sunt. Marcellus occisus, Crispinus fugit. Lustrum a censoribus conditum est. Censa sunt ciuium capita CXXXVII milia CVIII; ex quo numero apparuit quantum hominum tot proeliorum aduersa fortuna populo R. abstulisset. In Hispania ad Baeculam Scipio cum Hasdrubale et Hamilcare conflixit et uicit. Inter alia captum regalem puerum eximiae formae ad auunculum Masinissam cum donis dimisit. Hasdrubal, qui cum exercitu nouo Alpes transcenderat ut se Hannibali iungeret, cum milibus hominum LVI caesus est, capta V milia CCCC M. Liui cos. ductu, sed non minore opera Claudi Neronis cos., qui, cum Hannibali oppositus esset, relictis castris ita ut hostem falleret, cum electa manu profectus Hasdrubalem circumuenerat. Res praeterea feliciter a P. Scipione in Hispania et a P. Sulpicio praetore aduersus Philippum et Achaeos gestas continet.
Hasdrubal crossed the Alps with his army and was killed at the river Metaurus by the consuls Claudius Nero and Marcus Livius Salinator; his head was thrown into Hannibal's camp. Publius Scipio made an alliance with Syphax, king of Numidia. Mago, son of Hamilcar, crossed to the Ligurians with an army.
Scipio conquers Spain and prepares to invade Africa.
Res in Hispania prospere gestae a Silano, Scipionis legato, et ab L. Scipione fratre aduersus Poenos, a P. Sulpicio procos. socio Attalo rege Asiae aduersus Philippum, regem Macedonum, pro Aetolis referuntur. Cum M. Liuio et Claudio Neroni coss. triumphus decretus esset, Liuius, qui in prouincia sua rem gesserat, quadrigis inuectus est, Nero, qui in collegae prouinciam, ut uictoriam eius adiuuaret, uenerat, equo secutus est, et in hoc habitu plus gloriae reuerentiaque habuit; nam et plus in bello quam collega fecerat. Ignis in aede Vestae neglegentia uirginis quae non custodierat, extinctus est; caesa est flagro. P. Scipio in Hispania cum Poenis debellauit XIIII anno eius belli, quinto post anno quam ierat, praeclusisque in totum possessione prouinciae eius hostibus Hispanias recepit; et a Tarracone in Africam ad Syphacem, regem Massyliorum, transuectus foedus iunxit. Hasdrubal Gisgonis ibi cum eo in eodem lecto cenauit. Munus gladiatorium in honorem patris patruique Carthagini noua edidit, non ex gladiatoribus, sed ex his qui aut in honorem ducis aut ex prouocatione descendebant; in quo reguli fratres de regno ferro contenderunt. Cum Gisia urbs obpugnaretur, oppidani liberos et coniuges rogo extructo occiderunt et se iusuper praecipitauerunt. Ipse Scipio, dum graui morbo inplicitus est, seditionem in parte exercitus motam, confirmatus discussit rebellantesque Hispaniae populos coegit in deditionem uenire. Et amicitia facta cum Masinissa, rege Numidarum, qui illi auxilium, si in Africam traiecisset, pollicebatur, cum Gaditanis quoque post discessum inde Magonis, cui Carthagine scriptum erat ut in Italiam traiceret, Romam reuersus consulque creatus. Africam prouinciam petenti, contradicente Q. Fabio Maximo, Sicilia data est permissumque ut in Africam traiceret, si id e re p. esse censeret. Mago, Hamilcaris filius, a minore Baleari insula, ubi hiemauerat, in Italiam traiecit.
Scipio defeated Hasdrubal and Mago in Spain. Gades with its Carthaginian garrison surrendered. Publius Scipio wished to cross to Africa; in the senate, despite opposition from Fabius Maximus, he was given Africa as his province. Scipio entrusted Locri to his legate Pleminius, who ruled there with sacrilegious cruelty.
Scipio crosses to Africa. Hannibal is recalled from Italy after sixteen years.
Ex Sicilia C. Laelius in Africam a Scipione missus ingentem praedam reportauit et mandata Masinissae Scipioni exposuit querentis quod nondum exercitum in Africam traiecisset. Bellum in Hispania finitum uictore Romano, quod Indebilis excitauerat; ipse in acie occisus, Mandonius exposcentibus Romanis a suis deditus. Magoni, qui Albingauni in Liguribus erat, ex Africa et militum ampla manus missa et pecuniae, quibus auxilia conduceret, praeceptumque ut se Hannibali coniungeret. Scipio a Syracusis in Bruttios traiecit et Locros pulso Punico praesidio fugatoque Hannibale recepit. Pax cum Philippo facta est. Mater Idaea deportata est Romam a Pessinunte, oppido Phrygiae, carmine in libris Sibyllinis inuento: pelli Italia alienigenam hostem posse, si mater Idaea deportata Romam esset. Tradita est autem Romanis per Attalum, regem Asiae. Lapis erat, quem matrem deum incolae dicebant. Excepit P. Scipio Nasica Cn. filius, eius qui in Hispania perierat, uir optimus a senatu iudicatus, adulescens nondum quaestorius, quoniam ita responsum iubebat ut id numen ab optimo uiro exciperetur consecrareturque. Locrenses legatos Romam miserunt, qui de impotentia Plemini legati quererentur, qui pecuniam Proserpinae sustulerat et liberos eorum ac coniuges stuprauerat. In catenis Romam perductus in carcere est mortuus. Cum falsus rumor de P. Scipione procos., qui in Sicilia erat, in urbem perlatus esset, tamquam is luxuriaretur, missis ob hoc legatis a senatu qui explorarent an ea uera essent, purgatus infamia Scipio in Africam permissu senat us traeicit. Syphax, accepta in matrimonium filia Hasdrubalis Gisgonis, amicitiam quam cum Scipione iunxerat, renuntiauit. Masinissa, rex Massyliorum, dum pro Carthaginiensibus in Hispania militat, amisso patre Gala de regno exciderat. Quo per bellum saepe repetito aliquot proeliis a Syphace, rege Numidarum, uictus in totum priuatus est, et cum CC equitibus exsul Scipioni se iunxit et cum eo primo statim bello Hannonem, Hamilcaris filium, cum ampla manu occidit. Scipio aduentu Hasdrubalis et Syphacis, qui prope cum centum milibus armatorum uenerant, ab obsidione Vticae depulsus hiberna communiit. Sempronius cos. in agro Crotoniensi prospere aduersus Hannibalem pugnauit. Inter censores M. Liuium et Claudium Neronem notabilis discordia fuit. Nam et Claudius collegae equum ademit, quod a populo damnatus actusque in exilium fuerat, et Liuius Claudio, quod falsum in se testimonium dixisset et quod non bona fide secum in gratiam redisset. Idem omnes tribus extra unam aerarias reliquit, quod et innocentem se damnassent et posthac consulem censoremque fecissent. Lustrum a censoribus conditum est. Censa sunt ciuium capita CCXIIII milia.
Publius Scipio crossed to Africa and fought successfully against the Carthaginians. Syphax, who had defected to the Carthaginians, was defeated and captured by Laelius and Masinissa. Peace was sought by the Carthaginians and then broken by them. Hannibal was recalled from Italy to Africa.
Zama. Scipio defeats Hannibal. Carthage sues for peace.
Scipio in Africa Carthaginienses et eumdem Syphacem, Numidiae regem, Hasdrubalemque pluribus proeliis uicit adiuuante Masinissa, bina hostium castra expugnauit, in quibus XL milia hominum ferro ignique consumpta sunt. Syphacem per C. Laelium et Masinissam cepit. Masinissa Sophonibam, uxorem Syphacis, filiam Hasdrubalis, captam statim adamauit et nuptiis factis uxorem habuit; castigatus a Scipione uenenum ei misit, quo illa hausto decessit. Effectumque multis Scipionis uictoriis ut Carthaginienses in desperationem acti in auxilium publicae salutis Hannibalem euocarent. Isque anno XVI Italia decedens in Africam traiecit temptauitque per conloquium pacem cum Scipione componere, et cum de condicionibus pacis non conuenisset, acie uictus est. Pax Carthaginiensibus petentibus data est. Hannibal Gisgonem pacem dissuadentem manu sua detraxit, excusata deinde temeritate facti ipse pacem suasit. Masinissae regnum restitutum est. Reuersus in urbem Scipio amplissimum nobilissimumque egit triumphum, quem Q. Terentius Culleo senator pilleatus secutus est. Scipio Africanus incertum militari prius fauore am populari aura ita cognominatus sit. Primus certe hic imperator uictae nomine a se gentis nobilitatus est. Mago bello quo in agro Insubrum cum Romanis conflixerat uulneratus, dum in Africam per legatos reuocatis reuertitur, ex uulnere mortuus est.
Publius Scipio defeated Hannibal at Zama. Peace was granted to the Carthaginians. Scipio, surnamed Africanus, triumphed. The Second Punic War was concluded in its seventeenth year.
The second Macedonian war begins. Rome intervenes in the eastern Mediterranean.
Belli aduersus Philippum, Macedoniae regem, quod intermissum erat, repetiti causae referuntur hae: tempore initiorum duo iuuenes Acarnanes, qui non erant initiati, Athenas uenerunt et in sacrarium Cereris cum aliis popularibus suis intrauerunt. Ob hoc, tamquam summum nefas commisissent, ab Atheniensibus occisi sunt. Acarnanes mortibus suorum commoti ad uindicandos illos auxilia a Philippo petierunt et Athenas obpugnauerunt, Athenienses auxilium a Romanis petierunt post pacem Carthaginiensibus datam paucis mensibus. Cum Atheniensium, qui a Philippo obsidebantur, legati auxilium a senatu petissent, et id senatus ferendum censuisset plebe, quod tot bellorum continuus labor grauis erat, dissentiente, tenuit auctoritas patrum ut sociae ciuitati ferri opem populus quoque iuberet. Id bellum P. Sulpicio cos. mandatum est qui exercitu in Macedoniam ducto equestribus proeliis prospere cum Philippo pugnauit. Aboedeni a Philippo obsessi ad exemplum Saguntinorum suos seque occiderunt. L. Furius praetor Gallos Insubres rebellantes et Hamilcarem Poenum bellum in ea parte Italiae molientem acie uicit. Hamilcar eo bello occisus est et milia hominum XXXV. Praeterea expeditiones Philippi regis et Sulpici cos. expugnationesque urbium ab utroque factas continet. Sulpicius cos. bellum gerebat adiuuantibus rege Attalo et Rhodiis. Triumphauit de Gallis L. Furius praetor.
War was undertaken against Philip, king of Macedon. Campaigns in Macedonia conducted by the consul Titus Quinctius Flamininus. King Attalus of Asia was an ally of the Romans. The Achaeans were received into friendship. Titus Quinctius, having defeated Philip, gave terms of peace to Macedon. All of Greece was liberated.
Flamininus campaigns in Greece. Roman legions face the Macedonian phalanx.
Complura prodigia ex diuersis regionibus nuntiata referuntur, inter quae in Macedonia in puppe longae nauis lauream esse natam. T. Quintius Flamininus cos. aduersus Philippum feliciter pugnauit in faucibus Epiri fugatumque coegit in regnum reuerti. Ipse Thessaliam, quae est uicina Macedoniae, sociis Aetolis et Athamanibus uexauit, L. Quintius Flamininus, frater consulis, nauali proelio Attalo rege et Rhodiis adiuuantibus Euboeam et maritimam oram. Achaei in amicitiam recepti sunt. Praetorum numerus ampliatus est, ut seni crearentur. Coniuratio seruorum facta de soluendis Carthaginiensium obsidibus oppressa est, duo milia D necati. Cornelius Cethegus cos. Gallos Insubres proelio fudit. Cum Lacedaemoniis et tyranno eorum Nabide amicitia iuncta est. Praeterea expugnationes urbium in Macedonia referuntur.
Titus Quinctius Flamininus proclaimed freedom for all the Greek cities that had been under the dominion of King Philip, at the Isthmian Games. War was waged against Nabis, tyrant of the Lacedaemonians. After restoring their laws to the Lacedaemonians, peace was granted to Nabis.
Cynoscephalae. Roman flexibility defeats Macedonian rigidity. Greek freedom proclaimed.
T. Quintius Flamininus procos. cum Philippo ad Cynoscephalas in Thessalia acie uicto debellauit. L. Quintius Flamininus, ille frater procos., Acarnanas, Leucade urbe quod caput est Acarnanum expugnata, in deditionem accepit. Pax petenti Philippo Graecia liberata data est. Attalus ab Thebis ob subitam ualetudinem Pergamum translatus decessit. C. Sempronius Tuditanus praetor ab Celtiberis cum exercitu caesus est. L. Furius Purpurio et Claudius Marcellus coss. Boios et Insubres Gallos subegerunt. Marcellus triumphauit. Hannibal frustra in Africa bellum molitus et ob hoc Romanis per epistulas ab aduersae factionis principibus delatus propter metum Romanorum, qui legatos ad senatum Carthaginiensium de eo miserant, profugus ad Antiochum, Syriae regem, se contulit bellum aduersus Romanos parantem.
Antiochus, king of Syria, with Hannibal having joined him, made war on the Roman people. Campaigns in Greece against Antiochus. The consul Manius Acilius Glabrio defeated Antiochus at Thermopylae. He settled the defection of the Aetolians. Scipio Africanus went to Asia as legate to his brother, the consul Lucius Scipio.
Cato's consulship. The repeal of the Oppian law — Rome's first debate on women's rights.
Lex Oppia, quam C. Oppius trib. pl. bello Punico de finiendis matronarum cultibus tulerat, cum magna contentione abrogata est, cum Porcius Cato auctor fuisset ne ea lex aboleretur. Is in Hispaniam profectus bello, quod Emporiis orsus est, citeriorem Hispaniam pacauit. T. Quintius Flamininus bellum aduersus Lacedaemonios et tyrannum eorum, Nabidem, prospere gestum data his pace, qualem ipse uolebat, liberatisque Argis, qui sub dicione tyranni erant, finiit. Res praeterea in Hispania et aduersus Boios et Insubres Gallos feliciter gestae referuntur. Senatus tunc primum secretus a populo ludos spectauit. Id ut fieret, Sextus Aelius Paetus et C. Cornelius Cethegus censores interuenerunt cum indignatione plebis. Coloniae plures deductae sunt. M. Porcius Cato ex Hispania triumphauit. T. Quintius Flamininus, qui Philippum, Macedonum regem, et Nabidem, Lacedaemoniorum tyrannum uicerat Graeciamque omnem liberauerat, ob hoc triduo triumphauit. Legati Carthaginiensium nuntiauerunt Hannibalem, qui ad Antiochum confugerat, bellum cum eo moliri. Temptauerat autem Hannibal per Aristonem Tyrium sine litteris Carthaginem missum ad bellandum Poenos concitare.
The consul Lucius Scipio defeated King Antiochus in Asia at Magnesia. Peace was granted to Antiochus. Scipio Africanus was accused by a tribune of the plebs. The censor Marcus Porcius Cato expelled many from the senate. The Oppian law on women's adornment was repealed. Colonies were founded.
The war with Antiochus III begins. Hannibal, exiled, advises the Syrian king.
P. Scipio Africanus legatus ad Antiochum missus Ephesi cum Hannibale, qui se Antiocho adiunxerat, conlocutus est, ut si fieri posset, metum ei, quem ex populo R. conceperat, eximeret. Inter alia cum quaereret quem fuisse maximum imperatorem Hannibal crederet, respondit Alexandrum, Macedonum regem, quod parua manu innumerabiles exercitus fudisset quodque ultimas oras, quas uisere supra spem humanam esset, peragrasset. Quaerenti deinde, quem secundum poneret, Pyrrhum, inquit, castra metari primum docuisse, ad hoc neminem loca elegantius cepisse, praesidia disposuisse. Exsequenti, quem tertium diceret, semet ipsum dixit. Ridens Scipio: "quidnam tu diceres, inquit, si me uicisses?" "Tunc vero me, inquit, et ante Alexandrum et ante Pyrrhum et ante alios posuissem." Inter alia prodigia, quae plurima fuisse traduntur, bouem Cn. Domitii cos. locutam "Roma caue tibi" refertur. Nabis, Lacedaemoniorum tyrannus, incitatus ab Aetolis, qui et Philippum et Antiochum ad inferendum bellum populo R. sollicitabant, a populo R. desciuit, sed bello aduersus Philopoemenen, Achaeorum praetorem, gesto ab Aetolis interfectus est. Aetoli quoque ab amicitia populi R. defecerunt. Cum societate iuncta Antiochus, Syriae rex, bellum Graeciae intulisset, complures urbes occupauit, inter quas Chalcidem et totam Euboeam. Res praeterea in Liguribus gestas et adparatum belli ab Antiocho continet.
The death of Hannibal, who poisoned himself at the court of Prusias, king of Bithynia, when he was about to be surrendered to the Romans. Publius Scipio Africanus died. Philopoemen, general of the Achaeans, was killed by the Messenians. Colonies were founded. War was waged against the Ligurians and Gauls in Spain.
Thermopylae again — the Romans defeat Antiochus. The war moves to Asia Minor.
Acilius Glabrio cos. Antiochum ad Thermopylas Philippo rege adiuuante uictum Graecia expulit idemque Aetolos subegit. P. Cornelius Scipio Nasica cos. aedem matris deum, quam ipse in Palatium intulerat, uir optimus a senatu iudicatus, dedicauit. Idemque Boios Gallos uictos in deditionem accepit, de his triumphauit. Praeterea naualia certamina prospera aduersus praefectos Antiochi regis referuntur.
War was waged against Antiochus in Asia. Regulus was chosen as leader of the senate. In addition, campaigns against the Ligurians and Gauls and in Spain and Sardinia are recorded. The praetor Lucius Aemilius Regillus defeated the fleet of King Antiochus at Myonnesus.
Magnesia. Scipio Asiaticus crushes Antiochus. Rome dominates from Spain to Syria.
L. Cornelius Scipio cos. legato Scipione Africano fratre (qui se legatum fratris futurum dixerat, si ei Graecia prouincia decerneretur, cum C. Laelio, qui multum in senatu poterat, ea prouincia dari uideretur) profectus ad bellum aduersus Antiochum regem gerendum, primus omnium Romanorum ducum in Asiam traiecit. Regillus aduersus regiam classem Antiochi feliciter pugnauit ad Myonnesum Rhodiis iuuantibus. Filius Africani captus ab Antiocho patri remissus est. Victo deinde Antiocho ab L. Cornelio Scipione adiuuante Eumene, rege Pergami, Attali filio, pax data est ea condicione ut omnibus prouinciis citra Taurum montem cederet. L. Cornelius Scipio, qui cum Antiocho debellauerat, cognomine fratri exaequatus Asiaticus appellatus. Colonia deducta est Bononia. Eumenis, quo iuuante Antiochus nictus erat, regnum ampliatum. Rhodiis quoque, qui et ipsi iuuerant, quaedam ciuitates concessae. Aemilius Regillus, qui praefectos Antiochi nauali proelio deuicerat, naualem triumphum deduxit. M'. Acilius Glabrio de Antiocho, quem Graecia expulerat, et de Aetolis triumphauit.
Lucius Scipio Asiaticus defeated King Antiochus at Sipylus. Peace was granted to Antiochus on terms. The consul Manlius Vulso subdued the Gauls called Galatians in Asia. The faults and misfortunes of the two Scipios, Africanus and Asiaticus, are related.
The settlement of Asia Minor. The trials of the Scipios. Africanus dies in exile.
M. Fuluius cos. in Epiro Ambracienses obsessos in deditionem accepit, Cephalloniam subegit, Aetolis perdomitis pacem dedit. Cn. Manlius cos., collega eius, Gallograecos, Tolostobogios et Tectosagos et Trocmos, qui Brenno duce in Asiam transierant, cum soli citra Taurum montem non apparerent, uicit. Eorum origo, et quo modo ea loca, quae tenent, occupauerint, refertur. Exemplum quoque uirtutis et pudicitiae in femina traditur. Quae cum regis Gallograecorum uxor fuisset, capta centurionem, qui ei uim intulerat, occidit. Lustrum a censoribus conditum est. Censa sunt ciuium capita CCLVIII milia CCCX. Cum Ariarathe, Cappadociae rege, amicitia iuncta est. Cn. Manlius contradicentibus X legatis, ex quorum consilio foedus cum Antiocho conscripserat, de Gallograecis acta pro se in senatu causa triumphauit. Scipio Africanus die ei dicta, ut quidam tradunt a Q. Petilio tr. pl., ut quidam a Naeuio, quod praeda ex Antiocho capta aerarium fraudasset, postquam is dies uenit, euocatus in rostra: "hac die, inquit, Quirites, Carthaginem uici", et prosequente populo Capitolium escendit. Inde ne amplius tribuniciis iniuriis uexaretur, in uoluntarium exilium Liternum concessit. Incertum ibi an Romae defunctus sit ; nam monumentum eius utrobique fuit. L. Scipio Asiaticus, frater Africani, eodem crimine peculatus accusatus damnatusque cum in uincula et carcerem duceretur, Tib. Sempronius Gracchus tr. pl., qui antea Scipionibus inimicus fuerat, intercessit et ob id beneficium Africani filiam duxit. Cum quaestores in bona eius publice possidenda missi essent, non modo in his ullum uestigium pecuniae regiae apparuit, sed ne quaquam tantum redactum, quantae summae erat damnatus. Conlatam a cognatis et amicis innumerabilem pecuniam accipere noluit; quae necessaria ei erant ad cultum, redempta.
War was waged against the Histrians. Campaigns in Liguria, Spain, and Sardinia. The Celtiberians and Lusitanians revolted in Spain. Colonies were founded. Sempronius Gracchus subdued the Celtiberians. The proconsul Tiberius Gracchus conducted successful operations in Spain.
The suppression of the Bacchanalia — Rome's first major religious persecution.
M. Aemilius cos. Liguribus subactis uiam Placentia usque Ariminum productam Flaminia iunxit. Initia luxuriae in urbem introducta ab exercitu Asiatico referuntur. Ligures, quicumque citra Appenninum erant, subacti sunt. Bacchanalia, sacrum Graecum et nocturnum, omnium scelerum seminarium, cum ad ingentis turbae coniurationem peruenisset, inuestigatum et multorum poena sublatum est. A censoribus L. Valerio Flacco et M. Porcio Catone, et belli et pacis artibus maximo, motus est senatu L. Quintius Flamininus, T. frater, eo quod, cum Galliam prouinciam consul obtineret, rogatus in conuiuio a Poeno Philippo, quem amabat, scorto nobili, Gallum quemdam sua manu occiderat siue, ut quidam tradiderunt, unum ex damnatis securi percusserat rogatus a meretrice Placentina, cuius amore deperibat. Extat oratio M. Catonis in eum. Scipio Literni decessit et, tamquam iungente fortuna circa idem tempus duo funera maximorum uirorum, Hannibal a Prusia, Bithyniae rege, ad quem uicto Antiocho confugerat, cum dederetur Romanis, qui ad exposcendum eum T. Quintium Flamininum miserant, ueneno mortem consciit. Philopoemen quoque, dux Achaeorum, uir maximus, a Messeniis occisus ueneno, cum ab his in bello captus esset. Coloniae Potentia et Pisaurum et Mutina et Parma deductae sunt. Praeterea res aduersus Celtiberos prospere gestas et initia causasque belli Macedonici continet. Cuius origo inde fluxit, quod Philippus aegre ferebat regnum suum a Romanis inminui et quod cogeretur a Thracibus alisque locis praesidia deducere.
The Bacchanalia were discovered and suppressed at Rome and throughout Italy. Perseus, son of Philip, became king of Macedon. Wars were waged in Spain, Liguria, and Sardinia. Colonies were founded.
Philip V dies. Perseus rebuilds Macedonian power.
Cum Philippus liberos eorum quos in uinculis habebat nobilium hominum conquiri ad mortem iussisset, Theoxena, uerita pro liberis suis admodum pueris regis libidinem, prolatis in medium gladiis et poculo in quo uenenum erat, suasit his ut imminens ludibrium morte effugerent et cum persuasisset, et ipsa se interemit. Certamina inter filios Philippi, Macedoniae regis, Persen et Demetrium, referuntur; et ut fraude fratris sui Demetrius fictis criminibus, inter quae accusatione parricidii et adfectati regni, primum petitus, ad ultimum, quoniam populi R. amicus erat, ueneno necatus est, regnumque Macedoniae mortuo Philippo ad Persen uenit. Item res in Liguribus et Hispania contra Celtiberos a compluribus ducibus feliciter gestas continet. Colonia Aquileia deducta est. Libri Numae Pompili in agro L. Petilli scribae sub Ianiculo a cultoribus agri arca lapidea clusi inuenti sunt et Graeci et Latini. In quibus cum pleraque dissoluendarum religionum praetor, ad quem delati erant, legisset, iurauit senatui contra rem p. esse ut legerentur seruarenturque. Ex S. C. in comitio exusti sunt. Philippus aegritudine animi confectus, quod Demetrium filium falsis Persei, alterius fili, in eum delationibus impulsus ueneno sustulisset, et de poena Persei cogitauit uoluitque Antigonum potius, amicum suum, successorem regni sui relinquere, sed in hac cogitatione morte raptus est. Perseus regnum excepit.
Philip, king of Macedon, after the death of his son Demetrius, whom he had killed though innocent, misled by the accusations of his brother Perseus, himself died of illness. Perseus succeeded to the throne. The Ligurians were subdued. Colonies were founded. The censors conducted a lustrum; two hundred and fifty thousand citizens were counted.
Campaigns in Liguria and Spain. The prelude to the Third Macedonian War.
Ignis in aede Vestae extinctus est. Tib. Sempronius Gracchus procos. Celtiberos uictos in deditionem accepit, monimentumque operum suorum Gracchurim, oppidum in Hispania, constituit. Et a Postumio Albino procos. Vaccaei ac Lusitani subacti sunt. Vterque triumphauit. Antiochus, Antiochi filius, obses a patre Romanis datus, mortuo fratre Seleuco qui patri defuncto successerat, in regnum Syriae ab urbe dimissus. Qui praeter religionem, qua multa templa magnifica multis sociis fecit, Athenis Iouis Olympi et Antiochiae Capitolini, uilissimum regem egit. Lustrum a censoribus conditum est. Censa sunt ciuium capita CCLVIII milia CCXCIIII. Q. Voconius Saxa tr. pl. legem tulit, nequis mulierem heredem institueret. Suasit legem M. Cato. Extat oratio eius. Praeterea res aduersus Liguras et Histros et Sardos et Celtiberos a compluribus ducibus prospere gestas et initia belli Macedonici continet, quod Perseus, Philippi filius, moliebatur. Miserat ad Carthaginienses legationem et ab his nocte audita erat. Sed et alias Graeciae ciuitates sollicitabat.
Perseus, king of Macedon, was preparing war against the Romans. Envoys were sent to him. Eumenes, king of Pergamum, came to Rome and complained about Perseus's war preparations. War was waged against the Ligurians. The censors conducted a lustrum.
The Third Macedonian War begins. Roman commanders are mediocre.
Q. Fuluius Flaccus censor templum Iunonis Laciniae tegulis marmoreis spoliauit, ut aedem, quam dedicabat, tegeret. Tegulae ex S. C. reportatae. Eumenes, Asiae rex, in senatu de Perseo, Macedoniae rege, questus est, cuius iniuriae in populum R. referuntur. Ob quas bello ei indicto P. Licinius Crassus cos., cui mandatum erat, in Macedoniam transiit leuibusque expeditionibus, equestribus proeliis, in Thessalia cum Perseo [felici] euentu pugnauit. Inter Masinissam et Carthaginienses de agro fuit lis. Dies his a senatu ad disceptandum datus. Legati missi ad socias ciuitates regesque rogandos ut in fide permanerent, dubitantibus Rhodiis. Lustrum a censoribus conditum est. Censa sunt ciuium capita CCLXVII milia CCXXXI. Res praeterea aduersus Corsos et Liguras prospere gestas continet.
War was undertaken against Perseus, king of Macedon. King Eumenes was nearly killed by Perseus's treachery at Delphi. The consul Publius Licinius Crassus, having set out for Macedonia, was defeated by Perseus in several battles. The Rhodians sent envoys on behalf of Perseus.
Continued frustrations. Aemilius Paullus takes command.
Praetores aliquot eo quod auare et crudeliter prouincias administrauerant, damnati sunt. P. Licinius Crassus procos. complures in Graecia urbes expugnauit et crudeliter corripuit. Ob id captiui qui ab eo sub corona uenierant ex S. C. postea restituti sunt. Item a praefectis classium Romanarum multa impotenter in socios facta. Res a Perse rege in Thracia prospere gestas continet uictis Dardanis et Illyrico, cuius rex erat Gentius. Motus, qui in Hispania ab Olonico factus erat, ipso interempto consedit. M. Aemilius Lepidus a censoribus princeps senatus lectus.
The consul Lucius Aemilius Paullus waged war against Perseus, king of Macedon, and engaged him at Pydna. Perseus's army was routed. Perseus fled and later surrendered.
Pydna. Paullus destroys the Macedonian phalanx in under an hour. Macedonia ceases to exist.
Q. Marcius Philippus per inuios saltus penetrauit Macedoniam et complures urbes occupauit. Rhodii miserunt legatos Romam minantes ut Perseo auxilio essent, nisi populus R. cum illo pacem atque amicitiam iungeret. Indigne id latum. Cum id bellum L. Aemilio Paulo, sequentis anni cos. iterum mandatum esset, Paulus in contione precatus ut, quidquid diri populo R. immineret, in suam domum conuerteretur, et in Macedoniam profectus uicit Persen totamque Macedoniam in potestatem redegit. Antequam confligeret, praedixit exercitui ne miraretur quod luna proxima nocte defectura erat. Gentius quoque, rex Illyricorum, cum rebellasset, a L. Anicio praetore uictus uenit in deditionem et cum uxore ac liberis et propinquis Romam missus. Legati Alexandrini a Cleopatra et Ptolemaeo regibus uenerunt querentes de Antiocho, rege Syriae, quod is bellum inferret. Perseus sollicitatis in auxilium Eumene, rege Pergami, et Gentio, rege Illyricorum, quia iis pecuniam quam promiserat non dabat, relictus ab his est.
Lucius Aemilius Paullus settled affairs in Macedonia. Ten commissioners sent by the senate arranged the affairs of Macedonia. Macedonia was divided into four regions and made free. Gentius, king of the Illyrians, was defeated and surrendered. The senate dealt with the matter of the Rhodians and Eumenes.
The aftermath. Polybius is deported to Rome. The world order is Roman.
Perseus ab Aemilio Paulo in Samothace captus est. Cum Antiochus, Syriae rex, Ptolemaeum et Cleopatram, Aegypti reges, obsideret et missis ad eum a senatu legatis, qui iuberent ab solo regis absisteret, editisque mandatis consideraturum se quid faciendum esset respondisset, unus ex legatis Popilius uirga regem circumscripsit iussitque, ante quam circulo excederet, responsum daret. Qua asperitate effecit ut Antiochus bellum omitteret. Legationes gratulantium populorum atque regum in senatu admissae, Rhodiorum, qui eo bello contra populum R. fauerant, exclusa. Postera die cum de eo quaereretur ut his bellum indiceretur, causam in senatu patriae suae legati egerunt; nec tamquam socii, nec tamquam hostes dimissi. Macedonia in prouinciae formam redacta Aemilius Paulus repugnantibus militibus ipsius propter minorem praedam et contradicente Seruio Sulpicio Galba triumphauit et Persen cum tribus filiis duxit ante currum. Cuius triumphi laetitia ne solida ei contingeret, duorum filiorum funeribus insignita est, quorum alterius mors triumphum patris praecessit, alterius secuta est. Lustrum a censoribus conditum est. Censa sunt ciuium capita CCCXII milia DCCCV. Prusias, Bithyniae rex, Romam, ut senatui gratias ageret ob uictoriam ex Macedonia partam, uenit et Nicomedem filium senatui commendauit. Rex plenus adulationis libertum se populi R. dicebat.
Lucius Aemilius Paullus triumphed over Perseus. Perseus was put into custody. Antiochus, king of Syria, having invaded Egypt, yielded to the authority of the Roman envoys. Prusias, king of Bithynia, came to Rome and commended himself and his son to the senate. A lustrum was conducted; three hundred and twelve thousand Roman citizens were counted. Laws against electoral bribery were passed.
The aftermath of Pydna: Rome dismantles the Macedonian monarchy and deports a thousand Achaean hostages — among them the historian Polybius.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Obsequens; Florus 1.30–34; Eutropius 4.1–8
Eumenes rex Romam uenit, qui Macedonico bello medium egerat. Ne aut hostis iudicatus uideretur, si exclusus esset, aut liberatus crimine, si admitteretur, in commune lex lata est ne cui regi Romam uenire liceret. Claudius Marcellus cos. Alpinos Gallos, C. Sulpicius Gallus cos. Liguras subegit. Legati Prusiae regis questi sunt de Eumene quod fines suos popularetur dixeruntque eum conspirasse cum Antiocho aduersus populum R. Societas cum Rhodiis deprecantibus iuncta est. Lustrum a censoribus conditum est. Censa sunt ciuium capita CCCXXXVII milia XXII. Princeps senatus M. Aemilius Lepidus. Ptolemaeus, Aegypti rex, pulsus regno a minore fratre missis ad eum legatis restitutus est. Ariarathe, Cappadociae rege, mortuo filius eius Ariarathes regnum accepit et amicitiam cum populo R. per legatos renouauit. Res praeterea aduersus Liguras et Corsos et Lusitanos uario euentu gestas et motus Syriae mortuo Antiocho, qui filium Antiochum puerum admodum reliquerat, continet. Hunc Antiochum puerum cum Lysia tutore Demetrius, Seleuci filius, qui Romae obses fuerat, clam, quia non dimittebatur, a Roma . . . interemit et ipse in regnum receptus. L. Aemilius Paulus, qui Persen uicerat, mortuus. Cuius tanta abstinentia fuit ut cum ex Hispania et ex Macedonia immensas opes rettulisset, uix ex auctione eius redactum sit, unde uxori eius dos solueretur. Pomptinae paludes a Cornelio Cethego cos., cui ea prouincia euenerat, siccatae agerque ex his factus.
King Eumenes came to Rome, having taken an ambiguous stance during the Macedonian war. So that he would neither appear to have been judged an enemy if turned away, nor acquitted of the charge if admitted, a general law was passed that no king should be permitted to come to Rome. The consul Claudius Marcellus subdued the Alpine Gauls; the consul Gaius Sulpicius Gallus subdued the Ligurians. Envoys of King Prusias complained that Eumenes was ravaging his territory and had conspired with Antiochus against the Roman people. An alliance was concluded with the Rhodians at their request. A census was held and the lustrum performed. 337,022 citizens were counted. Marcus Aemilius Lepidus was named princeps senatus. Ptolemy, king of Egypt, having been expelled from his kingdom by his younger brother, was restored through envoys sent to him. On the death of Ariarathes, king of Cappadocia, his son Ariarathes received the kingdom and renewed the friendship with the Roman people through envoys. The book also contains campaigns against the Ligurians, Corsicans, and Lusitanians fought with varying success, the disturbances in Syria after the death of Antiochus (who had left his young son Antiochus), the killing of the boy Antiochus and his guardian Lysias by Demetrius son of Seleucus who had been a hostage at Rome and secretly escaped because he was not released, and his accession to the throne. Lucius Aemilius Paullus, who had defeated Perseus, died. His integrity was so great that although he had brought back immense wealth from Spain and Macedonia, the proceeds of his estate barely sufficed to repay his wife's dowry. The Pomptine marshes were drained by the consul Cornelius Cethegus, to whom that province had fallen, and farmland was created from them.
Rome polices the eastern Mediterranean while Lusitanian guerrillas in Spain expose the limits of senatorial generalship.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Obsequens; Florus 1.30–34; Eutropius 4.1–8
Cn. Tremellio pr. multa dicta est, quod cum M. Aemilio Lepido, pontifice maximo, iniuriose contenderat sacrorumque quam magistratuum ius potentius fuit. Lex de ambitu lata. Lustrum a censoribus conditum est. Censa sunt ciuium capita CCCXVIII milia CCCXVI. Princeps senatus lectus Aemilius Lepidus. Inter Ptolemaeos fratres, qui dissidebant, foedus ictum, ut alter Aegypto, alter Cyrenis regaret. Ariarathes, Cappadociae rex, consilio Demetri, Syriae regis, et uiribus pulsus regno a senatu restitutus est. Missi a senatu qui inter Masinissam et Carthaginienses de agro iudicarent. C. Marcius cos. aduersus Dalmatas primum parum prospere, postea feliciter pugnauit. Cum quibus bello confligendi causa fuit quod Illyrios, socios populi R., uastauerant eamdemque gentem Cornelius Nasica cos. domuit. Q. Opimius cos. Transalpinos Liguras, qui Massiliensium oppida, Antipolim et Nicaeam, uastabant, subegit. Praeterea res in Hispania a compluribus parum prospere gestas continet. Consules anno quingentesimo nonagesimo octauo ab urbe condita magistratum kal. ian. inire coeperunt. Mutandi comitia causa fuit quod Hispani rebellabant. Legati ad disceptandum inter Carthaginienses et Masinissam missi nuntiauerunt uim naualis materiae se Carthagine deprehendisse. Aliquot praetores a prouinciis auaritiae nomine accusati damnati sunt.
The praetor Gnaeus Tremellius was fined for having contended disrespectfully with Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, the pontifex maximus; the authority of religious office prevailed over that of magistrates. A law against electoral bribery was passed. A census was held and the lustrum performed. 328,316 citizens were counted. Marcus Aemilius Lepidus was again named princeps senatus. A treaty was made between the Ptolemaic brothers, whereby one received Egypt and the other Cyrene. King Ariarathes, expelled from Cappadocia by King Demetrius, was restored by the senate. Envoys were sent by the senate to mediate between Massinissa and the Carthaginians over disputed territory. The consul Gaius Marcius fought the Dalmatians, at first unsuccessfully, then with success. The consul Cornelius Nasica subdued the Dalmatians. The consul Quintus Opimius subdued the Transalpine Ligurians who had attacked the towns of Massilia. The book also contains unsuccessful campaigns in Spain. In the five hundred and ninety-eighth year of the city, consuls began to enter office on the first of January, the change being caused by the Spanish rebellion. Envoys noted substantial timber stockpiles in Carthage. Several praetors were tried for extortion.
Cato the Elder's relentless demand that Carthage be destroyed gains traction in the Senate as diplomatic pretexts for war multiply.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Obsequens; Florus 1.30–34; Eutropius 4.1–8
Lustrum a censoribus conditum est. Censa sunt ciuium capita CCCXXIIII milia. Semina tertii Punici belli referuntur. Cum in finibus Carthaginiensium ingens Numidarum exercitus duce Arcobarzane, Syphacis nepote, diceretur esse, M. Porcius Cato suasit ut Carthaginiensibus, qui exercitum specie contra Masinissam, re contra Romanos accitum in finibus haberent, bellum indiceretur. Contra dicente P. Cornelio Nasica placuit legatos mitti Carthaginem, qui specularentur quid ageretur. Castigato senatu Carthaginiensium, quod contra foedus et exercitum et nauales materias haberent, pacem inter eos et Masinissam facere uoluerunt, Masinissa agro, de quo lis erat, cedente. Sed Gisgo, Hamilcaris filius, homo seditiosus, qui tum in magistratu erat, cum senatus pariturum se iudicio legatis dixisset, ita populum concitauit bellum aduersus Romanos suadendo, ut legatos, quo minus uiolarentur, fuga explicuerit. Id nuntiantes infestum iam senatum Carthaginiensibus infestiorem fecerunt. M. Porcius Cato filii in praetura mortui funus tenuissimo ut potuit (nam pauper erat) sumptu fecit. Andriscus, qui se Persei filium, regis quondam Macedoniae, ingenti adseueratione mentiretur, Romam missus. M. Aemilius Lepidus, qui princeps senatus sextis iam censoribus lectus erat, antequam expiraret, praecepit filiis lecto se strato linteis sine purpura efferrent, in reliquum funus ne plus quam aeris decies consumerent: imaginum specie, non sumptibus nobilitari magnorum uirorum funera solere. De ueneficiis quaesitum: Publilia et Licinia, nobiles feminae, quae uiros suos consulares necasse insimulabantur, cognita causa, cum praetori praedes uades dedissent, cognatorum decreto necatae sunt. Gulussa, Masinissae filius, nuntiauit Carthagine dilectus agi, classem conparari et haud dubie bellum strui. Cum Cato suaderet ut his bellum indiceretur, P. Cornelio Nasica dicente nihil temere faciundum, placuit X legatos mitti exploratum. L. Licinius Lucullus A. Postumius Albinus coss. cum dilectum seuere agerent nec quemquam gratia dimitterent, ab tribunis pl., qui pro amicis suis uacationem impetrare non poterant, in carcerem coniecti sunt. Cum Hispaniense bellum parum prospere aliquotiens gestum ita confudisset ciuitatem Romanam, ut ne hi quidem inuenirentur qui aut tribunatum exciperent aut legati ire uellent, P. Cornelius Aemilianus processit et excepturum se militiae genus, quodcumque imperatum esset, professus est. Quo exemplo omnes ad studium militandi concitauit. Lucullus cos., cum Claudius Marcellus, cui successerat, pacasse omnes Celtiberiae populos uideretur, Vaccaeos et Cantabros et alias incognitas adhuc in Hispania trentes subegit. Ibi P. Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus, L. Pauli filius, Africani nepos, set adoptiuus, prouocatorem barbarum tribunus militum occidit et in expugnatione Intercatiae urbis maius etiamnunc periculum adiit. Nam murum primus transcendit. Seruius Sulpicius Galba praetor male aduersus Lusitanos pugnauit. Cum legati ex Africa cum oratoribus Carthaginiensium et Gulussa, Masinissae filio, redissent dicerentque et exercitum se et classem Carthagine deprehendisse, perrogari sententias placuit. Catone et aliis principibus senatus suadentibus ut in Africam confestim transportaretur exercitus, quoniam Cornelius Nasica dicebat nondum sibi iustam causam belli uideri, placuit ut bello abstinerent, si Carthaginienses classem exussissent et exercitum dimisissent ; si minus, proximi consules de bello Punico referrent. Cum locatum a censoribus theatrum exstrueretur, P. Cornelio Nasica auctore tamquam inutile et nociturum publicis moribus ex S. C. destructum est populusque aliquamdiu stans ludos spectauit. Carthaginienses cum aduersus foedus bellum Masinissae intulissent, uicti ab eo annos habente XCII et sine pulpamine mandere et siccum gustare panem tantum solito insuper Romanum bellum meruerunt. Motus praeterea Syriae et bella inter reges gesta referuntur. Inter quos motus Demetrius, Syriae rex, occisus est.
A census was held and the lustrum performed. 324,000 citizens were counted. The seeds of the Third Punic War are described. When a large Numidian army under Arcobarzanes, nephew of Syphax, was encamped in Carthaginian territory, the Carthaginians armed against them without Roman permission. Marcus Porcius Cato argued this force threatened Rome and urged war; Publius Cornelius Nasica counselled against it. Envoys were sent to investigate and found that Carthage possessed ships and timber against their treaty obligations. Hamilcar's son Gesco incited popular resistance, forcing the Roman envoys to flee. Marcus Porcius Cato held a modest funeral for his deceased son despite his own poverty. Andriscus, claiming to be a son of Perseus, was sent to Rome. Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, chosen princeps senatus by six pairs of censors, instructed his sons to conduct his funeral without purple linens and with minimal expense. An investigation of poisonings was held; noble women Publilia and Licinia were accused of murdering their husbands, both former consuls, and executed by decision of their kinsmen. Gulussa reported Carthaginian military preparations. Ten commissioners were sent to investigate. The consuls were imprisoned for excessive severity in conducting the levy. Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus volunteered for service in Spain, inspiring others. Marcellus pacified the Celtiberians; Lucullus subdued the Vaccaeans and Cantabrians. Scipio Aemilianus distinguished himself by killing a challenger in single combat and being the first to scale the walls of Intercatia. Praetor Servius Sulpicius Galba fought the Lusitanians unsuccessfully. Envoys confirmed Carthaginian military preparations. The senate resolved to demand the destruction of their ships; if refused, the next consuls would initiate war. The senate decreed the destruction of a completed theatre on the grounds that it was harmful to public morals, on the motion of Publius Cornelius Nasica. Massinissa, despite his ninety-two years, defeated the Carthaginians, inadvertently provoking Roman retaliation. Demetrius I of Syria was killed during internal conflicts.
The Third Punic War begins with a bungled Roman siege of Carthage, while in Greece Andriscus's pretender revolt flares and is extinguished.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Obsequens; Florus 1.30–34; Eutropius 4.1–8
Tertii Punici belli initium altero et sescentesimo ab Vrbe condita anno, intra quintum annum, quam erat coeptum, consummati. Inter M. Porcium Catonem et Scipionem Nasicam, quorum alter sapientissimus uir in ciuitate habebatur, alter optimus uir etiam iudicatus a senatu erat, diuersis certatum sententiis est, Catone suadente bellum et ut tolleretur delereturque Carthago, Nasica dissuadente. Placuit tamen, quod contra foedus naues haberent, quod exercitum extra fines duxissent, quod socio populi R. et amico Masinissae arma intulissent, quod filium eius Gulussam, qui cum legatis Romanis erat, in oppidum non recepissent, bellum his indici. Prius quam ullae copiae in naues imponerentur, Vticenses legati Romam uenerunt se suaque omnia dedentes. Ea legatio uelut omen grata patribus, acerba Carthaginiensibus fuit. Ludi Diti patri ad Tarentum ex praecepto librorum facti, qui ante annum centesimum primo Punico bello, quingentesimo et altero anno ab urbe condita facti erant. Legati XXX Romam uenerunt, per quos se Carthaginienses dedebant. Catonis sententia euicit ut in decreto perstaretur et ut consules quam primum ad bellum profiscerentur. Qui ubi in Africam transierunt, acceptis quos imperauerant CCC obsidibus et armis omnibus instrumentisque belli, si qua Carthagine erant, cum ex auctoritate patrum iuberent ut in alium locum, dum a mari X milia passuum ne minus remotum, oppidum facerent, indignitate rei ad bellandum Carthaginienses compulerunt. Obsideri obpugnarique coepta est Carthago a L. Marcio M'. Manilio coss. In qua obpugnatione cum neglectos ab una parte muros duo tribuni temere cum cohortibus suis inrupissent et ab oppidanis grauiter caederentur, a Scipione Orfiniato expliciti sunt. Per quem et castellum Romanorum, quod nocte expugnabant, paucis equitibus iuuantibus liberatum est castrorumque, quae Carthaginienses omnibus copiis ab urbe pariter egressi obpugnabant, liberatorum is ipse praecipuam gloriam tulit. Praeterea cum ab inrita obpugnatione Carthaginis consul (alter enim Romam ad comitia ierat) exercitum duceret aduersus Hasdrubalem (cum ampla manu saltum iniquum insederat) suasit primo consuli ne tam iniquo loco confligeret. Victus deinde conplurium, qui et prudentiae et uirtuti eius inuidebant, sententiis et ipse saltum ingressus est. Cum, sicut praedixerat, fusus fugatusque esset Romanus exercitus et duae cohortes ab hoste obsiderentur, cum paucis equitum turmis in saltum reuersus liberauit eas et incolumes reduxit. Quam uirtutem eius et Cato, uir promptioris ad uituperandum linguae, in senatu sic prosecutus est ut diceret reliquos, qui in Africa militarent, umbras uolitare, Scipionem uigere, et populus R. eo fauore complexus ut comitiis plurimae eum tribus consulem scriberent, cum hoc per aetatem non liceret. Cum L. Scribonius tr. pl. rogationem promulgasset, ut Lusitani, qui in fidem populo R. dediti ab Seruio Galba in Galliam uenissent, in libertatem restituerentur, M. Cato acerrime suasit. Extat oratio in Annalibus ipsius inclusa. Q. Fuluius Nobilior ei, saepe ab eo in senatu laceratus, respondit pro Galba; ipse quoque Galba cum se damnari uideret, complexus duos filios praetextatos et Sulpicii Galli filium, cuius tutor erat, ita miserabiliter pro se locutus est ut rogatio antiquaretur. Exstant tres orationes eius, duae aduersus Libonem tr. pl. rogationemque eius habitae de Lusitanis, una contra L. Cornelium Cethegum, in qua Lusitanos prope se castra habentis caesos fatetur, quod compertum habuerit, equo atque homine suo ritu immolatis per speciem pacis adoriri exercitum suum in animo habuisse. Andriscus quidam, ultimae sortis homo, Persei se regis filium ferens et mutato nomine Philippus uocatus cum ab urbe Romana, quo illum Demetrius, Syriae rex, ob hoc ipsum mendacium miserat, clam profugisset, multis ad falsam eius fabulam uelut ad ueram coeuntibus, contracto exercitu totam Macedoniam aut uoluntate incolentium aut armis occupauit. Fabulam autem talem finxerat: "Ex paelice se et Perseo rege ortum traditum educandum Cretensi cuidam esse, ut in belli casus quod ille cum Romanis gereret, aliquod uelut semen regiae stirpis exstaret. Hydramyti se educatum usque ad XII aetatis annum, patrem eum esse credentem a quo educaretur, ignarum generis fuisse sui. Adfecto deinde eo, cum prope ad ultimum finem uitae esset, detectam tandem sibi originem suam falsaeque matri libellum datum signo Persei regis signatum, quem sibi traderet, cum ad puberem aetatem uenisset, obtestationesque ultimas adiectas, ut res in occultato ad id tempus seruaretur. Pubescenti libellum traditum in quo relicti sibi duo thensauri a patre dicerentur. Tum scienti mulierem se subditum esse, uerum stirpem ignoranti edidisse genus atque obtestatam, ut prius quam manaret ad Eumenen res, Perseo inimicum, excederet his locis, ne interficeretur. Eo se exterritum, simul sperantem aliquod a Demetrio auxilium in Syriam se contulisse atque ibi primum quis esset palam expromere ausum."
The Third Punic War began in the six hundred and second year from the founding of the city, and was completed within five years of its commencement. Marcus Porcius Cato and Scipio Nasica debated war: Cato, the wisest man in the city, argued that Carthage must be destroyed; Nasica, judged the best man by the senate, counselled that it be spared. War was declared because Carthage had maintained a fleet, kept armies beyond its borders, made war on Massinissa an ally of Rome, and refused to admit Gulussa. The Uticans surrendered themselves and their possessions. The Secular Games were held at Tarentum. Thirty Carthaginian envoys came to Rome; Cato's opinion prevailed and the war was maintained. The consuls Lucius Marcius Censorinus and Manius Manilius demanded three hundred hostages and all weapons, then ordered Carthage to be rebuilt fifteen miles from the sea, which forced continued resistance. During the siege, operations went badly until Scipio Orfitianus distinguished himself. Scipio relieved besieged forts and prevented defeats. He dissuaded the consul from attacking Hasdrubal's fortified position, but jealousy prevailed and the legions were routed; Scipio rescued them. Even Cato praised Scipio's courage, saying he alone was truly alive while the rest were 'mere shades.' The people elected Scipio consul despite his youth. The tribune Lucius Scribonius proposed freeing the Lusitanians enslaved by Servius Sulpicius Galba; Cato supported him, but Galba's tearful defence won acquittal. Andriscus, claiming to be Perseus's son Philip, secretly fled Rome, gathered an army, and occupied Macedonia. He claimed to be Perseus's illegitimate son, raised in Crete, who received sealed documents revealing his identity at maturity.
Scipio Aemilianus razes Carthage to the ground and Mummius sacks Corinth — in a single year Rome obliterates two of the ancient world's greatest cities.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Obsequens; Florus 1.30–34; Eutropius 4.1–8
Thessalia, cum et illam inuadere armis atque occupare Pseudophilippus uellet, per legatos Romanorum auxiliis Achaeorum defensa est. Prusias, rex Bithyniae, omnium humillimorumque uitiorum, a Nicomede filio adiuuante Attalo, rege Pergami, occisus, habebat alterum filium, qui pro superiore ordine dentium enatum habuisse unum os continens dicitur. Cum III legati ad pacem inter Nicomedem et Prusiam faciendam ab Romanis missi essent, cum unus ex his multis cicatricibus sartum caput haberet, alter pedibus aeger esset, tertius ingenio socors haberetur, M. Cato dixit "eam in legationem, nec caput nec pedes nec cor habere." In Syria, quae eo tempore stirpe generis parem Macedonum regis, inertia socordiaque similem Prusiae regem habebat, iacente eo in ganea et lustris Hammonius regnabat, per quem et amici omnes regis et Laodice regina et Antigonus, Demetri filius, occisi sunt. Masinissa, Numidiae rex, maior XC annis decessit, uir insignis. Inter cetera iuuenalia opera, quae ad ultimum edidit adeo etiam neruis in senecta uirgit, ut post sextum et octogesimum annum filium genuerit. Inter tres liberos eius (maximus natu Micipsa, Gulussa, Mastanabal, qui etiam Graecis litteris eruditus erat) P. Scipio Aemilianus, cum commune his regnum pater reliquisset et diuidere eos arbitro Scipione iussisset, partes administrandi regni diuisit. Item Phameae Hamilconi, praefecto equitum Carthaginiensium, uiro forti et cuius praecipua opera Poeni utebantur, persuasit ut ad Romanos cum equitatu suo transiret. Ex tribus legatis qui ad Masinissam missi erant, M. Claudius Marcellus cohorta tempestate fluctibus obrutus est. Carthaginienses Hasdrubalem, Masinissae nepotem, quem praetorem habebant, hominem proditionis suspectum, in curia occiderunt ; quae suspicio inde manauit, quod propinquus esset Gulussae Romanorum auxilia iuuantis. P. Scipio Aemilianus cum aedilitatem peteret, consul a populo dictus. Quoniam per annos consuli fieri non licebat, cum magno certamine suffragantis plebis et repugnantibus ei aliquamdiu patribus, legibus solutus et consul creatus. M'. Manilius aliquot urbes circumpositas Carthagini expugnauit. Pseudophilippus in Macedonia, caeso cum exercitu P. Iuuentio praetore, ab Q. Caecilio uictus captusque est, et reuicta Macedonia.
Thessaly was defended from the invasion of the false Philip through Roman envoys and the assistance of the Achaeans. King Prusias of Bithynia, a man of every vile and base quality, was killed by his son Nicomedes with the assistance of King Attalus of Pergamon. Marcus Porcius Cato criticised three envoys sent to mediate, saying the embassy had neither head, nor feet, nor heart, on account of their respective afflictions. In Syria, Alexander Balas, an indolent king, was overthrown. His minister Hammonius murdered the king, queen Laodice, and the young Antigonus son of Demetrius. King Massinissa of Numidia died at over ninety years of age, still vigorous enough to have fathered a son at eighty-six. He left his undivided kingdom to three sons, directing Scipio Aemilianus to apportion their roles. Scipio persuaded the Carthaginian cavalry commander Phameas to defect. Marcus Claudius Marcellus drowned in a storm while on an embassy. The Carthaginians executed Hasdrubal, believing him a traitor because of his kinship with the Roman ally Gulussa. Scipio Aemilianus, standing for the aedileship, was elected consul despite being below the legal age; the law was suspended. Manius Manilius stormed several cities near Carthage. The false Philip was defeated and captured in Macedonia by Quintus Caecilius Metellus after having killed the praetor Publius Juventius and his army.
Rome organises its new African and Greek provinces while the Lusitanian war-leader Viriathus humiliates successive Roman commanders in Spain.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Polybius 31–33; Obsequens
Carthago, in circuitum XXIII milia patens, magno labore obsessa et per partes capta est; primum a Mancino legato, deinde a Scipione cos., cui extra sortem Africa prouincia data erat. Carthaginienses portu nouo, quia uetus obstructus a Scipione erat, facto et contracta clam exiguo tempore ampla classe infeliciter nauali proelio pugnauerunt. Hasdrubalis quoque, ducis eorum, castra ad Nepherim oppidum loco difficili sita cum exercitu deleta sunt a Scipione, qui tandem expugnauit septingentesimo anno quam erat condita. Spoliorum maior pars Siculis, quibus ablata erant, reddita. Vltimo urbis excidio cum se Hasdrubal Scipioni dedisset, uxor eius, quae paucis ante diebus de marito impetrare non potuerat ut ad uictorem transfugerent, in medium se flagrantis urbis incendium cum duobus liberis ex arce praecipitauit. Scipio exemplo patris sui, Aemili Pauli, qui Macedoniam uicerat, ludos fecit transfugasque ac fugitiuos bestiis obiecit. Belli Achaici semina referuntur haec, quod legati Romani ab Achaeis pulsati sint Corinthi, missi ut eas ciuitates, quae sub dicione Philippi fuerant, ab Achaico concilio secernerent.
Carthage, extending twenty-three miles in circumference, was besieged with great difficulty and captured in stages: first by the legate Mancinus, then by the consul Scipio, to whom the province of Africa had been assigned outside the regular allotment. The harbour and the inner harbour, called the Cothon, were also taken. Massinissa's grandson Gulussa died; his kingdom was divided among his sons. The book also contains operations in Macedonia against the false Philip and in Spain against the Lusitanians.
Viriathus fights Rome to a standstill and the Celtiberian fortress of Numantia defies every army sent against it.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Polybius 31–33; Obsequens
Cum Achaeis, qui in auxilio Boeotos et Chalcidenses habebant, Q. Caecilius Metellus ad Thermopylas bello conflixit. Quibus uictis dux eorum Critolaus mortem sibi ueneno consciuit. In cuius locum Diaeus, Achaici motus primus auctor, ab Achaeis dux creatus ad Isthmon a L. Mummio cos. uictus est. Qui omni Achaia in deditionem accepta Corinthon ex S. C. diruit, quia ibi legati Romani uiolati erant. Thebae quoque et Chalchis, quae auxilio fuerant, dirutae. Ipse L. Mummius abstinentissimum uirum egit, nec quicquam ex his operibus ornamentisque quae praediues Corinthos habuit in domum eius peruenit. Q. Caecilius Metellus de Andrisco triumphauit, P. Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus de Carthagine et Hasdrubale. Viriathus in Hispania, primum ex pastore uenator, ex uenatore latro, mox iusti quoque exercitus dux factus, totam Lusitaniam occupauit, M. Vetilium praetorem fuso eius exercitu cepit, post quem C. Plautius praetor nihilo felicius rem gessit; tantumque terroris is hostis intulit ut aduersus eum consulari opus esset et duce et exercitu. Praeterea motus Syriae et bella inter reges gesta referuntur. Alexander, homo ignotus et incertae stirpis, occiso, sicut ante dictum est, Demetrio rege in Syria regnabat. Hunc Demetrius, Demetri filius, qui a patre quondam ob incertos belli casus ablegatus Cnidon fuerat, contempta socordia inertiaque eius, adiuuante Ptolemaeo, Aegypti rege, cuius filiam Cleopatram in matrimonium acceperat, bello interemit. Ptolemaeus grauiter in caput uulneratus inter curationem, dum ossa medici terebrare conantur, expirauit, atque in locum eius frater minor Ptolemaeus qui Cyrenis regnabat, successit. Demetrius ob crudelitatem quam in suos per tormenta exercebat, ab Diodoto quodam, uno ex subiectis, qui Alexandri filio bimulo admodum regnum adserebat, bello superatus Seleuceam confugit. referuntur. L. Mummius de Achaeis triumphauit, signa aerea marmoreaque et tabulas pictas in triumpho tulit.
Quintus Caecilius Metellus engaged the Achaeans in battle at Thermopylae; they had the Boeotians and Chalcidians as allies. When they were defeated, their leader Critolaus killed himself with poison. In his place Diaeus was made general of the Achaeans and was also defeated. Carthage was destroyed in its seven hundredth year by the consul Scipio, who was given the cognomen 'Africanus' — the same name his grandfather had won by adoption. Scipio was instructed by the senate to organise the province; he sold the territory of those states that had fought against the Roman people and granted immunity and land to those that had assisted. Diaeus was defeated by the consul Lucius Mummius at the Isthmus and Corinth was destroyed. All the bronze and painted works of art from Corinth were collected for public display. The book also contains operations in Macedonia against a false Perseus.
The Numantine War drags on through Roman incompetence, culminating in the humiliating capitulation of the consul Mancinus and the treaty the Senate repudiates.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Appian, Punica; Polybius 36–38
Appius Claudius cos. Salassos, gentem Alpinam, domuit. Alter Pseudophilippus in Macedonia a L. Tremellio quaestore cum exercitu caesus est. Q. Caecilius Metellus procos. Celtiberos cecidit et a Q. Fabio procos. magna pars Lusitaniae expugnatis aliquot urbibus recepta est. Acilius senator Graece res Romanas scribit.
The consul Appius Claudius subdued the Salassi, an Alpine people. A second false Philip in Macedonia was defeated and killed by the quaestor Lucius Tremellius with his army. The proconsul Quintus Caecilius Metellus defeated the Celtiberians. Lustanians, after the death of their leader Viriathus — whom the quaestor Servilius Caepio had hired assassins to kill — surrendered to the Romans.
Scipio Aemilianus starves Numantia into submission, while in Rome Tiberius Gracchus stakes his tribunate — and his life — on redistributing public land to the dispossessed.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Appian, Punica; Polybius 36–38
Lustrum a censoribus conditum est. Censa sunt ciuium capita CCCXXVIII milia CCCCXLII. Cum Macedonum legati questum de D. Iunio Silano praetore uenissent, quod acceptis pecuniis prouinciam spoliasset, et senatus de querellis eorum uellet cognoscere, T. Manlius Torquatus, pater Silani, petiit impetrauitque ut sibi cognitio mandaretur; et domi causa cognita filium condemnauit abdicauitque. Ac ne funeri quidem eius, cum suspendio uitam finisset, interfuit sedensque domi potestatem consultantibus ex instituto fecit. Q. Fabius procos. rebus in Hispania prospere gestis labem imposuit pace cum Viriatho aequis condicionibus facta. Viriathus a proditoribus, consilio Seruili Caepionis, interfectus est et ab exercitu suo multum comploratus ac nobiliter sepultus, uir duxque magnus et per XIIII annos quibus cum Romanis bellum gessit, frequentius superior.
A census was held and the lustrum performed. 328,442 citizens were counted. When envoys from Macedonia came to complain about the praetor Decimus Junius Silanus, who had plundered the province after accepting bribes, and the senate referred the case to his father Torquatus, Torquatus investigated and, having found his son guilty, disinherited him and forbade him to attend his funeral. His son hanged himself. The consul Junius Brutus in Spain gave lands and a town to those who had served under Viriathus. War with Numantia is described, and the cowardice of the Roman commanders there.
The turbulent aftermath of Tiberius Gracchus's murder: his land commission presses on, Attalus bequeaths Pergamum to Rome, and Scipio Aemilianus dies under mysterious circumstances.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Appian, Punica; Polybius 36–38
Tribuni pleb. quia non inpetrarent ut sibi denos quos uellent milites eximere liceret, consules in carcerem duci iusserunt. Iunius Brutus cos. in Hispania iis qui sub Viriatho militauerant agros et oppidum dedit, quod uocatum est Valentia. M. Popilius a Numantinis, cum quibus pacem factam inritam fieri senatus censuerat, cum exercitu fusus fugatusque est. C. Hostilio Mancino cos. sacrificante pulli ex cauea euolauerunt; conscendenti deinde in nauem,ut in Hispaniam proficisceretur, accidit uox: "Mane, Mancine". Quae auspicia tristia fuisse euentu probatum est. Victus enim a Numantinis et castris exutus, cum spes nulla seruandi exercitus esset, pacem cum his fecit ignominiosam, quam ratam esse senatus uetuit. XXXX milia Romanorum ab IIII milibus Numantinorum uicta erant. Decimus Iunius Lusitaniam expugnationibus urbium usque ad Oceanum perdomuit, et cum flumen Obliuionem transire nollent, raptum signifero signum ipse transtulit et sic ut transgrederentur persuasit. Alexandri filius, rex Syriae, X annos admodum habens, a Diodoto, qui Tryphon cognominabatur, tutore suo, per fraudem occisus est corruptis medicis qui illum calculi dolore consumi ad populum mentiti, dum secant, occiderunt.
The tribunes of the plebs, because they could not obtain the right to exempt ten soldiers each of their choosing, ordered the consuls to be led to prison. The consul Junius Brutus in Spain gave lands and a town called Valentia to those who had served under Viriathus. The consul Aemilius Lepidus was denounced in the senate by the consul Gaius Hostilius Mancinus for wanting to go to war against the Vaccaeans. Consul Mancinus fought unsuccessfully in Spain; surrounded by the Numantines, he concluded a shameful treaty which the senate ordered to be annulled, and Mancinus was handed over to the Numantines. A census was held and the lustrum performed. 317,933 citizens were counted. Decimus Junius Brutus fought successfully in Further Spain against the Gallaecians.
Rome absorbs the province of Asia and skirmishes along the Alpine frontier, while Gaius Gracchus prepares to take up his brother's unfinished revolution.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Appian, Punica 74–135; Florus 1.31
Decimus Iunius Brutus in Hispania ulteriore feliciter aduersus Gallaecos pugnauit. Dissimili euentu M. Aemilius Lepidus procos. aduersus Vaccaeos rem gessit, clademque similem Numantinae passus est. Ad exsoluendum foederis Numantini religione populum Mancinus, cum huius rei auctor fuisset, deditus Numantinis non est receptus. Lustrum a censoribus conditum est. Censa sunt ciuium capita CCCXVII milia DCCCCXXXIII. Fuluius Flaccus cos. Vardeos in Illyrico subegit. M. Cosconius praetor in Thracia cum Scordiscis prospere pugnauit. Cum bellum Numantinum uitio ducum non sine pudore publico duraret, delatus est ultro Scipioni Africano a senatu populoque R. consulatus ; quem cum illi capere ob legem, quae uetabat quemquam iterum consulem fieri, non liceret, sicut priori consulatu legibus solutus est. Bellum seruile in Sicilia ortum cum opprimi a praetoribus non potuisset, C. Fuluio cos. mandatum est. Huius belli initium fuit Eunus seruus, natione Syrus, qui contracta agrestium seruorum manu et solutis ergastulis iusti exercitus numerum impleuit. Cleon quoque alter seruus ad LXX milia seruorum contraxit, et iunctis copiis aduersus exercitum Romanum bellum saepe gesserunt.
Decimus Junius Brutus fought successfully in Further Spain against the Gallaecians. The proconsul Marcus Aemilius Lepidus campaigned against the Vaccaeans with results as disastrous as those at Numantia. Mancinus, the instigator of the Numantine treaty, was handed over to the Numantines but they refused to accept him. A census was held and the lustrum performed. 317,933 citizens were counted. The consul Fulvius Flaccus subdued the Vardaeans in Illyricum; the praetor Marcus Cosconius fought successfully against the Scordisci in Thrace. Because of the repeated failings of commanders, the consulship was offered to Scipio Africanus, but this was prevented by law. When the praetors could not suppress the Slave War in Sicily, the consul Gaius Fulvius was sent. A Syrian slave named Eunus started this war by gathering the rural slaves and expanding his forces. Another slave leader, Cleon, raised seventy thousand slaves, and when their forces united, Roman armies were frequently defeated.
Gaius Gracchus enacts sweeping reforms — grain subsidies, jury courts, colonial foundations — before the Senate unleashes lethal force and three thousand of his supporters are killed.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Appian, Punica 74–135; Florus 1.31
Scipio Africanus Numantiam obsedit et corruptum licentia luxuriaque exercitum ad seuerissimam militiae disciplinam reuocauit. Omnia deliciarum instrumenta recidit, duo milia scortorum a castris eiecit, militem cotidie in opere habuit et XXX dierum frumentum ad septenos uallos ferre cogebat. Aegre propter onus incedenti dicebat: "cum gladio te uallare scieris, uallum ferre desinito"; alii scutum parum habiliter ferenti, "amplius eum scutum iusto ferre, neque id se reprehendere, quando melius scuto quam gladio uteretur ". Quem militem extra ordinem deprehendit, si Romanus esset, uitibus, si extraneus, uirgis cecidit. Iumenta omnia, ne exonerarent militem, uendidit. Saepe aduersus eruptiones hostium feliciter pugnauit. Vaccaei obsessi liberis coniugibusque trucidatis ipsi se interemerunt. Scipio amplissima munera missa sibi ab Antiocho, rege Syriae, cum celare aliis imperatoribus regum munera mos esset, pro tribunali accepturum se esse dixit omniaque ea quaestorem referre in publicas tabulas iussit: ex his se uiris fortibus dona esse daturum. Cum undique Numantiam obsidione clusisset et obsessos fame uideret urgeri, hostes qui pabulatum exierant, uetuit occidi, quia diceret uelocius eos absumpturos frumenti quod haberent, si plures fuissent.
Scipio Africanus besieged Numantia and recalled his corrupted and undisciplined army to the strictest military discipline. He forbade all luxurious equipment, expelled two thousand prostitutes from the camp, made the soldiers work daily, and ordered them to carry thirty days' provisions and seven stakes. He sold all pack animals so that no one could be relieved of their burden. He made cutting remarks to those who struggled with their loads. Soldiers found out of formation were beaten with vine staffs if Roman or with rods if allied. He fought successfully against the Numantine sorties. When the Vaccaeans were besieged, they massacred their families and killed themselves. King Antiochus VII of Syria sent valuable gifts to Scipio, who accepted them publicly and directed them to be given as rewards to brave soldiers. When Numantia was completely blockaded, Scipio allowed those who came out seeking food to pass, so that their return would exhaust supplies more quickly.
The founding of Narbo Martius marks Rome's first permanent foothold in Transalpine Gaul, as the political backlash against the Gracchan reforms reshapes senatorial politics.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Appian, Punica 74–135; Florus 1.31
Tib. Sempronius Gracchus trib. pleb. cum legem agrariam ferret aduersus uoluntatem senatus et equestris ordinis: nequis ex publico agro plus quam mille iugera possideret, in eum furorem exarsit ut M. Octauio collegae causam diuersae partis defendenti potestatem lege lata abrogaret, seque et C. Gracchum fratrem et Appium Claudium socerum triumuiros ad diuidendum agrum crearet. Promulgauit et aliam legem agrariam, qua sibi latius agrum patefaceret, ut idem triumuiri iudicarent, qua publicus ager, qua priuatus esset. Deinde cum minus agri esset quam quod diuidi posset sine offensa etiam plebis, quoniam eos ad cupiditatem amplum modum sperandi incitauerat, legem se promulgaturum ostendit ut his, qui Sempronia lege agrum accipere deberent, pecunia quae regis Attali fuisset diuideretur. Heredem autem populum Romanum reliquerat Attalus, rex Pergami, Eumenis filius. Tot indignitatibus commotus grauiter senatus, ante omnis T. Annius consularis. Qui cum in senatu in Gracchum perorasset, raptus ab eo ad populum delatusque plebi, rursus in eum pro rostris contionatus est. Cum iterum trib. pleb. creari uellet Gracchus, auctore P. Cornelio Nasica in Capitolio ab optimatibus occisus est, ictus primum fragmentis subselli, et inter alios qui in eadem seditione occisi erant insepultus in flumen proiectus. Res praeterea in Sicilia uario euentu aduersus fugitiuos gestas continet.
The tribune Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus, against the wishes of the senate and the equestrian order, carried an agrarian law: that no one should hold more than one thousand iugera of public land. He was driven to such a pitch of fury that he removed from office his colleague Marcus Octavius, who was vetoing the law, and had himself, his brother Gaius, and his father-in-law Appius Claudius appointed as the three-man commission for distributing land. He then proposed a second law to the same effect, that the triumviral commission should judge what was public and what was private land. When not enough land was available, he promised to distribute among the people the money bequeathed by King Attalus. The former consul Titus Annius, who spoke against Gracchus in the senate, was arrested and accused before the people. With the equestrian order and the best part of the senate opposed to him, when Gracchus sought re-election as tribune, he was killed on the Capitol by the optimates led by Publius Cornelius Nasica; struck with a piece of a bench, his body was cast into the river unburied.
Jugurtha of Numidia buys Roman senators and murders rivals with impunity, provoking a scandal that exposes the corruption at the heart of the Republic.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Appian, Iberica; Florus 1.33–34
Numantini fame coacti ipsi se per uicem traicientes trucidauerunt, captam urbem Scipio Africanus deleuit et de ea triumphauit XIIII anno post Carthaginem deletam. P. Rupilius cos. in Sicilia cum fugitiuis debellauit. Aristonicus, Eumenis regis filius, Asiam occupauit, cum testamento Attali regis legata populo R. libera esse deberet. Aduersus eum P. Licinius Crassus cos., cum idem pontifex max. esset, quod numquam antea factum erat, extra Italiam profectus proelio uictus et occisus est. M. Perperna cos. uictum Aristonicum in deditionem accepit. Q. Pompeius Q. Metellus, tunc primum uterque ex plebe facti censores, lustrum condiderunt. Censa sunt ciuium capita CCCXVIII milia DCCCXXIII praeter pupillos, pupillas et uiduas. Q. Metellus censor censuit ut cogerentur omnes ducere uxores liberorum creandorum causa. Extat oratio eius, quam Augustus Caesar, cum de maritandis ordinibus ageret, uelut in haec tempora scriptam in senatu recitauit. C. Atinius Labeo trib. pleb. Q. Metellum censorem, a quo in senatu legendo praeteritus erat, de Saxo deici iussit ; quod ne fieret, ceteri tribuni plebis auxilio tuerunt. Cum Carbo trib. plebi rogationem tulisset, ut eumdem tribunum pleb., quotiens uellet, creare liceret, rogationem eius P. Africanus grauissima oratione dissuasit ; in qua dixit Ti. Gracchum iure caesum uideri. C. Gracchus contra suasit rogationem, sed Scipio tenuit. Bella inter Antiochum, Syriae, et Phraaten, Parthorum regem, gesta nec magis quietae res Aegypti referuntur: Ptolemaeus Euergetes cognominatus, ob nimiam crudelitatem suis inuisus, incensa a populo regia clam Cypron profugit, et cum sorori eius Cleopatrae, quam filia eius uirgine per uim compressa atque in matrimonium ducta repudiauerat, regnum a populo datum esset, infensus filium quem ex illa habebat in Cypro occidit caputque eius et manus et pedes matri misit. Seditiones a triumuiris Fuluio Flacco et C. Graccho et C. Papirio Carbone agro diuidendo creatis excitatae. Cum P. Scipio Africanus aduersaretur fortisque ac ualidus pridie domum se recepisset, mortuus in cubiculo inuentus est. Suspecta fuit, tamquam ei uenenum dedisset, Sempronia uxor hinc maxime quod soror esset Gracchorum cum quibus simultas Africano fuerat. De morte tamen eius nulla quaestio acta. Defuncto eo acrius seditiones triumuirales exarserunt. C. Sempronius cos. aduersus Iapydas primo male rem gessit, mox uictoria cladem acceptam emendauit uirtute Decimi Iuni Bruti, eius qui Lusitaniam subegerat.
The Numantines, driven by starvation, killed one another in turn. Scipio Africanus captured and destroyed the city, celebrating a triumph fourteen years after the destruction of Carthage. The consul Publius Rupilius ended the Slave War in Sicily by defeating the fugitive slaves. Aristonicus, son of King Eumenes, occupied Asia, which had been bequeathed to Rome as a free territory. The consul Publius Licinius Crassus Mucianus, who was simultaneously pontifex maximus, was defeated and killed in battle against Aristonicus. The consul Marcus Perperna subsequently defeated Aristonicus and accepted his surrender. The first plebeian censors, Quintus Pompeius and Quintus Metellus, performed the lustrum. 318,823 citizens were counted. Metellus the censor proposed that all citizens be compelled to marry for the sake of producing children; his speech survives, which Augustus Caesar later quoted. The tribune Gaius Atinius Labeo, whom the censor Metellus had omitted from the senatorial list, ordered him to be thrown from the Tarpeian Rock; the other tribunes prevented this. When Carbo as tribune proposed that the same man might be re-elected tribune as often as the people wished, Scipio Africanus spoke against it, saying that Tiberius Gracchus had been justly killed. Gaius Gracchus supported the proposal, but Scipio prevailed. The book also describes the disturbances in Syria and the cruelty of Ptolemy Euergetes in Egypt. Scipio Africanus was found dead in his bed; suspicion fell upon his wife Sempronia, sister of the Gracchi, but no investigation was held. After his death the seditions caused by the triumviral land commission intensified. The consul Gaius Sempronius fought unsuccessfully against the Iapydes until Decimus Junius Brutus achieved victory.
The Jugurthine War begins in earnest, but early Roman campaigns are plagued by bribery, incompetence, and humiliating surrenders in the Numidian desert.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Appian, Iberica; Florus 1.33–34
L. Aurelius cos. bellantes Sardos subegit. M. Fuluius Flaccus primus transalpinos Liguras domuit bello, missus in auxilium Massiliensium aduersus Salluuios Gallos, qui fines Massiliensium populabantur. L. Opimius praetor Fregellanos, qui defecerant, in deditionem accepit, Fregellas diruit. Pestilentia in Africa ab ingenti lucustarum multitudine et deinde necatarum strage fuisse traditur. Lustrum a censoribus conditum est. Censa sunt ciuium capita CCCXCIIII milia DCCXXXVI. C. Gracchus, Tiberi frater, trib. plebis, eloquentior quam frater, perniciosas aliquot leges tulit, inter quas frumentariam, ut senis et triente frumentum plebi daretur; alteram legem agrariam quam et frater eius tulerat; tertiam, qua equestrem ordinem tunc cum senatu consentientem corrumperet, ut sescenti ex equite in curiam sublegerentur et, quia illis temporibus CCC tantum senatores erant, DC equites CCC senatoribus admiscerentur, id est ut equester ordo bis tantum uirium in senatu haberet. Et continuato in alterum annum tribunatu legibus agrariis latis effecit ut complures coloniae in Italia deducerentur et una in solo dirutae Carthaginis, quo ipse triumuir creatus coloniam deduxit. Praeterea res a Q. Metello cos. aduersus Baleares gestas continet, quos Graeci Gymnesios appellant, quia aestatem nudi exigunt. Baleares a teli missu appellati aut a Balio, Herculis comite ibi relicto, cum Hercules ad Geryonem nauigaret. Motus quoque Syriae referuntur, in quibus Cleopatra Demetrium uirum suum et Seleucum filium indignata quod occiso patre eius a se iniussu suo diadema sumpsisset, interemit.
The consul Lucius Aurelius subdued the rebellious Sardinians. Marcus Fulvius Flaccus was the first to subdue the Transalpine Ligurians, having been sent to assist the Massiliots against the Gallic Salluvii. The praetor Lucius Opimius accepted the surrender of Fregellae and destroyed the city. A plague of locusts in Africa caused widespread destruction. A census was held and the lustrum performed. 394,736 citizens were counted. The tribune Gaius Gracchus, a more powerful orator than his brother Tiberius, carried several dangerous laws: that grain should be sold to the people at a reduced price, that land should be distributed among the common people, and that six hundred equestrians should be added to the three hundred senators. Continuing in office for a second tribuneship, he passed further laws, founding colonies in Italy and one at Carthage, where he himself went as a founding commissioner. The book also describes the war of Quintus Metellus against the Balearic islanders, their customs and the disputed origin of their name, and the affairs of Syria, where Cleopatra Thea killed her husband Demetrius and her son Seleucus.
Quintus Caecilius Metellus restores Roman military discipline in Africa, but Jugurtha's guerrilla tactics deny him a decisive victory.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Sallust, Jugurtha; Florus 1.36
C. Sextius procos. uicta Salluuiorum gente coloniam Aquas Sextias condidit, ob aquarum copiam e caldis frigidisque fontibus atque a nomine suo ita appellatas. Cn. Domitius procos. aduersus Allobrogas ad oppidum Vindalium feliciter pugnauit. Quibus bellum inferendi causa fuit quod Toutomotulum, Salluuiorum regem, fugientem recepissent et omni ope iuuissent, quodque Aeduorum agros, sociorum populi R., uastassent. C. Gracchus seditioso tribunatu acto cum Auentinum quoque armata multitudine occupasset, a L. Opimio cos. ex S. C. uocato ad arma populo pulsus et occisus est, et cum eo Fuluius Flaccus consularis, socius eiusdem furoris. Q. Fabius Maximus cos., Pauli nepos, aduersus Allobrogas et Bituitum, Aruernorum regem, feliciter pugnauit. Ex Bituiti exercitu occisa milia CXX; ipse cum ad satisfaciendum senatui Romam profectus esset, Albam cusdodiendus datus est, quia contra pacem uidebatur, ut in Galliam remitteretur. Decretum quoque est, ut Congonnetiacus, filius eius, conprehensus Romam mitteretur. Allobroges in deditionem recepti. L. Opimius accusatus apud populum a. Q. Decio trib. pl., quod indemnatos ciues in carcerem coniecisset, absolutus est.
The proconsul Gaius Sextius, having conquered the Salluvian people, founded the colony of Aquae Sextiae, so named for the abundance of hot and cold springs and after his own name. The consul Gnaeus Domitius fought successfully against the Allobroges near the town of Vindalium. The reason war was declared on them was that they had received the fugitive Gallic king Teutomalius and had ravaged the territory of the Aedui, allies of the Roman people. A census was held and the lustrum performed. 317,823 citizens were counted. Tumults caused by the seditions of Gaius Gracchus are described. Lucius Opimius, having been armed by a senatorial decree, killed Gaius Gracchus on the Aventine along with Fulvius Flaccus, who with him had been attempting to stir up revolution.
Gaius Marius, a new man from Arpinum, wins the consulship by popular acclaim and ends the Jugurthine War — though his quaestor Sulla claims the credit for Jugurtha's capture.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Sallust, Jugurtha; Florus 1.36
Q. Marcius cos. Stynos, gentem Alpinam, expugnauit. Micipsa, Numidiae rex, mortuus regnum tribus filiis reliquit: Atherbali, Hiempsali, Iugurthae, fratris filio, quem adoptauerat. L. Caecilius Metellus Dalmatas subegit. Iugurtha Hiempsalem fratrem petiit bello. Qui uictus occiditur; Atherbalem regno expulit; is a senatu restitutus est. L. Caecilius Metellus Cn. Domitius Ahenobarbus censores duos et XXX senatu mouerunt. Praeterea motus Syriae regumque continet.
The consul Quintus Marcius conquered the Stoenian Alpine people. Micipsa, king of Numidia, died, leaving his kingdom to his three sons: Adherbal, Hiempsal, and Jugurtha, an adopted son. The consul Gnaeus Domitius fought the Allobroges and the king of the Arverni, Bituitus, and defeated them. A census was held and the lustrum performed. 394,336 citizens were counted.
Marius reforms the Roman army and annihilates the Teutones at Aquae Sextiae and the Cimbri at Vercellae, saving Italy from a barbarian horde that had terrorised it for a decade.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Sallust, Jugurtha; Florus 1.36
C. Porcius cos. in Thracia male aduersus Scordiscos pugnauit. Lustrum a censoribus conditum est. Censa sunt ciuium capita CCCXCIIII milia CCCXXXVI. Aemilia, Licinia, Marcia, uirgines Vestales, incesti damnatae sunt, idque incestum quem ad modum et commissum et deprehensum et uindicatum sit re fertur. Cimbri, gens uaga populabundi in Illyricum uenerunt. Ab his Papirius Carbo cos. cum exercitu fusus est. Liuius Drusus cos. aduersus Scordiscos, gentem a Gallis oriundam, in Thracia feliciter pugnauit.
The consul Gaius Porcius fought unsuccessfully against the Scordisci in Thrace. A census was held and the lustrum performed. 394,336 citizens were counted. The Vestal Aemilia was condemned for unchastity. Jugurtha attacked and killed Hiempsal and drove Adherbal from his kingdom; Adherbal was restored by the senate.
Marius's sixth consulship and the violent suppression of Saturninus and Glaucia reveal how deeply demagoguery and political murder have corroded republican norms.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Sallust, Jugurtha; Florus 1.36
Atherbal bello petitus ab Iugurtha et in oppido Cirtha obsessus contra denuntiationem senatus ab eo occisus est, et ob hoc bellum Iugurthae indictum, idque Calpurnius Bestia cos. gerere iussus pacem cum Iugurtha iniussu populi et senatus fecit. Iugurtha fide publica euocatus ad indicandos auctores consiliorum suorum, quod multos pecunia in senatu corrupisse dicebatur, Romam uenit et propter caedem admissam in regulum quemdam nomine Massiuam, qui regnum eius populo R. inuisi adfectabat, Romae interfectum cum periclitaretur causam capitis dicere, clam profugit et cedens urbe fertur dixisse : "O urbem uenalem et cito perituram, si emptorem inuenerit." A. Postumius legatus infeliciter proelio aduersus Iugurtham gesto pacem quoque adiecit ignominiosam, quam non esse seruandam senatus censuit.
Adherbal, attacked by Jugurtha and besieged in the town of Cirta, was killed by him despite a warning from the senate; for this reason war was declared on Jugurtha. The consul Calpurnius Bestia was sent against him, but having been bribed, made a shameful peace which the senate refused to ratify. Jugurtha came to Rome under a guarantee of safe conduct; there he also had his rival Massiva assassinated. Expelled from the city, he is said to have remarked as he left: 'City for sale, and doomed to perish if only it finds a buyer!'
An uneasy calm settles over Roman politics as the Italian allies seethe over their exclusion from citizenship despite fighting Rome's wars for generations.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Florus 1.38 (Cimbri); Eutropius 5.1–2
Q. Caecilius Metellus cos. duobus proeliis Iugurtham fudit totamque Numidiam uastauit. M. Iunius Silanus cos. aduersus Cimbros infeliciter pugnauit. Legatis Cimbrorum sedem et agros in quibus consisterent postulantibus senatus negauit. M. Minucius procos. aduersus Thracas prospere pugnauit. L. Cassius cos. a Tigurinis Gallis, pago Heluetiorum, qui a ciuitate secesserant, in finibus Nitiobrogum cum exercitu caesus est. Milites, qui ex ea caede superauerant, obsidibus datis et dimidia rerum omnium parte, ut incolumes dimitterentur, cum hostibus pacti sunt.
The consul Quintus Caecilius Metellus defeated Jugurtha in two battles and laid waste to all of Numidia. The consul Marcus Junius Silanus fought unsuccessfully against the Cimbri. Envoys of the Cimbri sought land and a place to settle; they were refused. The consul Marcus Minucius fought unsuccessfully against the Thracians. The Vestal Licinia was condemned for unchastity.
The tribune Marcus Livius Drusus attempts a grand bargain of reform and Italian citizenship, only to be assassinated — igniting the powder keg of allied revolt.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Florus 1.38 (Cimbri); Eutropius 5.1–2
Iugurtha pulsus a C. Mario Numidia cum auxilio Bocchi, Maurorum regis, adiutus esset, caesis proelio Bocchi quoque copiis, nolente Boccho bellum infeliciter susceptum diutius sustinere uinctus ab eo et Mario traditus est; in qua re praecipua opera L. Corneli Syllae, quaestoris C. Mari, fuit.
After Jugurtha had been driven out by Gaius Marius, and since Numidia was supported by Bocchus, king of the Moors, Bocchus's forces too were defeated in battle. Finding that the war was going badly for him, Bocchus asked for peace and, persuaded by Lucius Sulla the quaestor, surrendered Jugurtha, who was brought to Marius in chains.
The Social War erupts as Rome's Italian allies rise in coordinated rebellion, establish their own capital at Corfinium, and inflict shocking defeats on Roman armies.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Florus 1.38 (Cimbri); Eutropius 5.1–2
Italiam petituri, eo quod diceret Romanos uinci non posse, a Boiorige, feroci iuuene, occisus est. Ab isdem hostibus Cn. Manlius cos. et Q. Seruilius Caepio procos. uicti proelio castris quoque binis exuti sunt, militum milia LXXX occisa, calonum et lixarum XL (secundum Antiatem) apud Arausionem. Caepionis, cuius temeritate clades accepta erat, damnati bona publicata sunt, primi post regem Tarquinium imperiumque ei abrogatum. In triumpho C. Mari ductus ante currum eius Iugurtha cum duobus filiis et in carcere necatus est. Marius triumphali ueste in senatum uenit, quod nemo ante eum fecerat, eique propter metum Cimbrici belli continuatus per complures annos est consulatus. Secundo et tertio absens consul creatus quartum consulatum dissimulanter captans consecutus est. Cn. Domitius pont. max. populi suffragio creatus est. Cimbri uastatis omnibus quae inter Rhodanum et Pyrenaeum sunt, per saltum in Hispaniam transgressi ibique multa loca populati a Celtiberis fugati sunt, reuersique in Galliam in Veliocassis se Teutonis coniunxerunt.
The Cimbrian envoy Boiorix killed Teutobodus, who had urged the Cimbri to leave Italy on the grounds that the Romans could not be defeated. The consul Gnaeus Manlius and the proconsul Quintus Servilius Caepio were defeated by these same enemies and lost their camps as well. Eighty thousand soldiers and forty thousand camp followers and servants were killed. Caepio, whose rashness had caused the disaster, was condemned and his property confiscated — the first such event since King Tarquinius. The sons of Jugurtha were placed in custody at Venusia. The consular Publius Rutilius, who had served as legate of the consul Metellus, was tried for extortion and, though innocent, was condemned; he went into exile at Smyrna. A census was held and the lustrum performed. 394,336 citizens were counted.
Rome fights desperately on multiple fronts across Italy while the Lex Julia concedes citizenship to loyal allies, splitting the rebel coalition.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Florus 1.38 (Cimbri); Eutropius 5.1–2
M. Antonius praetor in Ciliciam maritimos praedones--id est piratas--persecutus est. C. Marius cos. summa ui oppugnata a Teutonis et Ambronibus castra defendit. Duobus deinde proeliis circa Aquas Sextias eosdem hostes deleuit, in quibus caesa traduntur hostium CC milia, capta XC. Marius absens quinto cos. creatus est. Triumphum oblatum, donec et Cimbros uinceret, distulit. Cimbri cum repulso ab Alpibus fugatoque Q. Catulo procos., qui fauces Alpium obsidebat, (ad flumen Athesim cohortem quae castellum editum insederat, reliquerat, quae tamen uirtute sua explicata fugientem procos. exercitumque consecuta est) in Italiam traiecissent, iunctis eiusdem Catuli et C. Mari exercitibus, proelio uicti sunt ; in quo caesa traduntur hostium milia CXL, capta LX. Marius totius ciuitatis consensu exceptus pro duobus triumphis qui offerebantur, uno contentus fuit. Primores ciuitatis, qui ei aliquamdiu ut nouo homini ad tantos honores euecto inuiderant, conserua tam ab eo rem p. fatebantur. Publicius Marcellus matre occisa primus in culleo insutus in mare praecipitatus est. Ancilia cum strepitu mota esse, antequam Cimbricum bellum consummaretur, refertur. Bella praeterea inter Syriae reges gesta continet.
The praetor Marcus Antonius pursued the pirates — that is, corsairs — in Cilicia. The consul Gaius Marius, under a fierce assault from the Teutons and Ambrones at his camp, restrained his soldiers with great difficulty. He then fell upon them at a suitable moment and defeated them; reportedly one hundred thousand of the enemy were either killed or captured. The orator Lucius Aurelius Orestes successfully petitioned for the return of those whom Quintus Caecilius Metellus Numidicus, as censor, had expelled from the senate. Beyond the Alps, wars against the barbarian peoples and the internal disorders in Syria and the succession of kings are described.
Sulla distinguishes himself crushing the southern Italian rebels, and further citizenship laws drain the insurgency of its remaining support.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Appian, Bellum Civile 1.34–53; Florus 2.6
L. Apuleius Saturninus, adiuuante C. Mario et per milites occiso A. Nunnio competitore tribunus plebis per uim creatus, non minus uiolenter tribunatum, quam petierat, gessit et cum legem agrariam per uim tulisset, diem dixit. Qui cum a bonis ciuibus defenderetur, ne causa certaminum esset, in exilium uoluntarium, Rhodum profectus est, ibique audiendo et legendo magnos uiros auocabatur. Profecto C. Marius, seditionis auctor, cui sextum consulatum pecunia per tribus sparsa emerat, aqua et igni interdixit. Idem Apuleius Saturninus trib. pleb. C. Memmium, candidatum consulatus, quoniam aduersarium eum actionibus suis timebat, occidit. Quibus rebus concitato senatu, in cuius causam et C. Marius, homo uarii mutabilis ingenii consiliique semper secundum fortunam, transierat, oppressus armis cum Glaucia praetore et aliis eiusdem furoris sociis bello quodam interfectus est. Q. Caecilius Metellus ab exilio ingenti totius ciuitatis fauore reductus est. M'. Aquilius procos. in Sicilia bellum seruile excitatum confecit.
Lucius Apuleius Saturninus, with the support of Gaius Marius and by having his rival Aulus Nunnius murdered, was violently elected tribune of the plebs, and conducted his tribuneship no less violently. He carried an agrarian law by force. When Gaius Memmius, a candidate for the consulship who was expected to obstruct his legislation, was killed at the elections, the senate passed the ultimate decree. Marius armed troops; Saturninus and the praetor Gaius Servilius Glaucia, along with others of their faction, were overpowered on the Capitol, seized the Curia, and were killed. Gnaeus Domitius, tribune of the plebs, carried a law transferring the election of priests from the college to the people. A census was held and the lustrum performed. 394,336 citizens were counted. Quintus Caecilius Metellus Numidicus was restored from exile to universal acclaim.
The Social War sputters to an end, but the peace is illusory — the question of who will command the lucrative war against Mithridates sets Marius and Sulla on a collision course.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Appian, Bellum Civile 1.34–53; Florus 2.6
Cum M'. Aquilius de pecuniis repetundis causam diceret, ipse iudices rogare noluit ; M. Antonius, qui pro eo perorabat, tunicam a pectore eius discidit, ut honestas cicatrices ostenderet. Indubitate absolutus est. Cicero eius rei solus auctor. T. Didius procos. aduersus Celtiberos feliciter pugnauit. Ptolemaeus, Cyrenarum rex, cui cognomen Apionis fuit, mortuus heredem populum R. reliquit et eius regni ciuitates senatus liberas esse iussit. Ariobarzanes in regnum Cappadociae a L. Cornelio Sylla reductus est. Parthorum legati a rege Arsace missi uenerunt ad Syllam ut amicitiam populi R. peterent. P. Rutilius, uir summae innocentiae, quoniam legatus C. Muci procos. a publicanorum iniuriis Asiam defenderat, inuisus equestri ordini penes quem iudicia erant, repetundarum damnatus in exilium missus est. C. Sentius praetor aduersus Thracas infeliciter pugnauit. Senatus, cum impotentiam equestris ordinis in iudiciis exercendis ferre nollet, omni ui eniti coepit ut ad se iudicia transferret, sustinente causam eius M. Liuio Druso trib. pleb., qui ut uires sibi adquireret, perniciosa spe largitionum plebem concitauit. Praeterea motus Syriae regnumque continet.
When Manius Aquilius was defending himself against a charge of extortion and would not himself petition the jurors, Marcus Antonius, who was pleading for him, tore open his tunic and showed them the honourable scars on his breast; after this he was immediately acquitted. Lucius Domitius, proconsul in Gaul, was killed in battle. A census was held and the lustrum performed. 910,000 citizens were counted. The patrician Publius Clodius, accused of adultery with Caesar's wife, was acquitted. The book also contains operations against Thracian and other barbarian peoples, and the affairs of Mauretania.
Sulla marches his legions on Rome itself — the first Roman general to conquer his own city — then sails east to fight Mithridates while Marius and Cinna seize power behind him.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Appian, Bellum Civile 1.55–77; Velleius 2.15–19
M. Liuius Drusus trib. pleb., quo maioribus uiribus senatus causam susceptam tueretur, socios et Italicos populos spe ciuitatis Romanae sollicitauit, iisque adiuuantibus per uim legibus agrariis frumentariisque latis iudiciariam quoque pertulit ut aequa parte iudicia penes senatum et equestrem ordinem essent. Cum deinde promissa sociis ciuitas praestari non posset, irati Italici defectionem agitare coeperunt. Eorum coetus coniurationesque et orationes in consiliis principum referuntur. Propter quae Liuius Drusus inuisus etiam senatui factus uelut socialis belli auctor, incertum a quo domi occisus est.
Marcus Livius Drusus, tribune of the plebs, in order to strengthen the cause of the senate which he had taken up, stirred up the allies and Italian peoples with the hope of Roman citizenship. Having forced through agrarian and grain laws by violence, he also carried a judiciary law to the effect that the courts should be shared equally between the senate and the equestrian order. When he could not fulfil his promise of citizenship to the Italians, the angry allies began to plot rebellion. Their secret meetings and conspiracies and the oaths they swore are described. Drusus was assassinated in his own home by an unknown hand. Accounts of the Thracian campaigns are given.
Marius and Cinna's reign of terror: proscriptions, severed heads displayed on the Rostra, and the aged Marius dying in his seventh consulship consumed by paranoia.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Appian, Bellum Civile 1.55–77; Velleius 2.15–19
Italici populi defecerunt: Picentes, Vestini, Marsi, Paeligni, Marrucini, Samnites, Lucani. Initio belli a Picentibus moto Q. Seruilius procos. in oppido Asculo cum omnibus ciuibus R. qui in eo oppido erant occisus est. Saga populus sumpsit. Seruius Galba a Lucanis comprehensus unius feminae opera, ad quam deuertebatur, e captiuitate receptus est. Aesernia et Alba coloniae ab Italicis obsessae sunt. Auxilia deinde Latini nominis et exterarum gentium missa populo R. et expeditiones inuicem expugnationesque urbium referuntur.
The Italian peoples revolted: the Picentines, Vestini, Marsi, Paeligni, Marrucini, Samnites, and Lucanians. The war was begun by the Picentines: the proconsul Quintus Servilius was killed in the territory of Asculum with all his attendants. The Romans assumed military dress. All Italians who had remained faithful were given citizenship. The consul Publius Rutilius fought an unsuccessful battle and was killed. The consul Lucius Julius Caesar fought successfully against the Samnites. Aesernia was besieged by the Italians with great suffering for the garrison.
Sulla sacks Athens, routs Mithridates's armies at Chaeronea and Orchomenus, and imposes a punishing peace on Pontus before turning his gaze back toward Rome.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Appian, Bellum Civile 1.55–77; Velleius 2.15–19
L. Iulius Caesar cos. male aduersus Samnites pugnauit. Nola colonia in potestatem Samnitium uenit cum L. Postumio praetore qui ab his interfectus est. Complures populi ad hostes defecerunt. Cum P. Rutilius cos. parum prospere aduersus Marsos pugnasset et in eo proelio cecidisset, C. Marius, legatus eius, meliore euentu cum hostibus acie conflixit. Seruius Sulpicius Paelignos proelio fudit. Q. Caepio, legatus Rutili, cum obsessus prospere in hostes inrupisset, et ob eum successum aequatum ei cum C. Mario esset imperium, temerarius factus et circumuentus insidiis fuso exercitu cecidit. L. Iulius Caesar cos. feliciter aduersus Samnites pugnauit. Ob eam uictoriam Romae saga posita sunt. Et ut uaria belli fortuna esset, Aeserna colonia cum M. Marcello in potestatem Samnitium uenit, sed et C. Marius proelio Marsos fudit, Hierio Asinio, praetore Marrucinorum, occiso. C. Caelius in Gallia transalpina Salluuios rebellantes uicit.
The consul Lucius Julius Caesar fought badly against the Samnites. Nola fell to the Samnites along with the praetor Lucius Postumius, who was killed by them. Gaius Marius, serving as legate to the consul, fought a successful battle against the enemy. The Marsi were defeated by the consul Lucius Porcius Cato and the praetor Gaius Marius in several engagements. Lucius Sulla, serving as legate, overcame the Samnite general Cluentius and his army. Gaius Marius again defeated the Marsi. The Marrucini were subdued. A census was held and the lustrum performed. 463,000 citizens were counted — this increase being due to the newly enfranchised Italians.
Cinna is killed by his own mutinous soldiers, and Sulla lands at Brundisium with a battle-hardened army and a long list of enemies.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Appian, Bellum Civile 1.55–77; Velleius 2.15–19
Cn. Pompeius Picentes proelio fudit et Asculum obsedit. Propter quam uictoriam Romae praetextae et alia magistratuum insignia sumpta sunt. C. Marius cum Marsis dubio euentu pugnauit. Libertini tunc primum militare coeperunt. A. Plotius legatus Vmbros, L. Porcius praetor Etruscos, cum uterque populus defecisset, proelio uicerunt. Nicomedes in Bithyniae, Ariobarzanes in Cappadociae regnum reducti sunt. Cn. Pompeius cos. Marsos acie uicit. Cum aere alieno pressa esset ciuitas, A. Sempronius Asellio praetor, quoniam secundum debitores ius dicebat, ab his qui faenerabant in foro occisus est. Praeterea incursiones Thracum in Macedoniam populationesque continet.
Gnaeus Pompeius routed the Picentines in battle and besieged Asculum. For this victory, the Romans resumed wearing togas and the other insignia of magistrates. Gaius Marius defeated the Marsi in battle. The Vestini and Paeligni surrendered. The legate Gnaeus Pompeius took Asculum by storm. Lucius Porcius Cato, the consul, fell while storming an enemy camp. A law was passed granting citizenship to those allies who had not taken up arms, or who had laid them down promptly.
Civil war engulfs Italy as Sulla advances on Rome, joined by a young Pompey and Crassus, while the Marian forces fracture under divided leadership.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Appian, Bellum Civile 1.55–77; Velleius 2.15–19
A. Postumius Albinus legatus cum classi praeesset, infamis crimine perduellionis, ab exercitu suo interfectus est. L. Cornelius Sylla legatus Samnites proelio uicit et bina castra eorum expugnauit. Cn. Pompeius Vestinos in deditionem accepit. L. Porcius cos. rebus prospere gestis fusisque aliquotiens Marsis, dum castra eorum expugnat, cecidit. Ea res hostibus uictoriam eius proelii dedit. Cosconius et Lucanus Samnites acie uicerunt, Marium Egnatium, nobilissimum hostium ducem, occiderunt, compluraque oppida in deditionem acceperunt. L. Sylla Hirpinos domuit, Samnites pluribus proeliis fudit, aliquot populos recepit, quantisque raro quisquam alius ante consulatum rebus gestis ad petitionem consulatus Romam est profectus.
The legate Aulus Postumius Albinus, who was in command of the fleet, was killed by his own soldiers because he was accused of treason — an infamous charge. The legate Lucius Cornelius Sulla defeated the Samnites in a major engagement. Gains were made against the Italians on all fronts; the war now continued only with the Samnites and Lucanians. The consul Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo besieged and captured Asculum. He was struck by lightning and killed. Several further battles against the remnants of the Italian rebels are described.
The Battle of the Colline Gate decides the fate of the Republic: Sulla's forces slaughter the Samnite and Marian armies at Rome's very walls.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Appian, Mithridatica; Plutarch, Sulla
A. Gabinius legatus rebus aduersus Lucanos prospere gestis et plurimis oppidis expugnatis in obsidione hostium castrorum cecidit. Sulpicius legatus Marrucinos cecidit totamque eam regionem recepit. Cn. Pompeius procos. Vestinos et Paelignos in deditionem accepit. Marsi quoque a L. Cinna et Caecilio Pio legatis aliquot proeliis fracti petere pacem coeperunt. Asculum a Cn. Pompeio captum est. Caesis et a Mamerco Aemilio legato Italicis Silo Poppaedius, dum Marsorum, auctor eius rei, in proelio cecidit. Ariobarzanes Cappadociae, Nicomedes Bithyniae regno a Mithridate, Ponti rege, pulsi sunt. Praeterea incursiones Thracum in Macedoniam populationesque continet.
The legate Aulus Gabinius, after successful operations against the Lucanians and the capture of several towns, fell during the siege of an enemy camp. The legate Sulpicius fought successfully against the Marrucini. The consul Lucius Porcius Cato fell while storming an enemy position. The Samnites, the only Italian people still under arms, chose Gaius Papius Mutilus as their commander. The consul Lucius Sulla defeated the Samnites in a great battle near Nola. The Hirpini surrendered.
Sulla publishes the proscription lists, unleashing systematic murder for profit across Italy, then has himself appointed dictator to remake the constitution.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Appian, Mithridatica; Plutarch, Sulla
Cum P. Sulpicius trib. pleb. auctore C. Mario perniciosas leges promulgasset, ut exsules reuocarentur et noui ciues libertinique in tribus distribuerentur et ut C. Marius aduersus Mithridaten, Ponti regem, dum crearetur, et aduersantibus consulibus Q. Pompeio et L. Syllae uim intulisset, occiso Q. Pompeio, Q. Pompei cos. filio, genero Syllae, L. Sylla cos. cum exercitu in urbem uenit et aduersus factionem Sulpici et Mari in ipsa urbe pugnauit eamque expulit. Ex qua XII a senatu hostes, inter quos C. Marius pater et filius, iudicati sunt. P. Sulpicius cum in quadam uilla lateret, indicio serui sui retractus et occisus est. Seruus ut praemium promissum indici haberet, manumissus et ob scelus proditi domini de Saxo deiectus est. C. Marius filius in Africam traiecit. C. Marius pater cum in paludibus Minturnensium lateret, extractus est ab oppidanis, et cum missus ad occidendum eum seruus natione Gallus maiestate tanti uiri perterritus recessisset, impositus publice naui delatus est in Africam. L. Sylla ciuitatis statum ordinauit, exinde colonias deduxit. Q. Pompeius cos. ad accipiendum a Cn. Pompeio procos. exercitum profectus consilio eius occisus est. Mithridates, Ponti rex, Bithynia et Cappadocia occupatis et pulso Aquilio legato Phrygiam, prouinciam populi R., cum ingenti exercitu intrauit.
When the tribune Publius Sulpicius, supported by Gaius Marius, promulgated dangerous laws — that exiles should be recalled, that new citizens and freedmen should be distributed among the tribes, and that the command against Mithridates should be transferred from Sulla to Marius — and enforced them by violence and the massacre of those who opposed them, the consul Sulla marched his army on Rome and fought against the Marian faction on the streets. He expelled Marius from the city and restored order. Twelve men, including Gaius Marius and his son, were declared public enemies. Sulpicius was tracked down and killed. Sulla set out for Asia to fight Mithridates. Gaius Marius, after many misfortunes in his flight — at one point hiding among the reeds of the Minturnae marshes and being captured — was sent into exile and reached Africa.
Sulla's constitutional reforms restore senatorial supremacy, gut the tribunate, and expand the courts — then the dictator stuns Rome by voluntarily resigning and retiring to his estates, where he dies shortly after.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Appian, Bellum Civile 1.78–105; Plutarch, Sulla
Mithridates Asiam occupauit, Q. Oppium procos., item Aquilium legatum in uincula coniecit, iussuque eius, quidquid ciuium R. in Asia fuit uno die trucidatum est. Vrbem Rhodum, quae sola in fide populi R. manserat, oppugnauit et aliquot proeliis naualibus uictus recessit. Archelaus, praefectus regis, in Graeciam cum exercitu uenit, Athenas occupauit. Praeterea trepidationem urbium insularumque, filiis ad Mithridaten, aliis ad populum R. ciuitates suas trahentibus, continet.
Mithridates occupied Asia, threw the proconsul Quintus Oppius and the legate Aquilius into chains, and by his command every Roman citizen in Asia was killed on a single day. He besieged Rhodes, the only state in the region that remained faithful to the Roman people. The book also contains operations in Thrace, Macedonia, and Achaia.
The consul Lepidus attempts to overturn Sulla's constitution by force and is defeated by Catulus, while the fugitive Sertorius builds a renegade Roman state in Spain.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Appian, Bellum Civile 1.78–105; Plutarch, Sulla
L. Cornelius Cinna cos. cum perniciosas leges per uim atque arma ferret, pulsus urbe ab Cn. Octauio collega cum sex tribunis plebis imperioque ei abrogato, corruptum Appi Claudi exercitum in potestatem suam redegit et bellum urbi intulit, arcessito C. Mario ex Africa cum filiis exulibus. In quo bello duo fratres, alter ex Pompei exercitu, alter ex Cinnae, ignorantes concurrerunt, et cum uictor spoliaret occisum, agnito fratre ingenti lamentatione edita, rogo ei extructo, ipse se supra rogum transfodit et eodem igne consumptus est. Et cum opprimi inter initia potuisset, Cn. Pompei fraude, qui utramque partem fouendo uires Cinnae dedit nec nisi profligatis optimatium rebus auxilium tulit, et consulis segnitia confirmati Cinna et Marius quattuor exercitibus, ex quibus duo Q. Sertorio et Carboni dati sunt, urbem circumsederunt. Ostiam coloniam Marius expugnauit et crudeliter diripuit.
The consul Lucius Cornelius Cinna, when he was attempting to force through dangerous laws by violence and arms, was expelled from the city by his colleague Gnaeus Octavius together with six tribunes of the plebs. He was stripped of his command by the senate and joined Gaius Marius, who had been recalled from exile. They occupied parts of Italy with their armies, took several cities by assault, and sacked them with dreadful cruelty. Cinna and Marius captured Rome and massacred the leading citizens. The consular Gnaeus Octavius was killed; all the surviving nobles fled to Sulla in Greece. Marius and Cinna declared themselves consuls without an election.
Pompey receives an extraordinary command against Sertorius in Spain, where the rebel general's guerrilla brilliance frustrates every conventional Roman strategy.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Appian, Bellum Civile 1.78–105; Plutarch, Sulla
Italicis populis a senatu ciuitas data est. Samnites, qui soli arma recipiebant, Cinnae et Mario se coniunxerunt. Ab his Plautius legatus cum exercitu caesus est. Cinna et Marius cum Carbone et Sertorio Ianiculum oppugnauerunt et fugati ab Octauio consule recesserunt. Marius Antium et Ariciam et Lanuuium colonias expugnauit. Cum spes nulla esset optimatibus resistendi propter segnitiam et perfidiam et ducum et militum, qui corrupti aut pugnare nolebant, aut in diuersas partes transiebant, Cinna et Marius in urbem recepti sunt ; qui uelut captam eam caedibus ac rapinis uastauerunt, Cn. Octauio cos. occiso et omnibus aduersae partis nobilibus trucidatis, inter quos M. Antonio, eloquentissimo uiro, et Gaio Lucioque Caesare, quorum capita in rostris posita sunt. Crassus filius ab equitibus Fimbriae occisus, pater Crassus, ne quid indignum uirtute sua pateretur, gladio se transfixit. Et citra ulla comitia consules in sequentem annum se ipsos renuntiauerunt. Eodemque die quo magistratum inierant, Marius S. Licinium senatorem de Saxo deici iussit, editisque plurimis sceleribus idibus Ianuar. decessit. Vir, cuius si examinentur cum uirtutibus uitia, haud facile sit dictu utrum bello melior an pace perniciosior fuerit. Adeo quam rem p. armatus seruauit, eam primo togatus omni genere fraudis, postremo armis hostiliter euertit.
The Italian peoples were granted citizenship by the senate. The Samnites, who alone still held their weapons, joined Cinna and Marius. The legate Plautius was defeated and killed by them along with his army. Marius died on the seventeenth day of his seventh consulship. He was a man whose virtues and vices were equally extraordinary, and who, though he saved the state in wartime, was as destructive to it in peace. Sulla, though repeatedly urged by the senate to return to Italy, first wished to finish the war with Mithridates. Cinna was killed in a mutiny by his own soldiers when he was trying to force them to cross the Adriatic to fight Sulla. The consul Valerius Flaccus was sent to Asia to succeed Sulla in the command against Mithridates. His legate Fimbria incited the army to mutiny and killed Flaccus.
The Sertorian War grinds on inconclusively in Spain, while in the east Mithridates seizes the moment to launch his third war against Rome.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Plutarch, Sertorius; Appian, Bellum Civile 1.107–115
L. Sylla Athenas, quas Archelaus, praefectus Mithridatis, occupauerat, circumsedit et cum magno labore expugnavit. Vrbi libertatem et quae habuerat reddidit. Magnesia, quae sola in Asia ciuitas in fide manserat, sua uirtute aduersus Mithridatem defensa est. Praeterea excursiones Thracum in Macedoniam continet.
Lucius Sulla besieged Athens, which had been occupied by Archelaus, a general of Mithridates, and captured it with great effort. He restored the city's freedom and the rights it had previously held. Archelaus was defeated by Sulla in two great battles in Boeotia.
Lucullus takes command against Mithridates and wins a spectacular victory at Cyzicus, while in Italy a Thracian gladiator named Spartacus breaks out of a training school at Capua.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Plutarch, Sertorius; Appian, Bellum Civile 1.107–115
Sylla copias regis, quae Macedonia occupata in Thessaliam uenerant, proelio uicit, caesis hostium et castris quoque expugnatis. Renouato deinde bello iterum exercitum regis fudit ac deleuit. Archelaus cum classe regia Syllae se tradidit. L. Valerius Flaccus cos., collega Cinnae, missus ut Syllae succederet, propter auaritiam inuisus exercitui suo a C. Fimbria, legato ipsius, ultimae audaciae homine, occisus est et imperium ad Fimbriam translatum. Praeterea expugnatae in Asia urbes a Mithridate et crudeliter direpta prouincia, incursiones Thracum in Macedoniam referuntur.
Sulla defeated the royal forces that had occupied Macedonia and advanced into Thessaly. He routed the enemy, storming their camp as well. When the war was renewed, he once more destroyed the armies of Mithridates. Archelaus came over to Sulla. Sulla and Mithridates met in conference and a peace was made on these terms: that Mithridates should evacuate Asia and all the other provinces he had seized.
Spartacus's slave army swells to tens of thousands and defeats one Roman force after another, terrorising the Italian peninsula before Crassus corners and destroys the revolt.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Plutarch, Sertorius; Appian, Bellum Civile 1.107–115
Flauius Fimbria in Asia fusis proelio aliquot praefectis Mithridatis urbem Pergamum cepit obsessumque regem non multum afuit quin caperet. Vrbem Ilium, quae se potestati Syllae reseruabat, expugnauit ac deleuit et magnam partem Asiae recepit. Sylla compluribus proeliis Thracas cecidit. Cum L. Cinna et Cn. Papirius Carbo, a se ipsis coss. per biennium creati, bellum contra Syllam praepararent, effectum est per L. Valerium Flaccum, principem senatus, qui orationem in senatu habuit, et per eos qui concordiae studebant, ut legati ad Syllam de pace mitterentur. Cinna ab exercitu suo, quem inuitum cogebat naues conscendere et aduersus Syllam proficisci, interfectus est. Consulatum Carbo solus gessit. Sylla cum in Asiam traiecisset, pacem cum Mithridate fecit ita ut his cederet prouinciis : Asia, Bithynia, Cappadocia. Fimbria desertus ab exercitu qui ad Syllam transierat, ipse se percussit impetrauitque de seruo suo, praebens ceruicem, ut se occideret.
Flavius Fimbria routed several of Mithridates' generals in Asia, captured the city of Pergamum, and nearly captured the king himself while besieging him. He laid siege to the city of Pitane, where Mithridates had taken refuge, but Lucullus, though commanding the fleet, refused to cooperate with Fimbria to block the king's escape by sea, on the grounds that he was acting under Sulla's authority. When Sulla arrived in Asia, Fimbria's soldiers deserted him, and Fimbria killed himself. Sulla imposed harsh terms on Asia, demanding five years' back taxes. He restored order in the province.
Pompey returns from Spain to mop up Spartacus's fugitives and shares the consulship with Crassus; together they dismantle the last of Sulla's constitutional restrictions.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Sallust, Historiae frr.; Plutarch, Lucullus
Sylla legatis, qui a senatu missi erant, futurum se in potestate senatus respondit, si ciues, qui pulsi a Cinna ad se confugerant, restituerentur. Quae condicio cum iusta senatui uideretur, per Carbonem factionemque eius, cui bellum uidebatur utilius, ne conueniret effectum est. Idem Carbo cum ab omnibus Italiae oppidis coloniisque obsides exigere uellet, ut fidem eorum contra Syllam obligaret, consensu senatus prohibitus est. Nouis ciuibus S. C. suffragium datum est. Q. Metellus Pius, qui partes optimatium secutus erat, cum in Africa bellum moliretur, a C. Fabio praetore pulsus est, senatusque consultum per factionem Carbonis et Marianarum partium factum est, ut omnes ubique exercitus dimitterentur. Libertini in quinque et XXX tribus distributi sunt. Praeterea belli apparatum, quod contra Syllam excitabatur, continet.
Sulla told the envoys sent by the senate that he would submit to the senate's authority if the citizens who had been expelled by Cinna and had fled to him were restored. Cinna and Carbo, dreading Sulla's arrival, prepared for war and tried to cross to Greece. When their soldiers mutinied, Cinna was killed. Carbo alone continued preparations. Lucius Valerius Flaccus proposed a law in the senate to establish peace with Sulla. The senate decreed that all armies should be disbanded; Sulla replied that he would comply if citizens' rights were guaranteed.
Pompey receives an unprecedented command against the Mediterranean pirates and sweeps them from the seas in a lightning campaign of just three months.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Sallust, Historiae frr.; Plutarch, Lucullus
Sulla in Italiam traiecit missisque legatis, qui de pace agerent, et ab cos. C. Norbano uiolatis eumdem Norbanum proelio uicit. Et cum L. Scipionis, alterius cos., cum quo per omnia id egerat ut pacem iungeret nec potuerat, castra oppugnaturus esset, uniuersus exercitus consulis, sollicitatus per emissos a Sylla milites, signa ad Syllam transtulit. Scipio cum occidi posset, dimissus est. Cn. Pompeius, Cn. Pompei eius qui Asculum ceperat filius, conscripto uoluntariorum exercitum cum tribus legionibus ad Syllam uenerat, ad quem se nobilitas omnis conferebat, ita ut deserta urbe ad castra ueniretur. Praeterea expeditiones per totam Italiam utriusque partis ducum referuntur.
Sulla crossed to Italy and, having sent envoys to negotiate peace, was rebuffed by the consul Gaius Norbanus, whom he then defeated in battle. With Lucius Scipio, the other consul, he negotiated in good faith; but because Scipio's terms were refused by his own officers, nothing came of it. Scipio's entire army deserted to Sulla. Gnaeus Pompeius, son of Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo who had died from lightning, raised a private army on his own initiative to join Sulla. Quintus Sertorius and other leaders of the Marian faction were expelled from the city.
The Lex Manilia hands Pompey supreme command in the East over Lucullus's protests, and he sets about the final destruction of Mithridates.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Sallust, Historiae frr.; Plutarch, Lucullus
Cum C. Marius, C. Mari filius, cos. ante annos XX per uim creatus esset, C. Fabius in Africa propter crudelitatem et auaritiam suam in praetorio suo uiuus exustus est. L. Philippus, legatus Syllae, Sardiniam Q. Antonio praetore pulso et occiso occupauit. Sylla cum Italicis populis, ne timeretur ab his uelut erepturus ciuitatem et suffragii ius nuper datum, foedus percussit. Itemque ex fiducia iam certae uictoriae litigatores a quibus adibatur uadimonia Romam deferre iussit, cum a parte diuersa urbs adhuc teneretur. L. Damasippus praetor ex uoluntate C. Mari cos. cum senatum contraxisset, omnem quae in urbe erat nobilitatem trucidauit. Ex cuius numero Q. Mucius Scaeuola pont. max. fugiens in uestibulo aedis Vestae occisus est. Praeterea bellum a L. Murena aduersus Mithridatem in Asia renouatum continet.
When Gaius Marius, son of Gaius Marius, had been made consul by force before he was twenty years old, Gaius Fabius was burnt alive in his headquarters in Africa because of his cruelty and avarice. Lucius Philippus, Sulla's legate, occupied Sardinia after expelling and killing the praetor Quintus Antonius. Sulla concluded a treaty with the Italian nations so as not to appear a threat to their recently obtained citizenship and voting rights. Confident of victory, he ordered those wishing him to judge cases to deposit their bonds at Rome, even though the city was still held by his enemies. At the wish of the consul Gaius Marius, the praetor Lucius Damasippus convened the senate and massacred every nobleman then present in Rome. Among the victims was Quintus Mucius Scaevola, the pontifex maximus, who was murdered at the entrance to the temple of Vesta. The book also contains an account of the renewal of the war against Mithridates in Asia.
Pompey conquers the East with breathtaking speed — shattering Mithridates, annexing Syria, and capturing Jerusalem — making himself the wealthiest and most powerful man in Roman history.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Plutarch, Crassus; Appian, Bellum Civile 1.116–120
Sylla C. Marium, exercitu eius fuso deletoque ad Sacriportum, in oppido Praeneste obsedit, urbem Romam ex inimicorum manibus recepit. Marium erumpere temptantem reppulit. Praeterea res a legatis eius eadem ubique fortuna partium gestas continet.
Sulla, after routing and destroying his army at Sacriportum, besieged Gaius Marius in the town of Praeneste and recovered the city of Rome from the hands of his enemies. He repelled Marius when he tried to break out. The book also contains accounts of the operations of his legates, who achieved the same successful results.
Cicero, consul and "new man," uncovers and crushes the conspiracy of Catiline, executing the conspirators without trial in a decision that will haunt him for the rest of his life.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Plutarch, Crassus; Appian, Bellum Civile 1.116–120
Sylla Carbonem, eius exercitu ad Clusium ad Fauentiam Fidentiamque caeso, Italia expulit, cum Samnitibus, qui soli ex Italicis populis nondum arma posuerant, iuxta urbem Romanam ante portam Collinam debellauit, reciperataque re p. pulcherrimam uictoriam crudelitate quanta in nullo hominum fuit, inquinauit. VIII milia dediticiorum in uilla publica trucidauit, tabulam proscriptionis posuit, urbem ac totam Italiam caedibus repleuit inter quas omnes Praenestinos inermes concidi iussit, Marium, senatorii ordinis uirum, cruribus bracchiisque fractis, auribus praesectis et oculis effossis necauit. C. Marius Praeneste obsessus a Lucretio Ofella, Syllanarum partium uiro, cum per cuniculum captaret euadere saeptum exercitu, mortem consciuit. Id est, in ipso cuniculo, cum sentiret se euadere non posse, cum Telesino, fugae comite, stricto utrimque gladio concurrit; quem cum occidisset, ipse saucius impetrauit a seruo ut se occideret.
Sulla drove Carbo out of Italy, having defeated his army at Clusium, Faventia, and Fidentia. He then fought the Samnites — the only Italian nation that had not yet laid down its arms — near the city of Rome at the Porta Collina. Having restored the state, he stained his splendid victory with a cruelty greater than any man had ever displayed. In the Villa Publica he killed eight thousand men who had already surrendered. He posted proscription lists, filled the city and all Italy with slaughter, ordered the massacre of all the unarmed Praenestines, and killed Marius — a man of senatorial rank — after breaking his legs and arms, cutting off his ears, and putting out his eyes. Gaius Marius, still under siege at Praeneste, tried to escape through a tunnel that proved to be blocked by the army. Finding no way out, he and his companion Telesinus ran upon each other's swords; Marius killed the other, was wounded himself, and was finished off by his slave.
Pompey returns from the East to find the Senate blocking his settlements, driving him into an unlikely alliance with Caesar and Crassus — the so-called First Triumvirate.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Plutarch, Crassus; Appian, Bellum Civile 1.116–120
M. Brutus a Cn. Papirio Carbone Cossyra, quam adpulerant, missus naue piscatoria Lilybaeum, ut exploraret an ibi iam Pompeius esset et circumuentus nauibus quas Pompeius miserat, in se mucrone uerso ad transtrum nauis obnixus corporis pondere incubuit. Cn. Pompeius in Siciliam cum imperio a senatu missus Cn. Carbonem, qui flens muliebriter mortem tulit, captum occidit. Sylla dictator factus, quod nemo umquam fecerat, cum fascibus XXIIII processit. Legibus nouis rei pub. statum confirmauit, tribunorum pleb. potestatem minuit et omne ius legum ferendarum ademit, pontificum augurumque collegium ampliauit ut essent XV, senatum ex equestri ordine suppleuit, proscriptorum liberis ius petendorum honorum eripuit et bona eorum uendidit, ex quibus plurima primo rapuit. Redactum est sestertium ter milies quingenties. Q. Lucretium Ofellam aduersus uoluntatem suam consulatum petere ausum iussit occidi in foro, et cum hoc indigne ferret populus R., contione aduocata se iussisse dixit. Cn. Pompeius in Africa Cn. Domitium proscriptum et Hiertam, regem Numidiae, bellum molientes uictos occidit et quattuor et XX annos natus, adhuc eques R., quod nulli contigerat, ex Africa triumphauit. C. Norbanus consularis proscriptus, in urbe Rhodo cum comprehenderetur, ipse se occidit. Mutilus, unus ex proscriptis, clam capite adoperto ad posticias aedes Bastiae uxoris cum accessisset, admissus non est quia illum proscriptum diceret. Itaque ipse se transfodit et sanguine suo fores uxoris respersit. Sylla Nolam in Samnio recepit. XLVII legiones in agros captos deducit et eos his diuisit. Volaterras, quod oppidum adhuc in armis erat, obsessum in deditionem accepit. Mitylenae quoque in Asia, quae sola urbs post uictum Mithridaten arma retinebat, expugnatae dirutaeque sunt.
Marcus Brutus, sent in a fisherman's boat by Gnaeus Papirius Carbo from Cossyra to Lilybaeum to discover whether Pompey was already there, was surrounded by Pompey's ships. He braced his sword against a thwart of the ship and fell upon it with all his weight. Gnaeus Pompey, sent to Sicily by the senate with special powers, executed Carbo, who met his death weeping like a woman. Sulla was made dictator — the first in one hundred and twenty years — and was preceded by twenty-four lictors, which no one had done before. He strengthened the republic with new laws, reduced the powers of the tribunes by removing their right to introduce legislation, increased the number of priests and augurs to fifteen, enrolled equestrians into the senate, and barred the children of the proscribed from holding office. He confiscated and sold their property, the proceeds totalling 350 million sesterces. He had Quintus Lucretius Ofella murdered in the Forum for running for consul against his wishes, then told the angry Roman people at an assembly that he had ordered the killing. In Africa, Gnaeus Pompey defeated Gnaeus Domitius and King Hierta of Numidia, and at the age of twenty-four celebrated a triumph as a Roman knight — an honour without precedent. The exiled consul Gaius Norbanus committed suicide when arrested in Rhodes. The exile Mutilus secretly came to the back door of his wife Bastia's house but was refused entry because he was proscribed; he stabbed himself and splashed the doorway with his blood. Sulla recaptured Nola, settled forty-seven legions in the conquered territory, besieged and accepted the surrender of Volaterrae, and finally Mytilene in Asia — the last city still in arms after Mithridates' defeat — was captured and destroyed.
Caesar's explosive first consulship bulldozes his opponents: he forces through Pompey's eastern settlements, a land bill, and secures himself a five-year command in Gaul.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Cicero, In Verrem; Plutarch, Pompey
Sylla decessit honosque ei a senatu habitus est, ut in campo Martio sepeliretur. M. Lepidus cum acta Syllae temptaret rescindere, bellum excitauit. A Q. Catulo collega Italia pulsus et in Sardinia frustra bellum molitus periit. M. Brutus, qui Cisalpinam Galliam obtinebat, a Cn. Pompeio occisus est. Q. Sertorius proscriptus in ulteriore Hispania ingens bellum excitauit. L. Manlius procos. et M. Domitius legatus ab Hirtuleio quaestore proelio uicti sunt. Praeterea res a P. Seruilio procos. aduersus Cilicas gestas continet.
Sulla died and the senate honoured him with burial on the Campus Martius. Marcus Lepidus attempted to rescind Sulla's acts and provoked a war. He was expelled from Italy by his colleague Quintus Catulus and died in Sardinia, where he had tried in vain to stir up a war. Marcus Brutus, who had received Cisalpine Gaul, was killed by Gnaeus Pompey. Quintus Sertorius, another exile, launched a major war in Further Spain. The proconsul Lucius Manlius and Marcus Domitius his legate were defeated in battle by the quaestor Hirtuleius. The book also contains an account of the war waged by the proconsul Publius Servilius against the Cilician pirates.
Caesar marches north to begin the Gallic Wars, while in Rome Clodius drives Cicero into exile and rewrites the rules of popular politics.
A palimpsest fragment survives, discovered in the Vatican Library in the 19th century
Periocha; palimpsest fragments (Vatican); Plutarch, Pompey 20–25
Cn. Pompeius cum adhuc eques R. esset, cum imperio proconsulari aduersus Sertorium missus est. Sertorius aliquot urbes expugnauit plurimasque ciuitates in potestatem suam redegit. Appius Claudius procos. Thracas pluribus proeliis uicit. Q. Metellus procos. L. Hirtuleium, quaestorem Sertori, cum exercitu cecidit.
Gnaeus Pompey, though still a Roman knight, was sent with proconsular command against Sertorius. Sertorius took several cities by storm and subdued many peoples of Spain. The consular Gaius Memmius, serving as quaestor to Pompey, fell in battle.
Caesar defeats the Helvetii and Ariovistus in his first Gallic campaigns, while Cicero's allies in Rome engineer his triumphant recall from exile.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Plutarch, Pompey; Appian, Mithridatica
Cn. Pompeius dubio euentu cum Sertorio pugnauit, ita ut singula ex utraque parte cornua uicerint. Q. Metellus Sertorium et Perpernam cum duobus exercitibus proelio fudit, cuius uictoriae partem cupiens ferre Pompeius parum prospere pugnauit. Obsessus deinde Cluniae Sertorius adsiduis eruptionibus non leuiora damna obsidentibus intulit. Praeterea res ab Curione procos. in Thracia gestas aduersus Dardanos et Q. Sertori multa crudelia in suos facta continet; qui plurimos ex amicis et secum proscriptis crimine pro insimulatos occidit.
Gnaeus Pompey fought Sertorius with indecisive results, so that both sides claimed victory on their respective wings. Quintus Metellus defeated Sertorius and Perperna with two armies in a pitched battle. The consul Marcus Aurelius Cotta fought unsuccessfully against Mithridates at Chalcedon. Mithridates besieged Cyzicus. The proconsul Lucius Lucullus defeated several of Mithridates' generals in battle.
Caesar subjugates the Belgae and Veneti, extending Roman power to the Atlantic coast, while the triumvirs renew their pact at Luca.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Plutarch, Pompey; Appian, Mithridatica
P. Seruilius procos. in Cilicia Isauros domuit et aliquot urbes piratarum expugnauit. Nicomedes, Bithyniae rex, populum R. fecit heredem regnumque eius in prouinciae formam redactum est. Mithridates foedere cum Sertorio icto bellum populo R. intulit. Apparatus dein regiarum copiarum pedestrium naualiumque; et occupata Bithynia M. Aurelius Cotta cos. ad Calchedona proelio a rege uictus; resque a Pompeio et Metello aduersus Sertorium qui omnibus belli militiaeque artibus par fuit. Ab obsidione Calagurris oppidi depulsos coegerit diuersas regiones petere, Metellum ulteriorem Hispaniam, Pompeium Galliam.
The proconsul Publius Servilius subdued the Isaurians in Cilicia and captured several pirate strongholds. Nicomedes, king of Bithynia, died and left the Roman people as his heir; his kingdom was organised as a province. Lucullus defeated Mithridates' forces in several engagements. The consul Marcus Aurelius Cotta besieged and took Heraclea. The consul Lucius Licinius Lucullus fought the Thracians.
Caesar bridges the Rhine and crosses to Britain, astonishing the Roman world, while Pompey and Crassus share a second joint consulship and divide the empire's greatest commands between them.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Plutarch, Pompey; Appian, Mithridatica
L. Licinius Lucullus cos. aduersus Mithridaten equestribus proeliis feliciter pugnauit et aliquot expeditiones prosperas fecit poscentesque pugnam milites a seditione inhibuit. Deiotarus, Gallograeciae tetrarches, praefectos Mithridatis bellum in Phrygia mouentes cecidit. Praeterea res a Cn. Pompeio in Hispania contra Sertorium prospere gestas continet.
The consul Lucius Licinius Lucullus fought Mithridates with success in several cavalry engagements and made various expeditions. When his soldiers demanded battle, he wisely restrained them. Eventually he engaged and defeated Mithridates, who fled the field and escaped with a small retinue to Tigranes, king of Armenia.
Caesar's second British expedition penetrates inland, and the death of Julia — Caesar's daughter and Pompey's wife — severs the personal bond holding the triumvirate together.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Plutarch, Lucullus; Cassius Dio 36
C. Curio procos. Dardanos in Thracia domuit. IIII et LXX gladiatores Capuae ex ludo Lentuli profugerunt et congregata seruitiorum ergastulorumque multitudine Crixo et Spartaco ducibus bello excitato Claudium Pulchrum legatum et P. Varenum praetorem proelio uicerunt. L. Lucullus procos. ad Cyzicum urbem exercitum Mithridatis fame ferroque deleuit, pulsumque Bithynia regem uariis belli ac naufragiorum casibus tractum coegit in Pontum profugere.
The proconsul Gaius Curio subdued the Dardanians in Thrace. Seventy-four gladiators escaped from the school of Lentulus at Capua and, raising a great multitude of slaves and labourers, waged war under the leadership of Spartacus, Crixus, and Oenomaus. They defeated the legate Claudius Pulcher and the praetor Publius Varinius in battle. Lucullus demanded that Tigranes surrender Mithridates.
A massive Gallic revolt under Ambiorix destroys a legion and a half, while in the East Crassus leads seven legions into the Mesopotamian desert toward catastrophe at Carrhae.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Plutarch, Lucullus; Cassius Dio 36
Q. Arrius praetor Crixum, fugitiuorum ducem, cum XX milia hominum cecidit. Cn. Lentulus cos. male aduersus Spartacum pugnauit. Ab eodem L. Gellius cos. et Q. Arrius praetor acie uicti sunt. Sertorius a M. Perpenna et M. Antonio et aliis coniuratis in conuiuio interfectus est octauo ducatus sui anno ; magnus dux et aduersus duos imperatores, Pompeium et Metellum, uel frequentius uictor, ad ultimum et saeuus et prodigus. Imperium partium ad Marcum Perpennam translatum, quem Cn. Pompeius uictum captumque interfecit, ac recepit Hispanias decimo fere anno quam coeptum erat bellum. C. Cassius procos. et Cn. Manlius praetor male aduersus Spartacum pugnauerunt idque bellum M. Crasso praetori mandatum est.
The praetor Quintus Arrius defeated and killed Crixus, the fugitive leader, along with twenty thousand men. The consul Gnaeus Lentulus fought badly against Spartacus. Spartacus also defeated the consul Lucius Gellius and the praetor Quintus Arrius. The proconsul Gaius Cassius and the praetor Gnaeus Manlius fought unsuccessfully against Spartacus. Lucullus in battle defeated Mithridates and Tigranes. Mithridates fled; Tigranes surrendered with many of his forces.
Vercingetorix unites the Gallic tribes in a desperate national uprising, and Caesar faces the greatest military crisis of his career at the siege of Alesia.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Plutarch, Lucullus; Cassius Dio 36
M. Crassus praetor primum cum parte fugitiuorum quae ex Gallis Germanisque constabat feliciter pugnauit, caesis hostium XXXV milia et ducibus eorum Casto et Gannico. Cum Spartaco dein debellauit, caesis eum ipso LX milibus. M. Antonius praetor bellum aduersus Cretenses parum prospere susceptum morte sua finiit. M. Lucullus procos. Thracas subegit. L. Lucullus in Ponto aduersus Mithridaten feliciter pugnauit, caesis hostium amplius quam LX milibus. M. Crassus et Cn. Pompeius coss. facti (S. C. Pompeius, antequam quaesturam gereret, ex equite Romano) tribuniciam potestatem restituerunt. Iudicia quoque per M. Aurelium Cottam praetorem ad equites Romanis translata sunt. Mithridates desperatione rerum suarum coactus ad Tigranen, Armeniae regem, confugit.
The praetor Marcus Crassus first fought successfully against those of the fugitives who were composed of Gauls and Germans, killing thirty-five thousand of them along with their leaders. He then defeated Spartacus in battle: sixty thousand men were killed, including Spartacus himself. Marcus Crassus ended the war with the fugitives; he had already defeated the Gauls in a separate engagement. Crassus and Pompey were elected consuls; Pompey had completed the war against Sertorius. They restored the powers of the tribunes.
Caesar crushes the last Gallic resistance while in Rome Pompey serves as sole consul and the political ground shifts beneath Caesar's feet.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Plutarch, Lucullus; Cassius Dio 36
Machares, filius Mithridatis, Bospori rex, a L. Lucullo in amicitiam receptus est. Cn. Lentulus et L. Gellius censores asperam censuram egerunt IIII et LX senatu motis. A quibus lustro condito censa sunt ciuium capita DCCCC milia. L. Metellus praetor in Sicilia aduersus piratas prospere rem gessit. Templum Iouis in Capitolio, quod incendio consumptum ac refectum erat, a Q. Catulo dedicatum est. L. Lucullus in Armenia Mithridaten et Tigranen et ingentes utriusque regis copias pluribus proeliis fudit. Q. Metellus procos. bello aduersus Cretenses mandato Cydoniam urbem obsedit. C. Triarius, legatus Luculli, aduersus Mithridaten parum prospere pugnauit. Lucullum, ne persequeretur Mithridaten ac Tiganen summamque uictoriae inponeret, seditio militum tenuit, quia sequi nolebant, id est duae legiones Valerianae, quae impleta a se stipendia dicentes Lucullum reliquerunt.
Machares, son of Mithridates and king of the Bosporus, was received into friendship by Lucius Lucullus. The censors Gnaeus Lentulus and Lucius Gellius conducted a severe census, expelling sixty-four senators. They performed the lustrum; 900,000 citizens were counted. Lucullus defeated Tigranes and his son in battle and captured several cities. Pompey received the command against the pirates who were disrupting all sea-borne trade, and within forty days cleared the entire sea of them.
The Senate demands Caesar disband his legions, Pompey drifts toward the optimates, and both sides manoeuvre toward a rupture that neither can step back from.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Cicero, In Catilinam; Sallust, Catilina; Plutarch, Cicero
Q. Metellus procos. Cnoson et Lyctum et Cydoniam et alias plurimas urbes expugnauit. L. Roscius trib. pl. legem tulit ut equitibus Romanis in theatro XIIII gradus proximi adsignarentur. Cn. Pompeius lege ad populum lata persequi piratas iussus qui commercium annonae intercluserant intra quadragesimum diem toto mari eos expulit, belloque cum his in Cilicia confecto acceptis in deditionem piratis agros et urbes dedit. Praeterea res gestas a Q. Metello aduersus Cretenses continet et epistulas Metelli et Cn. Pompei inuicem missas. Queritur Q. Metellus gloriam sibi rerum a se gestarum a Pompeio praeripi, qui in Cretam miserit legatum suum ad accipiendas urbium deditiones. Pompeius rationem reddit hoc se facere debuisse.
The proconsul Quintus Metellus stormed Cnossos, Lyttus, Cydonia, and many other cities. The tribune Lucius Roscius carried a law granting Roman equestrians the first fourteen rows in the theatre. The tribune Gaius Manilius carried a law, against the strong opposition of the nobility, to transfer the Mithridatic command to Pompey. Lucullus handed over his army to his successor Manius Acilius Glabrio. The book also describes operations in Crete and against the pirates.
Negotiations collapse, the Senate passes the senatus consultum ultimum, and Caesar — with a single legion — crosses the Rubicon into civil war.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Cicero, In Catilinam; Sallust, Catilina; Plutarch, Cicero
C. Manilius tr. pl. magna indignatione nobilitatis legem tulit ut Pompeio Mithridaticum bellum mandaretur. Contio eius bona. Q. Metellus perdomitis Cretensibus liberae in id tempus insulae leges dedit. Cn. Pompeius ad gerendum bellum aduersus Mithridaten profectus cum rege Parthorum, Phraate, amicitiam renouauit. Equestri proelio Mithridaten uicit. Praeterea bellum inter Phraaten, Parthorum regem, et Tigranen, Armeniorum, ac deinde inter filium Tigranen patremque gestum continet.
The tribune Gaius Manilius carried a law, to the great indignation of the nobility, assigning the Mithridatic war to Pompey. Cicero's speech in favour of the law was notable. Quintus Metellus, having subdued the whole of Crete, gave laws to the island. Gnaeus Pompey, having invaded Mithridates' kingdom, defeated the king in a night battle and forced him to flee to the Bosporus. The book also contains the affairs of Syria, where Antiochus was expelled from the kingdom by Pompey.
Caesar sweeps through Italy in weeks as Pompey evacuates to Greece, then wheels west to defeat Pompey's legates at Ilerda in Spain.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Caesar, Bellum Gallicum; Plutarch, Caesar
Cn. Pompeius Mithridaten nocturno proelio uictum coegit Bosporon profugere. Tigranen in deditionem accepit eique ademptis Syria, Phoenice, Cilicia, regnum Armeniae restituit. Coniuratio eorum qui in petitione consulatus ambitus damnati erant facta de interficiendis consulibus obpressa est. Cn. Pompeius cum Mithridaten persequeretur in ultimas ignotasque gentes penetrauit. Hiberos Albanosque, qui transitum non dabant, proelio uicit. Praeterea fugam Mithridatis per Colchos Heniochosque et res ab eo in Bosporo gestas continet.
Gnaeus Pompey defeated Mithridates in a night battle and forced him to flee to the Bosporus. He received the surrender of Tigranes and, taking from him Syria, Phoenicia, and Cilicia, restored him to his ancestral kingdom of Armenia. Pompey made war on the Albanians and Iberians, who had refused passage through their territory. He also reduced Judaea and captured the temple at Jerusalem. The book also contains affairs of the eastern kingdoms.
Caesar crosses to Greece, is nearly starved out at Dyrrachium, and stakes everything on a forced march south to the plains of Thessaly.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Caesar, Bellum Gallicum; Plutarch, Caesar
Cn. Pompeius in prouinciae formam Pontum redegit. Pharnaces, filius Mithridatis, bellum patri intulit. Ab eo Mithridates obsessus in regia cum ueneno sumpto parum profecisset ad mortem, a milite Gallo, nomine Bitoco, a quo ut adiuuaret se petierat, interfectus est. Cn. Pompeius Iudaeos subegit, fanum eorum Hierosolyma, inuiolatum ante id tempus, cepit. L. Catilina bis repulsam in petitione consulatus passus cum Lentulo praetore et Cethego et compluribus aliis coniurauit de caede consulum et senatus, incendiis urbis et obprimenda re p., exercitu quoque in Etruria conparato. Ea coniuratio industria M. Tulli Ciceronis eruta est. Catilina urbe pulso, de reliquis coniuratis supplicium sumptum est.
Gnaeus Pompey reduced Pontus to the form of a province. Pharnaces, son of Mithridates, made war on his father. Besieged in his palace, Mithridates took poison, and when it had no effect — he had fortified himself against poisons by regularly taking antidotes — he summoned a Gallic soldier named Bituitus and had himself killed by him. Pompey organised the eastern provinces and cities. The book also describes the conspiracy of Catiline and its detection by Cicero.
At Pharsalus Caesar shatters Pompey's superior forces in one of history's decisive battles; Pompey flees to Egypt, where he is murdered on the beach by Ptolemy's courtiers.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Caesar, Bellum Gallicum; Plutarch, Caesar
Catilina a C. Antonio procos. cum exercitu caesus est. P. Clodius accusatus quod in habitu mulieris in sacrarium, in quo uirum intrare nefas est, cum intrasset et uxorem Metelli pontificis stuprasset, absolutus est. C. Pontinus praetor Allobrogas qui rebellauerant ad Solonem domuit. P. Clodius ad plebem transiit. C. Caesar Lusitanos subegit. Eoque consulatus candidato et captante rem p. inuadere conspiratio inter tres ciuitatis principes facta est, Cn. Pompeium, M. Crassum, C. Caesarem. Leges agrariae a Caesare cos. cum magna contentione inuito senatu et altero cos. M. Bibulo latae sunt. M. Antonius procos. in Thracia parum prospere rem gessit. M. Cicero lege a P. Clodio tr. pl. lata quod indemnatos ciues necauisset in exilium missus est. Caesar in prouinciam Galliam profectus Heluetios, uagam gentem, domuit, quae sedem quaerens per prouinciam Caesaris Narbonensem iter facere uolebat. Praeterea situm Galliarum continet. Pompeius de liberis Mithridatis et Tigrane, Tigranis filio, triumphauit Magnusque a tota contione consalutatus est.
Catiline was killed by the proconsul Gaius Antonius along with his army. Publius Clodius was accused of having entered a sacred rite in women's clothing — a rite which no man is permitted to see — but was acquitted through bribery. Gnaeus Pompey celebrated his triumph and reorganised the eastern provinces. Gaius Caesar was elected praetor. The book also contains disturbances caused by the tribune Metellus Nepos and the conspiracy trials.
Caesar is besieged in Alexandria, entangled with Cleopatra, and narrowly survives street fighting and a palace war before restoring the Egyptian throne.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Caesar, Bellum Civile; Plutarch, Caesar; Appian, Bellum Civile 2
Prima pars libri situm Germaniae moresque continet. C. Caesar cum aduersus Germanos qui Ariouisto duce in Galliam transcenderant exercitum duceret, rogatus ab Aeduis et Sequanis, quorum ager possidebatur trepidationem militum propter metum nouorum hostium ortam adlocutione exercitus inhibuit et uictos proelio Germanos Gallia expulit. M. Cicero, Pompeio inter alios hortante et T. Annio Milone tr. pl., ingenti gaudio senatus ac totius Italiae ab exilio reductus est. Cn. Pompeio per quinquennium annonae cura mandata est. Caesar Ambianos, Suessionas, Viruomanduos, Atrebates, Belgarum populos, quorum ingens multitudo erat, proelio uictos in deditionem accepit, ac deinde contra Neruios, unam ex horum ciuitatibus, cum magno discrimine pugnauit eamque gentem deleuit, quae bellum gessit donec ex LX milia armatorum D superessent, ex DC senatoribus tres tantum euadereut. Lege lata de redigenda in prouinciae formam Cypro et publicanda pecunia regia M. Catoni administratio eius rei mandata est. Ptolemaeus, Aegypti rem, ob iniurias quas patiebatur a suis relicto regno Romam uenit. C. Caesar Venetos, gentem Oceano iunctam, nauali proelio uicit. Praeterea res a legatis eius eadem fortuna gestas continet.
The first part of the book describes the geography and customs of Germany. Gaius Caesar, when leading his army against the Germans who had crossed into Gaul under the leadership of Ariovistus, was faced with a near-mutiny of his soldiers, who were terrified by reports of the enemy's strength. He rallied them by speech and defeated Ariovistus. The book also describes Caesar's campaigns against the Belgae and the settlement of eastern affairs by Pompey.
Caesar destroys Pharnaces at Zela ("veni, vidi, vici") and crosses to Africa to confront the last great concentration of Pompeian and senatorial forces.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Caesar, Bellum Civile; Plutarch, Caesar; Appian, Bellum Civile 2
Cum C. Catonis tribuni plebis intercessionibus comitia tollerentur, senatus uestem mutauit. M. Cato in petitione praeturae praelato Vatinio repulsam tulit. Idem cum legem impediret, qua prouinciae consulibus in quinquennium, Pompeio Hispaniae, Crasso Syria et Parthicum bellum, dabantur, a C. Trebonio tr. pl., legis alictore, in uincula ductus est. A. Gabinius procos. Ptolemaeum reduxit in regnum Aegypti, eiecto Archelao, quem sibi regem adsciuerant. Victis Germanis in Gallia Caesar Rhenum transcendit et proximam partem Germaniae domuit, ac deinde Oceano in Britanniam primo parum prospere tempestatibus aduersis traiecit, iterum felicius, magnaque multitudine hostium caesa aliquam partem insulae in potestatem redegit.
When elections were obstructed by the vetoes of the tribune Gaius Cato, the senate put on mourning dress. Marcus Cato was defeated in his candidacy for the praetorship; Vatinius won. The tribune Gaius Trebonius had Cato imprisoned when he obstructed a law assigning provinces to the consuls. The proconsul Aulus Gabinius restored Ptolemy to the throne of Egypt, expelling Archelaus. Gaius Caesar defeated the German tribes, crossed the Rhine into Germany, and twice invaded Britain, subduing part of the island with greater success on his second attempt.
The Battle of Thapsus ends Republican resistance in Africa; Cato commits suicide at Utica rather than accept Caesar's clemency, becoming the Republic's most famous martyr.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Caesar, Bellum Civile; Plutarch, Caesar; Appian, Bellum Civile 2
Iulia, Caesaris filia, Pompei uxor, decessit, honosque ei a populo habitus est, ut in campo Martio sepeliretur. Gallorum aliquot populi Ambiorige duce, Eburonum rege, defecerunt. A quibus Cotta et Titurius, legati Caesaris, circumuenti insidiis cum exercitu cui praeerant caesi sunt. Et cum aliarum quoque legionum castra oppugnata magno labore defensa essent, inter quae eius cui in Treueris praeerat Q. Cicero, ab ipso Caesare hostes proelio fusi sunt. M. Crassus bellum Parthis inlaturus Euphraten flumen transiit, uictusque proelio in quo et filius eius cecidit, cum reliquias exercitus in collem recepisset, euocatus in colloquium ab hostibus uelut de pace acturis, quorum dum erat Surenas, conprehensusque et, nequid uiuus pateretur repugnans, interfectus est.
Julia, Caesar's daughter and Pompey's wife, died; the people honoured her with burial on the Campus Martius. Several Gallic peoples, led by Ambiorix, revolted and destroyed the army of Sabinus and Cotta, legates of Caesar, together with their troops. They besieged Quintus Cicero's camp but were defeated by Caesar, who came to his relief. Marcus Crassus, having crossed the Euphrates and advanced beyond Carrhae, was surrounded and defeated in battle by the Parthians. When Publius Crassus his son had been killed, he was himself lured to a parley by the Parthian general Surena and there killed. The remnants of the army were saved by the quaestor Gaius Cassius.
Caesar celebrates four triumphs in a single month, then marches to Spain to crush the sons of Pompey at the ferocious Battle of Munda.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Plutarch, Caesar; Cassius Dio 42–43
C. Caesar Treueris in Gallia uictis iterum in Germaniam transiit, nulloque ibi hoste inuento reuersus in Galliam Eburonas et alias ciuitates, quae conspirauerant, uicit et Ambiorigem in fuga persecutus est. P. Clodi a T. Annio Milone candidato consulatus Appia uia ad Bouillas occisi corpus plebs in curia cremauit. Cum seditiones inter candidatos consulatus, Hypsaeum, Scipionem, Milonem essent, qui armis ac ui contendebant, ad comprimendas eas Cn. Pompeius delegatus et a senatu cos. tertio factus est absens et solus, quod nulli alii umquam accidit. Quaestione decreta de morte P. Clodi Milo iudicio damnatus in exilium actus est. Lex lata est ut ratio absentis Caesaris in petitione consulatus haberetur, inuito et contradicente M. Catone. Praeterea res gestas a C. Caesare aduersus Gallos qui prope uniuersi Vercingentorige Aruerno duce defecerunt, et laboriosas obsidiones urbium continet, inter quas Auarici Biturigum et Gergouiae Aruernorum.
Gaius Caesar, after defeating the Treveri in Gaul, crossed into Germany a second time, and finding no enemy there, returned to Gaul and destroyed the Eburones and other peoples who had conspired against him. He defeated Ambiorix but could not capture him. The consul Marcus Valerius Messalla governed his province with integrity. The book also contains the disorders in Rome arising from the rivalry of Clodius and Milo and the disturbances at elections.
Caesar returns as perpetual dictator, enacts sweeping reforms — the calendar, colonial foundations, the Senate's expansion — while rumours of kingship fuel a deadly conspiracy.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Plutarch, Caesar; Cassius Dio 42–43
C. Caesar Gallos ad Alesiam uicit omnesque Galliae ciuitates quae in armis fuerant, in deditionem accepit. C. Cassius, quaestor M. Crassi, Parthos, qui in Syriam transcenderant, cecidit. In petitione consulatus M. Cato repulsam tulit, creatis coss. Ser. Sulpicio M. Marcello. C. Caesar Bellouacos cum aliis Gallorum populis domuit. Praeterea contentiones inter consules de successore C. Caesari mittendo, agente in senatu Marcello cos. ut Caesar ad petitionem consulatus ueniret, cum is lege lata in id tempus consulatus prouincias obtinere deberet, resque a M. Bibulo in Syria gestas continet.
Gaius Caesar conquered the Gauls at Alesia and received the surrender of all the Gallic states that had been in arms. Gaius Cassius, quaestor of Marcus Crassus, defeated the Parthians who had invaded Syria. Pompey was appointed sole consul by the senate to restore order in Rome. Milo was tried and convicted for the murder of Clodius. A law was passed concerning Caesar's provinces.
On the Ides of March, twenty-three stab wounds end the life of Gaius Julius Caesar on the floor of Pompey's theatre, and the Roman world holds its breath.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Appian, Bellum Civile 2.106–154; Plutarch, Brutus
Causae ciuilium armorum et initia referuntur contentionesque de successore C. Caesari mittendo, cum se dimissurum exercitus negaret nisi a Pompeio dimitterentur. Et C. Curionis tr. pl. primum aduersus Caesarem, dein pro Caesare actiones continet. Cum senatus consultum factum esset ut successor Caesari mitteretur, M. Antonio et Q. Cassio tr. pl., quoniam intercessionibus id senatus c. impediebant, urbe pulsis, mandatum est a senatu coss. et Cn. Pompeio, ut uiderent nequid res p. detrimenti caperet. C. Caesar bello inimicos persecuturus cum exercitu in Italiam uenit, Corfiniun cum M. Domitio et P. Lentulo cepit eosque dimisit, Cn. Pompeium ceterosque partium eius Italia expulit.
The causes and beginnings of the Civil War are described, including the disputes about sending a successor to Caesar, who declared that he would not dismiss his armies unless Pompey did the same. The tribunes Mark Antony and Quintus Cassius, who vetoed the senate's decrees against Caesar, were expelled from the city. The senate decreed that Caesar was a public enemy unless he laid down his command by a fixed date. Caesar crossed the Rubicon with his army and marched on Rome.
Antony seizes Caesar's papers and treasury, Brutus and Cassius lose control of Rome, and the teenaged Octavian arrives to claim his inheritance as Caesar's adopted son.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Appian, Bellum Civile 2.106–154; Plutarch, Brutus
C. Caesar Massiliam, quae portas cluserat, obsedit et relictis in obsidione urbis eius legatis C. Trebonio et D. Bruto profectus in Hispaniam L. Afranium et M. Petreium, legatus Cn. Pompei, cum VII legionibus ad Ilerdam in deditionem accepit omnesque incolumes dimisit, Varrone quoque, legato Pompei, cum exercitu in potestatem suam redacto. Gaditanis ciuitatem dedit. Massilienses duobus naualibus proeliis uicti post longam obsidionem potestati Caesaris se permiserunt. C. Antonius, legatus Caesaris, male aduersus Pompeianos in Illyrico rebus gestis captus est. In quo bello Opitergini transpadani, Caesaris auxiliares, rate sua ab hostibus nauibus clusa, potius quam in potestatem hostium uenirent, inter se concurrentes occubuerunt. C. Curio, legatus Caesaris in Africa, cum prospere aduersus Varum, Pompeianarum partium ducem, pugnasset, a Iuba, rege Mauretaniae, cum exercitu caesus est. C. Caesar in Graeciam traiecit.
Gaius Caesar besieged Massilia, which had closed its gates to him, and leaving his legates Gaius Trebonius and Decimus Brutus to continue the siege, set out for Spain. There he defeated the Pompeian legates Lucius Afranius, Marcus Petreius, and Marcus Varro, and received the surrender of seven legions. Massilia, having been defeated in two naval battles and after a long siege, surrendered. Gaius Curio, Caesar's legate in Africa, was at first successful but was then defeated and killed by King Juba.
Cicero unleashes the Philippics against Antony, Octavian raises a private army, and the Republic's last constitutional defenders prepare for war.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Cicero, Philippicae; Appian, Bellum Civile 3
M. Caelius Rufus praetor, cum seditiones in urbe concitaret nouarum tabularum spe plebe sollicitata, abrogato magistratu pulsus urbe Miloni exuli, qui fugitiuorum exercitum contraxerat, se coniunxit. Vterque, cum bellum molirentur, interfecti sunt. Cleopatra, regina Aegypti, ab Ptolemaeo fratre regno pulsa est. Propter Q. Cassi praetoris auaritiam crudelitatemque Cordubenses in Hispania cum duabus Varronianis legionibus a partibus Caesaris desciuerunt. Cn. Pompeius ad Dyrrachium obsessus a Caesare et, praesidiis eius cum magna clade diuersae partis expugnatis, obsidione liberatus translato in Thessaliam bello apud Pharsaliam acie uictus est. Cicero in castris remansit, uir nihil minus quam ad bella natus. Omnibusque aduersarum partium, qui se potestati uictoris permiserant, Caesar ignouit.
The praetor Marcus Caelius Rufus, having incited seditions by stirring up the plebs with promises of debt cancellation, was expelled from office and from the city, joined the exile Milo, and both were killed while trying to raise revolt. Cleopatra was exiled from Egypt by her brother King Ptolemy. The inhabitants of Corduba in Spain deserted Caesar's cause because of the avarice of his legate Quintus Cassius. Gnaeus Pompey, besieged at Dyrrachium by Caesar, broke free and transferred the war to Thessaly, where he was defeated at Pharsalus. Cicero stayed behind in Pompey's camp. Caesar, magnanimous in victory, pardoned all who submitted to him.
The consuls Hirtius and Pansa defeat Antony at Mutina but both die in battle, leaving the nineteen-year-old Octavian in command of Rome's largest army.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Cicero, Philippicae; Appian, Bellum Civile 3
Trepidantia uictarum partium in diuersas orbis terrarum partes et fuga refertur : Cn. Pompeius cum Aegyptum petisset, iussu Ptolenaei regis, pupilli sui, auctore Theodoto praeceptore, cuius magna apud regem auctoritas erat, et Pothino occisus est ab Achilla, cui id facinus erat delegatum, in nauicula antequam in terram emiret. Cornelia uxor et Sex. Pompeius filius Cypron refugerunt. Caesar post tertium diem insecutus, cum ei Theodotus caput Pompei et anulum obtulisset, infensus est et inlacrimauit. Sine periculo Alexandriam tumultuantem intrauit. Caesar dictator creatus Cleopatram in regnum Aegypti reduxit et inferentem bellum Ptolemaeum isdem auctoribus, quibus Pompeium interfecerat, cum magno suo discrimine euicit. Ptolemaeus dum fugit, in Nilo nauicula subsedit. Praeterea laboriosum M. Catonis in Africa per deserta cum legionibus iter et bellum a Cn. Domitio aduersus Pharnacen parum prospere gestum continet.
The panic of the defeated party and their flight to various parts of the world is described. Gnaeus Pompey, making for Egypt, was murdered before reaching shore by order of King Ptolemy, at the instigation of Pothinus and Theodotus. His wife Cornelia and son Sextus fled to Cyprus. Caesar arrived in Egypt and is reported to have wept at the sight of Pompey's head. He entered Alexandria and restored Cleopatra to the throne, defeating Ptolemy in battle; Ptolemy drowned when his ship capsized in the Nile. The book also contains Cato's difficult march through the African desert and the unsuccessful war waged by Gnaeus Domitius against King Pharnaces of Pontus.
Octavian, Antony, and Lepidus meet on a river island near Bononia and form the Second Triumvirate, dividing the Roman world between them.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Cicero, Philippicae; Appian, Bellum Civile 3
Confirmatis in Africa Pompeianis partibus imperium earum P. Scipioni delatum est, Catone, cui ex aequo deferebatur imperium, cedente. Et cum de diruenda urbe Vtica propter fauorem ciuitatis eius in Caesarem deliberaretur, idque ne fieret M. Cato tenuisset, Iuba suadente ut dirueretur, tutela eius et custodia mandata est Catoni. Cn. Pompeius Magni filius, in Hispania contractis uiribus, quarum ducatum nec Afranius nec Petreius excipere uolebant, bellum aduersus Caesarem renouauit. Pharnaces, Mithridatis filius, rex Ponti, sine ulla belli mora uictus est. Cum seditiones Romae a P. Dolabella tr. pl. legem ferente de nouis tabulis excitatae essent et ex ea causa plebs tumultuaretur, inductis a M. Antonio, magistro equitum, in urbem militibus octingenti e plebe caesi sunt. Caesar ueteranis cum seditione missionem postulantibus dedit, et cum in Africam traiecisset, aduersus copias Iubae regis cum discrimine magno pugnauit.
The Pompeian faction consolidated its position in Africa, with command given to Publius Scipio over Cato, who declined it. Cato was assigned the defence of Utica when debate arose about whether to destroy the city for its sympathy with Caesar. The younger Gnaeus Pompeius assembled an army in Spain. King Pharnaces, who had invaded Pontus, was swiftly defeated. The tribune Publius Dolabella proposed debt cancellation, causing violent disorder in Rome until Mark Antony sent soldiers, killing about eight hundred people. Caesar crossed to Africa to fight the Pompeian forces, supported by King Juba.
The proscriptions unleash a reign of terror: Cicero is hunted down and killed, his severed hands nailed to the Rostra from which he had spoken against Antony.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Appian, Bellum Civile 4; Plutarch, Brutus
Bellum in Syria Caecilius Bassus, eques Romanus Pompeianarum partium, excitauit, relicto a legione Sexto Caesare, quae ad Bassum transierat, occisoque eo. Caesar Scipionem praetorem Iubamque uicit ad Thapsum, castris eorum expugnatis. Cato audita re cum se percussisset Vticae et interueniente filio curaretur, inter ipsam curationem rescisso uulnere expirauit anno aetatis XLVIII. Petreius Iubam seque interfecit. P. Scipio in naue circumuentus honestae morti uocem quoque adiecit ; quaerentibus enim imperatorem hostibus dixit: "imperator se bene habet". Faustus et Afranius occisi. Catonis filio uenia data. Brutus legatus Caesaris in Gallia Bellouacos rebellantes proelio uicit.
Caecilius Bassus stirred up war in Syria; the legate Sextus Caesar was killed. Caesar defeated Scipio and Juba at Thapsus. On hearing this, Cato stabbed himself at Utica and died at the age of forty-eight, tearing open his wound when a physician tried to bind it. Petreius killed Juba and then himself. Scipio was captured on board ship. Faustus and Afranius were killed. Cato's son received Caesar's pardon. The legate Decimus Brutus defeated the Bellovaci in Gaul.
At Philippi in Macedonia, the armies of the Republic make their last stand; Cassius and Brutus fall, and with them dies any realistic hope of restoring the old order.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Appian, Bellum Civile 4; Plutarch, Brutus
Caesar quattuor triumphos duxit, ex Gallia, ex Aegypto, ex Ponto, ex Africa, epulum et omnis generis spectacula dedit. M. Marcello consulari, senatu rogante, reditum concessit. Quo beneficio eius Marcellus frui non potuit, a Cn. Magio cliente suo Athenis occisus. Recensum egit, quo censa sunt ciuium capita CL milia. Profectusque in Hispaniam aduersus Cn. Pompeium, multis utrimque expeditionibus factis et aliquot urbibus expugnatis summam uictoriam cum magno discrimine ad Mundam urbem consecutus est. Necatus est Cn. Pompeius, Sex. effugit.
Caesar celebrated four triumphs for his victories in Gaul, Egypt, Pontus, and Africa, and provided magnificent banquets and public shows. When the senate requested Marcus Marcellus's recall, Caesar agreed, but Marcellus was murdered at Athens by his own client Gnaeus Magius. A census was held: 150,000 citizens were counted. Caesar marched to Spain against Gnaeus Pompeius. After multiple engagements, he won a decisive victory near Munda. Gnaeus Pompeius was captured and killed; Sextus escaped.
The victors divide the spoils: Antony takes the wealthy East and meets Cleopatra at Tarsus, while Octavian faces the thankless task of settling veterans on confiscated Italian land.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Appian, Bellum Civile 4; Plutarch, Brutus
Caesar ex Hispania quintum triumphum egit. Et cum plurimi maximique honores a senatu decreti essent, inter quos ut "parens patriae" appellaretur et sacrosanctus ac dictator in perpetuum esset, inuidiae aduersus eum causam praestiterunt, quod senatui deferenti hos honores, cum ante aedem Veneris Genetricis sederet, non adsurrexit, et quod a M. Antonio cos., collega suo, inter lupercos currente diadema capiti suo impositum in sella reposuit, et quod Epidio Marullo et Caesetio Flauo trib. pl., inuidiam ei tamquam regnum adfectanti mouentibus potestas abrogata est. Ex his causis conspiratione in eum facta, cuius capita fuerunt M. Brutus et C. Cassius et ex Caesaris partibus Dec. Brutus et C. Trebonius, in Pompei curia occisus est XXIII uulneribus occupatumque ab interfectoribus eius Capitolium. Obliuione deinde caedis eius a senatu decreta, obsidibus Antoni et Lepidi de liberis acceptis coniurati a Capitolio descenderunt. Testamento Caesaris heres ex parte dimidia institutus est C. Octauius, sororis nepos, et in nomen adoptatus est. Caesaris corpus cum in campum Martium ferretur, a plebe ante rostra crematum est. Dictaturae honos in perpetuum sublatus est. Chamiates, humillimae sortis homo, qui se C. Mari filium ferebat, cum apud credulam plebem seditiones moueret, necatus est.
Caesar celebrated a fifth triumph for his Spanish victory. The senate heaped many unprecedented honours upon him, including the title 'Father of the Fatherland,' permanent inviolability, and the dictatorship. But these distinctions bred resentment: he remained seated when the senate came to him with honours, accepted a diadem from Mark Antony at the Lupercalia, and expelled tribunes who opposed him. A conspiracy was formed by Marcus Brutus, Gaius Cassius, Decimus Brutus, and Gaius Trebonius, among others. Caesar was stabbed twenty-three times in the Curia of Pompey. The senate granted amnesty and the conspirators came down from the Capitol. Gaius Octavius was named as Caesar's heir and adopted son. The body was burnt by the people on the Campus Martius. The office of dictator was abolished forever.
Antony's wife Fulvia and brother Lucius spark the Perusine War against Octavian, who besieges and starves Perusia into submission.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Appian, Bellum Civile 5; Cassius Dio 48–49
C. Octauius Romam ex Epiro uenit (eo enim illum Caesar praemiserat bellum in Macedonia gesturus) ominibusque prosperis exceptus et nomen Caesaris sumpsit. In confusione rerum ac tumultu M. Lepidus pontificatum maximum intercepit. Et M. Antonius cos. cum impotenter dominaretur legemque de permutatione prouinciarum per uim tulisset et Caesarem quoque petentem ut sibi aduersus percussores auunculi adesset, magnis iniuriis adfecisset, Caesar et sibi et rei p. uires aduersus eum paraturus deductos in colonias ueteranos excitauit. Legiones quoque quarta et Martia signa ab Antonio ad Caesarem tulerunt, deinde et complures saeuitia M. Antoni, passim in castris suis trucidantis qui ei suspecti erant, ad Caesarem desciuerunt. Dec. Brutus ut petenti Cisalpinam Galliam Antonio obsisteret, Mutinam cum exercitu occupauit. Praeterea discursum utriusque partis uirorum ad accipiendas prouincias apparatusque belli continet.
Gaius Octavius came from Epirus to Rome, received favourable omens, and took the name Caesar. Marcus Lepidus was elected pontifex maximus. Mark Antony, dominating public affairs, changed provincial assignments by force and acted to Caesar's disadvantage. The Fourth and the Martian legions transferred their allegiance from Antony to Caesar. Decimus Brutus occupied Mutina to prevent Antony from entering Cisalpine Gaul.
The Treaty of Brundisium patches up the triumvirate and Antony marries Octavian's sister Octavia, while Sextus Pompey controls the seas and threatens Rome's grain supply.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Appian, Bellum Civile 5; Cassius Dio 48–49
M. Brutus in Graecia sub praetexto rei p. et suscepti contra M. Antonium belli exercitum, cui P. Vatinius praeerat, cum prouincia in potestatem suam redegit. C. Caesari, qui priuatus rei p. arma sumpserat, pro praetore imperium a senatu datum est cum consularibus ornamentis adiectumque ut senator esset. M. Antonius Dec. Brutum Mutinae obsedit, missiquo ad cum a senatu legati de pace parum ad componendam eam ualuerunt. Populus R. saga sumpsit. M. Brutus in Epiro C. Antonium praetorem cum exercitu potestati suae subegit.
Marcus Brutus obtained the army and province of Publius Vatinius in Greece under the pretext of public duty and the war undertaken against Mark Antony. The senate gave Gaius Caesar the powers of a propraetor and consular insignia. Mark Antony besieged Decimus Brutus at Mutina. The Roman people assumed military dress. Marcus Brutus defeated the praetor Gaius Antonius in Epirus.
Octavian's admiral Agrippa finally defeats Sextus Pompey at Naulochus, and Lepidus is stripped of his triumviral power, leaving the Roman world divided between two men.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Appian, Bellum Civile 5; Cassius Dio 48–49
C. Trebonius in Asia fraude P. Dolabellae occisus est. Ob id facinus Dolabella hostis a senatu iudicatus est. Cum Pansa cos. male aduersus Antonium pugnasset, A. Hirtius cos. cum exercitu superueniens fusis M. Antoni copiis fortunam utriusque partis aequauit. Victus deinde ab Hirtio et Caesare Antonius in Galliam confugit et M. Lepidum cum legionibus quae sub eo erant sibi iunxit, hostisque a senatu cum omnibus qui intra praesidia eius essent iudicatus est. A. Hirtius, qui post uictoriam in ipsis hostium castris ceciderat, et C. Pansa ex uulnere quod in aduerso proelio exceperat, defunctus in campo Martio sepulti sunt. Aduersus C. Caesarem, qui solus ex tribus ducibus supererat, parum gratus senatus fuit, qui Dec. Bruto obsidione Mutinensi a Caesare liberato triumphi honore decreto Caesaris militumque eius mentionem non satis gratam habuit. Ob quae C. Caesar reconciliata per M. Lepidum cum M. Antonio gratia Romam cum exercitu uenit et praeclusis aduentu eius his qui in eum iniqui erant, cum XVIIII annos haberet, consul creatus est.
Gaius Trebonius was murdered in Asia by the treachery of Publius Dolabella. For this crime, Dolabella was declared a public enemy by the senate. The consul Pansa fought against Antony with initial reverses but was aided by Aulus Hirtius, who defeated Antony's forces. Antony fled to Gaul and joined Lepidus; both were declared public enemies. Hirtius and Pansa died from wounds received in battle. The senate awarded Decimus Brutus a triumph but slighted Caesar. Caesar reconciled with Antony and marched on Rome, becoming consul at the age of nineteen.
Octavian campaigns in Illyricum to toughen his legions and his reputation, while Antony plans a grand Parthian invasion to surpass even Alexander.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Appian, Bellum Civile 5; Cassius Dio 48–49
C. Caesar cos. legem tulit de quaestione habenda in eos quorum opera Caesar pater occisus esset; postulatique ea lege M. Brutus, C. Cassius, Dec. Brutus absentes damnati sunt. Cum M. Antoni uires Asinius quoque Pollio et Munatius Plancus cum exercitibus suis adiuncti ampliassent, et Dec. Brutus, cui senatus ut persequeretur Antonium mandauerat, relictus a legionibus suis profugisset, caesus iussu Antoni, in cuius potestatem uenerat, a Capeno Sequano interfectus est. C. Caesar pacem cum Antonio et Lepido fecit ita ut III uiri rei p. constituendae per quinquennium essent ipse et Lepidus et Antonius et ut suos quisque inimicos proscriberent. In qua proscriptione plurimi equites R., CXXX senatorum nomina fuerunt, et inter eos L. Pauli, fratris M. Lepidi, et L. Caesaris, Antoni auunculi, et M. Ciceronis. Huius occisi a Popillio, legionario milite, cum haberet annos LXIII, caput quoque cum dextra manu in rostris positum est. Praeterea res a M. Bruto in Graecia gestas continet.
The consul Caesar passed a law establishing a court to try the murderers of his father; Marcus Brutus, Gaius Cassius, and Decimus Brutus were condemned in their absence. Asinius Pollio and Munatius Plancus joined Antony. Decimus Brutus, abandoned by his legions, was captured and killed. Caesar made peace with Antony and Lepidus: the three of them were appointed triumvirs for the organisation of the republic for a term of five years. About one hundred and thirty senators were proscribed along with many equestrians. Cicero was killed by a soldier at the age of sixty-three.
Antony's Parthian campaign ends in a gruelling retreat through the Armenian mountains, fatally damaging his prestige as Octavian's propaganda machine goes to work.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Florus 2.21; Cassius Dio 49–50
C. Cassius, cui mandatum a senatu erat ut Dolabellam hostem iudicatum bello persequeretur, auctoritate rei p. adiutus Syriam cum tribus exercitibus, qui in eadem prouincia erant, in potestatem suam redegit, Dolabellam in urbe Laodicia obsessum mori coegit. M. quoque Bruti iussu C. Antonius captus occisus est.
Gaius Cassius, whom the senate had charged with pursuing the enemy Dolabella, gained control of Syria with three armies, using the authority of the republic. He took Laodicea, where Dolabella had taken refuge; Dolabella offered his neck to his slave to be killed. Marcus Brutus subdued the Lycians.
The Donations of Alexandria and Antony's divorce of Octavia provide Octavian with the pretext to declare war — not on a fellow Roman, but on the foreign queen Cleopatra.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Florus 2.21; Cassius Dio 49–50
M. Brutus aduersus Thracas parumper prospere rem gessit, omnibusque transmarinis prouinciis exercitibusque in potestatem eius et C. Cassi redactis coierunt Smyrnae uterque ad ordinanda belli futuri consilia. M. Messalae Publicolam fratrem uinctum communi consilio condonauerunt.
Marcus Brutus fought against the Thracians with some success. All the provinces and armies overseas were brought under the control of Brutus and Cassius. They held a conference at Smyrna to plan the war. Caesar and Antony crossed to Greece with their armies.
Agrippa's fleet shatters Antony and Cleopatra at Actium; they flee to Egypt, where both take their own lives as Octavian's legions close in, ending the last war of the Republic.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Florus 2.21; Cassius Dio 49–50
Sex. Pompeius, Magni filius, collectis ex Epiro proscriptis ac fugitiuis cum exercitu diu sine ulla loci cuiusquam possessione praedatus in mari Messanam, oppidum in Sicilia, primum, dein totam prouinciam occupauit occisoque Pompeio Bithynico praetore, Q. Saluidenum, legatum Caesaris, nauali proelio uicit. Caesar et Antonius cum exercitibus in Graecian traicerunt bellum aduersus Brutum et Cassium gesturi. Q. Cornificius in Africa T. Sextium, Cassianarum partium ducem, proelio uicit.
Sextus Pompeius, son of Magnus, gathered exiles and fugitives and, after long raiding at sea without any fixed base, seized Messana in Sicily and made war against the triumvirs. The triumvirs distributed lands to veterans, causing great disturbance. Lucius Antonius, the consul and brother of Mark Antony, stirred up war against Caesar at the instigation of Fulvia, Antony's wife.
Egypt becomes a Roman province, Octavian returns to Rome in triumph, and the temple of Janus is closed for the first time in generations — signalling a world at peace.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Florus 2.21; Cassius Dio 49–50
C. Caesar et Antonius apud Philippos uario euentu aduersus Brutum et Cassium pugnauerunt ita ut dextra utriusque cornua uincerent ex castra quoque utrimque ab his qui uicerant expugnarentur. Sed inaequalem fortunam partium mors Cassi fecit qui cum in eo cornu fuisset quod pulsum erat, totum exercitum fusum ratus mortem consciuit. Altera dein die uictus M. Brutus et ipse uitam finiit exorato Stratone, fugae comite, ut sibi gladium adigeret. Annorum erat circiter XL. Q. Hortensius occisus est.
Caesar and Antony fought at Philippi against Brutus and Cassius with mixed results, so that the right wing of each side won and even the enemy's camp was captured. But the outcome of the war was decided by the deaths of the two generals: first Cassius, defeated on his wing, killed himself, then Brutus, seeing that all was lost, also chose to die. Each was about forty years of age. Their armies surrendered to the victors.
Octavian "restores the Republic" in a carefully choreographed settlement, receiving the name Augustus, the tribunician power, and control of the frontier provinces and their legions.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Cassius Dio 51–54; Velleius 2.89–100
Caesar relicto trans mare Antonio (prouinciae ea parte imperi positae ei cesserant) reuersus in Italiam ueteranis agros diuisit. Seditiones exercitus sui quas corrupti a Fuluia, M. Antoni uxore, milites aduersus imperatorem suum concitauerant, cum graui periculo inhibuit. L. Antonius cos., M. Antoni frater, eadem Fuluia consiliante bellum Caesari intulit. Receptis in partes suas populis quorum agri ueteranis adsignati erant, et M. Lepido, qui custodiae urbis cum exercitu praeerat, fuso hostiliter in urbem inrupit.
Caesar, leaving Antony overseas — that part of the empire having fallen to him — returned to Italy and distributed land to the veterans. The army mutinied because of the settlers' grievances. Fulvia, wife of Antony, stirred up further disorders. Lucius Antonius took up arms against Caesar but was besieged at Perusia and forced to surrender. Caesar pardoned him and the other leaders. The book also describes the disturbances caused by Sextus Pompeius, who controlled Sicily.
Augustus campaigns personally in Spain against the Cantabrians, while Aelius Gallus leads a doomed expedition into the deserts of Arabia Felix.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Cassius Dio 51–54; Velleius 2.89–100
Caesar cum esset annorum XXIII, obsessum in oppido Perusia L. Antonium conatumque aliquotiens erumpere et repulsum fame coegit in deditionem uenire ipsique et omnibus militibus eius ignouit, Perusiam diruit, redactisque in potestatem suam omnibus diuersae partis exercitibus bellum citra ullum sanguinem confecit.
Caesar, though only twenty-three years old, besieged Lucius Antonius at Perusia, and after several failed attempts to break out, forced him by starvation to surrender. He pardoned all the leaders. Perusia was sacked by a soldier who set fire to his own house. The book also describes the peace made between Caesar and Mark Antony, and the marriage of Antony to Octavia, Caesar's sister.
Augustus falls gravely ill, the Murena conspiracy is uncovered, and a second constitutional settlement refines the princeps's legal position.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Cassius Dio 51–54; Velleius 2.89–100
Parthi Labieno, qui Pompeianarum partium fuerat, duce in Syriam inruperunt uictoque Decidio Saxa, M. Antoni legato, totam eam prouinciam occupauerunt. M. Antonius cum ad bellum aduersus Caesarem gerendum incitaretur ab uxore Fuluia ne concordiae ducum obstaret, pace facta cum Caesare, sororem eius Octauiam in matrimonium duxit. Q. Saluidenum consilia nefaria aduersus Caesarem molitum indicio suo prostraxit, isque damnatus mortem consciuit. P. Ventidius Antoni legatus Parthos proelio uictos Syria expulit Labieno, eorum duce, occiso. Cum uicinus Italiae hostis, Sex. Pompeius, Siciliam teneret et commercium annonae impediret, expostulatam cum eo pacem Caesar et Antonius fecerunt ita ut Siciliam prouinciam haberet. Praeterea motus Africae et bella ibi gesta continet.
The Parthians, led by Labienus who had been of the Pompeian party, invaded Syria; they defeated and killed Decidius Saxa, Mark Antony's legate, and occupied the entire province. They also overran Asia as far as Ionia and Caria. Publius Ventidius, Antony's legate, defeated and expelled them from Syria and Asia, killing Labienus. The book also contains the war between Caesar and Sextus Pompeius in Sicily and the activities of Antony in the East.
Augustus sends Agrippa to the East and recovers the standards lost at Carrhae through diplomacy with Parthia — a propaganda coup celebrated as a military triumph.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Cassius Dio 51–54; Velleius 2.89–100
Cum Sex. Pompeius rursus latrociniis mare infestum redderet nec pacem quam acceperat praestaret, Caesar necessario aduersus eum bello suscepto duobus naualibus proeliis cum dubio euentu pugnauit. P. Ventidius, legatus Antonii, Parthos in Syria proelio uicit regemque eorum occidit. Iudaei quoque a legatis Antoni subacti sunt. Praeterea belli Siculi apparatum continet.
When Sextus Pompeius again made the sea unsafe with his piracy and would not observe the peace he had been granted, Caesar was compelled to make war against him. After two naval battles fought with mixed results, a peace was arranged. The book also contains the campaigns of Antony's legates against the Parthians and the quarrels between the triumvirs.
Augustus enacts his moral legislation — the Lex Julia on marriage and adultery — attempting to reverse what he sees as the degeneracy of the Roman aristocracy.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Cassius Dio 51–54; Velleius 2.89–100
Aduersus Sex. Pompeium uario euentu naualibus proeliis pugnatum est ita ut ex duabus Caesaris classibus altera, cui Agrippa praeerat, uinceret, altera, quam Caesar duxerat, deleta expositi in terram milites in magno periculo essent. Victus deinde Pompeius in Siciliam profugit. M. Lepidus, qui ex Africa uelut ad societatem belli contra Sex. Pompeium a Caesare gerendi traiecerat, cum bellum Caesari quoque inferret, relictus ab exercitu, abrogato triumuiratus honore uitam impetrauit. M. Agrippa nauali corona a Caesare donatus est, qui honos nulli ante eum habitus erat.
In the war against Sextus Pompeius, naval battles were fought with varying results, so that of Caesar's two fleets, one under Agrippa's command was victorious while the other, commanded by Caesar himself, was defeated and nearly destroyed. Sextus Pompeius was finally defeated in a decisive naval battle off Sicily. He fled to Asia. Lepidus, who had come from Africa claiming to share in the victory, was stripped of his power by Caesar when his soldiers deserted him, but his life was spared.
Agrippa receives tribunician power as Augustus's designated partner, while frontier wars flare along the Rhine and Danube.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Cassius Dio 51–54; Velleius 2.89–100
M. Antonius dum cum Cleopatra luxuriatur, tarde Mediam ingressus bellum cum legionibus XVIII et XVI milia equitum Parthis intulit, et cum, duabus legionibus amissis, nulla re prospere cedente retro rediret, insecutis subinde Parthis et ingenti trepidatione et magno totius exercitus periculo in Armeniam reuersus est, XXI diebus CCC milia fuga emensus. Circa VIII milia hominum tempestatibus amisit. Tempestates quoque infestas super tam infeliciter susceptum Parthicum bellum culpa sua passus est, quia hiemare in Armenia nolebat, dum ad Cleopatram festinat.
Mark Antony, while dallying with Cleopatra, belatedly invaded Media with eighteen legions and sixteen thousand cavalry to make war on the Parthians. After losing two legions to surprise attacks and having his siege train destroyed, he retreated through Armenia, suffering greatly from the Parthian pursuit, hunger, and disease, losing a further eight thousand men. The book also describes the campaigns of Caesar against the Illyrians.
Alpine campaigns bring Raetia and Noricum under Roman control, securing the land route between Italy and the northern provinces.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Cassius Dio 54–55; Velleius 2.100–120
Sex. Pompeius cum in fidem M. Antoni ueniret, bellum aduersus eum in Asia moliens oppressus a legatis eius occisus est. Caesar seditionem ueteranorum cum magna pernicie motam inhibuit, Iapydas et Dalmatas et Pannonios subegit. Antonius Artauasden, Armeniae regem, fide data perductum in uincula conici iussit, regnumque Armeniae filio suo ex Cleopatra nato dedit, quam uxoris loco iam pridem captus amore eius habere coeperat.
Sextus Pompeius, having sought the protection of Mark Antony, plotted war against him in Asia but was captured by Antony's officers and killed. Caesar suppressed a mutiny among the veterans, then subdued the Iapydes, Dalmatians, and Pannonians. Antony seized Artavasdes, king of Armenia, despite a promise of safe conduct, and gave the kingdom of Armenia to his son Alexander, whom he had had by Cleopatra and whom he treated as his wife.
Augustus returns to Rome, Agrippa subdues disturbances in Pannonia, and the princeps begins grooming his stepsons Tiberius and Drusus for military command.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Cassius Dio 54–55; Velleius 2.100–120
Caesar in Illyrico Dalmatas domuit. Cum M. Antonius ob amorem Cleopatrae, ex qua duos filios habebat, Philadelphum et Alexandrum, neque in urbem uenire uellet neque finito IIIuiratus tempore imperium deponere bellumque moliretur quod urbi et Italiae inferret, ingentibus tam naualibus quam terrestribus copiis ob hoc contractis remissoque Octauiae, sorori Caesaris, repudio, Caesar in Epirum cum exercitu traiecit. Pugnae deinde naualis et proelia equestria secunda Caesaris referuntur.
Caesar subdued the Dalmatians in Illyricum. Mark Antony, captivated by his love for Cleopatra, by whom he had two sons, Philadelphus and Alexander, and unwilling to return to Rome or give up power, gathered naval and land forces and prepared for war. He divorced Octavia, Caesar's sister. Caesar then crossed to Epirus with his army and fought several successful engagements at sea and on horseback.
Agrippa dies and Augustus must reshape the succession; Drusus launches the first major Roman offensive across the Rhine into the heart of Germania.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Cassius Dio 54–55; Velleius 2.100–120
M. Antonius ad Actium classe uictus Alexandriam profugit, obsessusque a Caesare, in ultima desperatione rerum, praecipue occisae Cleopatrae falso rumore inpulsus, se ipse interfecit. Caesar Alexandria in potestatem redacta, Cleopatra, ne in arbitrium uictoris ueniret, uoluntaria morte defuncta, in urbem reuersus tres triumphos egit, unum ex Illyrico, alterum ex Actiaca uictoria, tertium de Cleopatra, imposito fine ciuilibus bellis altero et uicesino anno. M. Lepidus Lepidi, qui triumuir fuerat, filius coniuratione aduersus Caesarem facta bellum moliens oppressus et occisus est.
Mark Antony was defeated in a naval battle at Actium and fled to Alexandria. Besieged there by Caesar, and driven to the last extremity, particularly by the false report that Cleopatra was dead, he killed himself. Cleopatra, to avoid falling into Caesar's hands, took her own life. Caesar returned to Rome and celebrated three triumphs: for Illyricum, the victory at Actium, and over Cleopatra, ending twenty-two years of civil wars. Marcus Lepidus, son of the former triumvir, conspired against Caesar but was discovered and killed.
Drusus drives deep into Germanic territory, reaching the Weser, while Tiberius crushes the Pannonian revolt and the empire's northern frontier advances dramatically.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Cassius Dio 54–55; Velleius 2.100–120
C. Caesar rebus compositis et omnibus prouinciis in certam formam redactis Augustus quoque cognominatus est ; et mensis Sextilis in honorem eius appellatus est. Cum ille conuentum Narbone egit, census a tribus Galliis, quas Caesar pater uicerat, actus. Bellum aduersus Basternas et Moesos et alias gentes a M. Crasso referuntur.
Caesar settled all affairs and reduced all provinces to a fixed order. He was given the name Augustus, and the month Sextilis was renamed in his honour. He conducted a census of the three Gallic provinces. Marcus Crassus waged war against the Bastarnae, Moesians, and other peoples.
Drusus campaigns relentlessly along the Elbe and the Saale, pushing Roman arms further into Germania than any commander before or after.
Known from the periocha.
Periocha; Cassius Dio 54–55; Velleius 2.100–120
Bellum a M. Crasso aduersus Thracas et a Caesare aduersus Hispanos gestum refertur, et Salassi, gens Alpina, perdomiti.
The war waged by Marcus Crassus against the Thracians and by Caesar against the Spaniards is described. The Salassi, an Alpine people, were also completely subdued.
The content of this book is largely unknown, as the periochae — the ancient summaries that preserve the outline of Livy's lost books — do not survive for this portion of the work.
The periochae for this book are also lost
Periocha lost; Orosius 7.1–3; Obsequens; Cassius Dio 55–56
Drusus reaches the Elbe but is fatally injured when his horse falls on him during the return march; Tiberius races to his brother's side, but arrives only to escort the body home to Rome.
The periochae for this book are also lost
Periocha lost; Orosius 7.1–3; Obsequens; Cassius Dio 55–56
No periochae survive for this book, and some scholars question whether Livy completed the work beyond Book CXXXVII. If written, it likely covered Tiberius's assumption of command in Germania.
No periochae survive; it is uncertain whether this book was completed by Livy
No periocha survives; Cassius Dio 56; Velleius 2.120–131
Raeti a Tib. Nerone et Druso, Caesaris priuignis, domiti. Agrippa, Caesaris gener, mortuus. A Druso census actus est.
The Raeti were subdued by Tiberius Nero and Drusus, the stepsons of Caesar. Agrippa, Caesar's son-in-law, died. A census was conducted by Drusus.
No periochae survive. If this book existed, it may have continued the account of Rome's consolidation along the Rhine frontier after Drusus's death.
No periochae survive; it is uncertain whether this book was completed by Livy
No periocha survives; Cassius Dio 56; Velleius 2.120–131
Ciuitates Germaniae cis Rhenum et trans Rhenum positae oppugnantur a Druso, et tumultus, qui ob censum exortus in Gallia erat, conponitur. Ara dei Caesaris ad confluentem Araris et Rhodani dedicata, sacerdote creato C. Iulio Vercondaridubno Aeduo.
The German peoples on both sides of the Rhine were attacked by Drusus, and the disturbance in Gaul that had arisen over the census was suppressed. An altar to the divine Caesar was dedicated at the confluence of the Saone and the Rhone, and Gaius Julius Vercondaridubnus was appointed priest.
No periochae survive. The existence of this book rests on ancient references to a 142-book work, but some scholars believe Livy's history may have ended earlier.
No periochae survive; it is uncertain whether this book was completed by Livy
No periocha survives; Cassius Dio 56; Velleius 2.120–131
Thraces domiti a L. Pisone, item Cherusci, Tencteri, Chauci aliaeque Germanorum trans Rhenum gentes subactae a Druso referuntur. Octauia, soror Augusti, defuncta, ante amisso filio Marcello cuius monimenta sunt theatrum et porticus nomine eius dicata.
The Thracians were subdued by Lucius Piso. The Cherusci, Tencteri, Chauci, and other Germanic peoples beyond the Rhine were subdued by Drusus. Octavia, the sister of Augustus, died after losing her son Marcellus, whose monuments are the theatre and the portico dedicated in his name.
No periochae survive, and serious doubt exists about whether Livy carried his narrative this far. Ancient catalogues list 142 books, but the final volumes may be posthumous attributions.
No periochae survive; it is uncertain whether this book was completed by Livy
No periocha survives; Cassius Dio 56; Velleius 2.120–131
Bellum aduersus transrhenanas gentes a Druso gestum refertur. In quo inter primores pugnauerunt Chumstinctus et Auectius, tribuni ex ciuitate Neruiorum. Dalmatas et Pannonios Nero, frater Drusi, subegit. Pax cum Parthis facta est signis a rege eorum, quae sub Crasso et postea sub Antonio capta erant, redditis.
An account is given of the war waged by Drusus against the peoples beyond the Rhine. Among those who distinguished themselves in battle were the military tribunes Chumstinctus and Avectius, from the tribe of the Nervii. Tiberius Nero, the brother of Drusus, subdued the Dalmatians and Pannonians. Peace was made with the Parthians and the standards lost by Crassus and later by Mark Antony were recovered from their king.
The traditional final book of Ab Urbe Condita, though no periochae survive and many scholars doubt it was ever written. If completed, it brought Rome's story from the age of Romulus to the age of Augustus.
No periochae survive; it is uncertain whether this book was completed by Livy
No periocha survives; Cassius Dio 56; Velleius 2.120–131
Bellum aduersus Germanorum trans Rhenum ciuitates gestum a Druso refertur. Ipse ex fractura, equo super crus eius conlapso XXX die quam id acciderat, mortuus. Corpus a Nerone fratre, qui nuntio ualetudinis euocatus raptim adcucurrerat, Romam peruectum et in tumulo C. Iuli reconditum. Laudatus est a Caesare Augusto uitrico. Et supremis eius plures honores dati.
An account is given of the war waged by Drusus against the Germanic peoples beyond the Rhine. Drusus himself died from a fracture caused when his horse fell upon his leg, thirty days after the accident. His body was brought to Rome by his brother Tiberius Nero, who had hastened there upon receiving news of the illness. He was buried in the tomb of Gaius Julius. The eulogy was delivered by his stepfather Caesar Augustus. Many distinctions were conferred upon him in death.