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Marcus Postumius Pyrgensis
Marcus Postumius, surnamed Pyrgensis, is described by Livius as a "farmer of the taxes" during the Second Punic War, whose character for avarice and fraud were equaled only by Titus Pomponius Veientanus. During this period, when Rome and her allies had many troops in the field, and it was necessary to transport goods to them by sea, the state assumed all risks on behalf of private suppliers, such as Postumius and Pomponius, insuring them against all losses to their ships caused by storms. Taking advantage of their position, they outfitted unseaworthy ships with small and mostly worthless cargoes, sent them to sea, then removed the crews and sank them, reporting the loss while exaggerating the value of the cargo. They also reported imaginary shipwrecks. This fraud was first reported in 213 B.C., but the Senate had delayed action for fear of offending other suppliers, who depended on the assurances of the state against loss. Pomponius was captured by Hanno that same year. In 212, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Livy
Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Ancient Rome, Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding in 753 BC through the reign of Augustus in Livy's own lifetime. He was on familiar terms with members of the Julio-Claudian dynasty and a friend of Augustus, whose young grandnephew, the future emperor Claudius, he exhorted to take up the writing of history. Life Livy was born in Patavium in northern Italy (Roman Empire), Italy, now modern Padua, probably in 59 BC. At the time of his birth, his home city of Patavium was the second wealthiest on the Italian peninsula, and the largest in the province of Cisalpine Gaul (northern Italy). Cisalpine Gaul was merged in Roman Italy, Italy proper during his lifetime and its inhabitants were given Roman citizenship by Julius Caesar. In his works, Livy often expressed his deep affection an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Second Punic War
The Second Punic War (218 to 201 BC) was the second of three wars fought between Carthage and Rome, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean in the 3rd century BC. For 17 years the two states struggled for supremacy, primarily in Italy and Iberia, but also on the islands of Sicily and Sardinia and, towards the end of the war, in North Africa. After immense materiel and human losses on both sides the Carthaginians were defeated. Macedonia, Syracuse and several Numidian kingdoms were drawn into the fighting, and Iberian and Gallic forces fought on both sides. There were three main military theatres during the war: Italy, where Hannibal defeated the Roman legions repeatedly, with occasional subsidiary campaigns in Sicily, Sardinia and Greece; Iberia, where Hasdrubal, a younger brother of Hannibal, defended the Carthaginian colonial cities with mixed success before moving into Italy; and Africa, where Rome finally won the war. The First Punic War had ended in a Roman ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Titus Pomponius Veientanus
Titus Caesar Vespasianus ( ; 30 December 39 – 13 September 81 AD) was Roman emperor from 79 to 81. A member of the Flavian dynasty, Titus succeeded his father Vespasian upon his death. Before becoming emperor, Titus gained renown as a military commander, serving under his father in Judea during the First Jewish–Roman War. The campaign came to a brief halt with the death of emperor Nero in 68, launching Vespasian's bid for the imperial power during the Year of the Four Emperors. When Vespasian was declared Emperor on 1 July 69, Titus was left in charge of ending the Jewish rebellion. In 70, he besieged and captured Jerusalem, and destroyed the city and the Second Temple. For this achievement Titus was awarded a triumph; the Arch of Titus commemorates his victory to this day. During his father's rule, Titus gained notoriety in Rome serving as prefect of the Praetorian Guard, and for carrying on a controversial relationship with the Jewish queen Berenice. Despite concern ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with the establishment of the Roman Empire, Rome's control rapidly expanded during this period—from the city's immediate surroundings to hegemony over the entire Mediterranean world. Roman society under the Republic was primarily a cultural mix of Latin and Etruscan societies, as well as of Sabine, Oscan, and Greek cultural elements, which is especially visible in the Roman Pantheon. Its political organization developed, at around the same time as direct democracy in Ancient Greece, with collective and annual magistracies, overseen by a senate. The top magistrates were the two consuls, who had an extensive range of executive, legislative, judicial, military, and religious powers ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ab Urbe Condita (book)
The work called ( en, From the Founding of the City), sometimes referred to as (''Books from the Founding of the City''), is a monumental history of ancient Rome, written in Latin between 27 and 9 BC by Livy, a Roman historian. The work covers the period from the legends concerning the arrival of Aeneas and the refugees from the fall of Troy, to the city's founding in 753 BC, the expulsion of the Kings in 509 BC, and down to Livy's own time, during the reign of the emperor Augustus. The last event covered by Livy is the death of Drusus in 9 BC. 35 of 142 books, about a quarter of the work, are still extant. The surviving books deal with the events down to 293 BC (books 1–10), and from 219 to 166 BC (books 21–45). Contents Corpus The ''History of Rome'' originally comprised 142 "books", thirty-five of which—Books 1–10 with the Preface and Books 21–45—still exist in reasonably complete form. Damage to a manuscript of the 5th century resulted in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roman Senate
The Roman Senate ( la, Senātus Rōmānus) was a governing and advisory assembly in ancient Rome. It was one of the most enduring institutions in Roman history, being established in the first days of the city of Rome (traditionally founded in 753 BC). It survived the overthrow of the Roman monarchy in 509 BC; the fall of the Roman Republic in the 1st century BC; the division of the Roman Empire in AD 395; and the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476; Justinian's attempted reconquest of the west in the 6th century, and lasted well into the Eastern Roman Empire's history. During the days of the Roman Kingdom, most of the time the Senate was little more than an advisory council to the king, but it also elected new Roman kings. The last king of Rome, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, was overthrown following a coup d'état led by Lucius Junius Brutus, who founded the Roman Republic. During the early Republic, the Senate was politically weak, while the various executive magistr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hanno, Son Of Bomilcar
Hanno ( xpu, 𐤇𐤍𐤀 , ), distinguished as the son of the suffet Bomilcar, was a Carthaginian officer in the Second Punic War (218 to 201 BC). Biography He was a nephew of Hannibal Barca, Carthage's leading general. Hanno's mother was one of Hannibal's three elder sisters. Travel through the Alps When Hannibal's army reached the Western bank of the Rhône River, they began preparations to cross. A group of Gauls gathered on the Eastern bank, intent on preventing the army from crossing. Hanno led a small group north, which crossed in small rafts they built. Once across, they headed south toward the Gauls. Hanno sent a smoke signal to inform Hannibal that his force was ready. Hannibal began to send his cavalry across in canoes. As the cavalry attained a foothold on the Eastern bank, the Gauls approached, ready to fight. At this point, Hanno's force attacked the Gauls' rear, causing enough confusion to force the Gauls to retreat. Campaign in Italy At the Battle of Cannae, Hanno ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tribune
Tribune () was the title of various elected officials in ancient Rome. The two most important were the tribunes of the plebs and the military tribunes. For most of Roman history, a college of ten tribunes of the plebs acted as a check on the authority of the senate and the annual magistrates, holding the power of ''ius intercessionis'' to intervene on behalf of the plebeians, and veto unfavourable legislation. There were also military tribunes, who commanded portions of the Roman army, subordinate to higher magistrates, such as the consuls and praetors, promagistrates, and their legates. Various officers within the Roman army were also known as tribunes. The title was also used for several other positions and classes in the course of Roman history. Tribal tribunes The word ''tribune'' is derived from the Roman tribes. The three original tribes known as the ''Ramnes'' or ''Ramnenses'', ''Tities'' or ''Titienses,'' and the ''Luceres,'' were each headed by a tribune, who rep ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spurius Carvilius (tribune)
Spurius Carvilius was tribune of the people at Rome in 212 BC. Together with Lucius Carvilius (perhaps his brother), he proposed that a fine of 200,000 '' asses'' be levied against Marcus Postumius Pyrgensis, for defrauding the state. Postumius was one of the "farmers of the taxes", who made their living shipping goods to Roman forces overseas during the Second Punic War. He made a habit of sabotaging his own shipments and claiming losses from these and other imaginary shipwrecks, for which he was re-imbursed by the state. After Postumius' trial nearly escalated into a riot between the people and his supporters, the Carvilii brought capital charges before the Senate. Postumius gave surety and chose to go into exile rather than appear in person, and many of his supporters likewise chose exile over imprisonment. In this way, Spurius and Lucius Carvilius were able to halt this pernicious drain on the treasury, during a critical point in the war.Titus Livius, ''Ab Urbe Condita ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lucius Carvilius (tribune)
Lucius Carvilius was tribune of the people at Rome in 212 BC. Together with Spurius Carvilius, perhaps his brother, he proposed that a fine of 200,000 '' asses'' be levied against Marcus Postumius Pyrgensis, for defrauding the state. Postumius was one of the "farmers of the taxes", who made their living shipping goods to Roman forces overseas during the Second Punic War. He made a habit of sabotaging his own shipments and claiming losses from these and other imaginary shipwrecks, for which he was re-imbursed by the state. After Postumius' trial nearly escalated into a riot between the people and his supporters, the Carvilii brought capital charges before the Senate. Postumius gave surety and chose to go into exile rather than appear in person, and many of his supporters likewise chose exile over imprisonment. In this way, Spurius and Lucius Carvilius were able to halt this pernicious drain on the treasury during a critical point in the war.Titus Livius, ''Ab Urbe Condita ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
As (Roman Coin)
The ' (plural '), occasionally ''assarius'' (plural ''assarii'', rendered into Greek as , ''assárion'') was a bronze, and later copper, coin used during the Roman Republic and Roman Empire. Republican era coinage The Romans replaced the usage of Greek coins, first by bronze ingots, then by disks known as the aes rude. The system thus named ''as'' was introduced in ca. 280 BC as a large cast bronze coin during the Roman Republic. The following fractions of the were also produced: the (), (), (), (), (), (), (, also a common weight unit), and (), as well as multiples of the ''as'', the (2), (2), and (3) After the ''as'' had been issued as a cast coin for about seventy years, and its weight had been reduced in several stages, a ''as'' was introduced (meaning that it weighed one-sixth of a pound). At about the same time a silver coin, the denarius, was also introduced. Earlier Roman silver coins had been struck on the Greek weight standards that facilitated their ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quintus Fulvius Flaccus (consul 237 BC)
Quintus Fulvius Flaccus (c. 277 BC202 BC), son of Marcus Fulvius Flaccus (consul 264 BC), was consul in 237 BC, fighting the Gauls in northern Italy. He was censor in 231 BC, and again consul in 224 BC, when he subdued the Boii. He was a praetor in 215 BC and in 213 BC Master of Horse in the dictatorship of Gaius Claudius Centho. He was again consul in 212 BC, during the Second Punic War, winning a victory over Hanno, son of Bomilcar and capturing his camp at Beneventum. He was defeated by Hannibal at the first Battle of Capua, then captured Capua in 211 BC while serving as a proconsul. In his fourth term as consul (209 BC), he retook Lucania and Bruttium. He opposed the African expedition of Scipio Africanus in 205 BC, and he died sometime not long thereafter. Quintus Fulvius Flaccus was one of the three candidates for the position of Pontifex Maximus c. 212 BC, when he and another senior candidate Titus Manlius Torquatus, both former censors, were pipped at the post by a yo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
