|
Marcus Valerius Messalla Niger
Marcus Valerius Messalla Niger was a senator of the Roman Republic. Career He was praetor in the year of Cicero's consulship, 63 BC, and consul in 61 BC, the year in which Publius Clodius profaned the mysteries of the Bona Dea, and Gnaeus Pompeius triumphed for his several victories over the Cilician pirates, Tigranes the Great and Mithridates VI of Pontus. Messalla, as consul, took an active part in the prosecution of Clodius. Messalla was censor in 55 BC. As an orator, Messalla was thought to be respectable. In 80 BC he was engaged in collecting evidence for the defence in the cause of Sextus Roscius of Ameria. In 62 BC he solicited Cicero to undertake the defence of his kinsman, Publius Cornelius Sulla. In 54 BC he was one of the six orators whom Marcus Aemilius Scaurus retained on his trial. He was interrex three times, in 55, 53 and 52 BC. Marriage and children Messalla married a woman named Polla, by whom he had a son, Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus and two daughte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roman Senator
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 magistrates ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Interrex
The interrex (plural interreges) was literally a ruler "between kings" (Latin ''inter reges'') during the Roman Kingdom and the Roman Republic. He was in effect a short-term regent. History The office of ''interrex'' was supposedly created following the death of Rome's first king Romulus, and thus its origin is obscured by legend. The Senate of the Roman Kingdom was at first unable to choose a new king. For the purpose of continuing the government of the city, the Senate, which then consisted of one hundred members, was divided into ten ''decuriae'' (groups of ten); and from each of these ''decuriae'' one senator was nominated as ''decurio''. Each of the ten ''decuriones'' in succession held the regal power and its badges for five days as ''interrex''; and if no king had been appointed at the expiration of fifty days, the rotation began anew. The period during which they exercised their power was called an interregnum, and on that occasion lasted for one year, after which Numa Pom ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marcus Pupius Piso Frugi Calpurnianus
Marcus Pupius Piso Frugi Calpurnianus was a Roman senator. Originally a member of the gens Calpurnia, which claimed descent from Numa Pompilius, the second king of Rome, a Calpurnius Piso Frugi, he was adopted by Marcus Pupius, when the latter was an old man. He retained, however, his family-name Piso. Life Piso had attained some importance as early as the first civil war. On the death of Lucius Cornelius Cinna, in 84 BC, he married his wife Annia, and in the following year, 83, was appointed quaestor to the consul Lucius Cornelius Scipio. But he quickly deserted this party, and went over to Sulla, who compelled him to divorce his wife on account of her previous connection with Cinna. Piso was the father of Marcus Pupius Piso Frugi, a Roman politician who may have been praetor in 44 BC and could have been a legatus in 40 BC. His grandson may have been Marcus Licinius Crassus, consul of 14 BC. He failed in obtaining the aedileship, and the year of his praetorship is uncertain. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quintus Caecilius Metellus Celer
Quintus Caecilius Metellus Celer (before 103 BC or c. 100 BC – 59 BC), a member of the powerful Caecilius Metellus family (plebeian nobility, not patrician) who were at their zenith during Celer's lifetime. A son of Quintus Caecilius Metellus Nepos, or, according to some, the son of tribune Quintus Caecilius Metellus Celer while the latter is the son of Quintus Caecilius Metellus Nepos, was an ancient Roman statesman and general during the First Century BC. He became consul in 60 BC and previously he held the offices of praetor (63 BC) and augur. During the Third Mithridatic War (73-63 BC) against Mithridates VI of Pontus and Tigranes the Great of Armenia, Metellus Celer was a lieutenant (legate) of Pompey during his eastern campaigns (66-63 BC). In the winter of 66 BC Oroeses, king of the Caucasian Albanians attacked the forces of Pompey while they were celebrating the festival of the Saturnalia in their winter quarters in Lesser Armenia. Pompey had split his army into th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lucius Afranius (consul)
Lucius Afranius (died 46 BC) was an ancient Roman plebeian and a client of Pompey the Great. He served Pompey as a legate during his Iberian campaigns, his eastern campaigns and remained in his service right through to the Civil War. He died in Africa right after the Battle of Thapsus in 46 BC. Early career Lucius Afranius was born into a humble family in Picenum. As a Picentine, he was favoured during his career by Pompey, who was a scion of Picenum's most distinguished family. Afranius probably served under Pompey's father Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo during the Social War and under Pompey himself during the Civil War. Sertorian War Afranius served as a legate under Pompey during his campaigns against Marian supporter Quintus Sertorius in Spain. He played a pivotal role at the battle of Sucro in 75 BC. Sertorius attacked Pompey's left wing, which was under Afranius' command. Afranius held until Sertorius' attention was drawn away by Pompey's attack into Sertorius' own left. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lucius Licinius Murena (consul 62 BC)
Lucius Licinius Murena was a Roman politician and soldier. He was an officer (legate) in the Third Mithridatic War, a governor (propraetor) of Gallia Transalpina from 64 to 63 BC and a consul in 62 BC. He stood trial because of charges of electoral bribery. Cicero, who defended him, immortalized him in one of his published speeches. Life Lucius Licinius Murena was son and namesake of Lucius Licinius Murena who had fought in the Second Mithridatic War. He began his public career as quaestor in c. 75 BC. When the Third Mithridatic War began, in 73 BC, Murena was appointed ''legatus'' for, Lucius Licinius Lucullus, the proconsul in charge of the Roman war effort in the east and a fellow Licinius. Murena served in the East for several years; he had the command of one of Lucullus's legions, and in 72 BC Lucullus even entrusted him with the siege of Amisus, a major Pontic city. In 65 BC, Murena was urban praetor and made himself popular by the magnificence of the games he provided. Af ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Decimus Junius Silanus (consul)
Decimus Junius Silanus (107 – after 62 BC) was a consul of the Roman Republic. He may have been the son of Marcus Junius Silanus, consul in 109 BC. He was the stepfather of Marcus Junius Brutus, having married Brutus' mother, Servilia. Biography Early life Born in 107 BC, Decimus Junius M. f. D. n. Silanus was the son of a Marcus Junius Silanus, presumably Decimus had an elder brother named Marcus, but he might have died young. Marriage Silanus married Servilia, after her first husband died. Together they had four children, a son, Marcus Junius Silanus, and three daughters, Junia Prima, Junia Secunda, and Junia Tertia. Tertia was rumoured to be the daughter of Julius Caesar, who had been Servilia's lover. (Servilia's oldest child by her first marriage, Marcus Junius Brutus, was also rumoured to be Caesar's illegitimate child.) Silanus may also have been the father of a Decimus Junius Silanus. Political career He was aedile in 70 BC, but he lost the election to be a consul of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Roman Republican Consuls
This is a list of consuls known to have held office, from the beginning of the Roman Republic to the latest use of the title in Imperial times, together with those magistrates of the Republic who were appointed in place of consuls, or who superseded consular authority for a limited period. Background Republican consuls From the establishment of the Republic to the time of Augustus, the consuls were the chief magistrates of the Roman state, and normally there were two of them, so that the executive power of the state was not vested in a single individual, as it had been under the kings. As other ancient societies dated historical events according to the reigns of their kings, it became customary at Rome to date events by the names of the consuls in office when the events occurred, rather than (for instance) by counting the number of years since the foundation of the city, although that method could also be used. If a consul died during his year of office, another was elected to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pliny The Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic ''Naturalis Historia'' (''Natural History''), which became an editorial model for encyclopedias. He spent most of his spare time studying, writing, and investigating natural and geographic phenomena in the field. His nephew, Pliny the Younger, wrote of him in a letter to the historian Tacitus: Among Pliny's greatest works was the twenty-volume work ''Bella Germaniae'' ("The History of the German Wars"), which is no longer extant. ''Bella Germaniae'', which began where Aufidius Bassus' ''Libri Belli Germanici'' ("The War with the Germans") left off, was used as a source by other prominent Roman historians, including Plutarch, Tacitus and Suetonius. Tacitus—who many scholars agree had never travelled in Germania—used ''Bella Germani ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dio Cassius
Lucius Cassius Dio (), also known as Dio Cassius ( ), was a Roman historian and senator of maternal Greek origin. He published 80 volumes of the history on ancient Rome, beginning with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy. The volumes documented the subsequent founding of Rome (753 BC), the formation of the Republic (509 BC), and the creation of the Empire (27 BC), up until 229 AD. Written in Ancient Greek over 22 years, Dio's work covers approximately 1,000 years of history. Many of his 80 books have survived intact, or as fragments, providing modern scholars with a detailed perspective on Roman history. Biography Lucius Cassius Dio was the son of Cassius Apronianus, a Roman senator and member of the gens Cassia, who was born and raised at Nicaea in Bithynia. Byzantine tradition maintains that Dio's mother was the daughter or sister of the Greek orator and philosopher, Dio Chrysostom; however, this relationship has been disputed. Although Dio was a Roman citizen, he wrote in Gree ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and subsequently became dictator from 49 BC until his assassination in 44 BC. He played a critical role in the events that led to the demise of the Roman Republic and the rise of the Roman Empire. In 60 BC, Caesar, Crassus and Pompey formed the First Triumvirate, an informal political alliance that dominated Roman politics for several years. Their attempts to amass power as were opposed by the within the Roman Senate, among them Cato the Younger with the frequent support of Cicero. Caesar rose to become one of the most powerful politicians in the Roman Republic through a string of military victories in the Gallic Wars, completed by 51 BC, which greatly extended Roman territory. During this time he both invaded Britain and built a b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Asconius Pedianus
Quintus Asconius Pedianus (BC 9 - AD 76) was a Roman historian. There is no evidence that Asconius engaged in a public career, but he was familiar both with Roman government of his time and with the geography of the city. He may, therefore, have written much of his works in the city. During the reigns of Claudius and Nero he compiled for his two sons, from various sources – e.g. the Gazette (''acta publica''), shorthand reports or skeletons (''commentarii'') of Cicero's unpublished speeches, Tiro's life of Cicero, speeches and letters of Cicero's contemporaries, various historical writers, e.g. Varro, Atticus, Antias, Tuditanus and Fenestella (a contemporary of Livy whom he often criticizes) – historical commentaries on Cicero's speeches, of which only five survive: ''in Pisonem'', ''pro Scauro'', ''pro Milone'', ''pro Cornelio de maiestate'', and ''in toga candida''. Other works attributed to Asconius include a ''Vita Sallustii'', a work referenced in Pliny's Naturalis Hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
