Gaius Aelius Gallus was a
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
* Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...
prefect
Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area.
A prefect's ...
of
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...
from 26 to 24 BC. He is primarily known for a
disastrous expedition he undertook to
Arabia Felix (modern day
Yemen
Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the north and Oman to the northeast and ...
) under orders of
Augustus
Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...
.
Life
Aelius Gallus was the 2nd ''
praefect'' of Roman Egypt (''Aegyptus'') in the reign of
Augustus
Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...
during the years 26–24 BC. He replaced
Cornelius Gallus
Gaius Cornelius Gallus (c. 70 – 26 BC) was a Roman poet, orator and politician.
Birthplace
The identity of Gallus' purported birthplace, '' Forum Iulii'', is still uncertain, and it is based on the epithet "Foroiuliensis" that Jerome gave to h ...
, with whom he has often been confused.
Aelius Gallus was also known to be an intimate friend of the
Greek geographer
Strabo
Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called " Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could s ...
and has been identified with the Aelius Gallus frequently quoted by Galen, whose remedies are stated to have been used with success in his Arabian expedition.
The
expedition to Arabia Felix, of which an account is given by his friend Strabo, as well as by
Cassius Dio
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 ...
and
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 ' ...
turned out to be a complete failure. In this expedition, Strabo mentioned
Ilasaros
Ilasaros (centuryBCE) or Il Sharih Yahdhib ( xsa, 𐩱𐩡 𐩦𐩧𐩢 𐩺𐩢𐩳𐩨, ʾls²rḥ Yḥḍb; ar, إلشرح يحضب) was a king from the Bakil tribe, related to the Banu Hamdan, which took control over the Kingdom of Sabaʾ. ...
as the controller of
Hadhramaut at that time.
Gallus undertook the expedition from Egypt by the command of Augustus, partly with a view to explore the country and its inhabitants, and partly to conclude treaties of friendship with the people, or to subdue them if they should oppose the Romans, for it was believed at the time that Arabia was full of all kinds of treasures.
When Aelius Gallus set out with his army, he trusted to the guidance of a
Nabataea
The Nabataean Kingdom ( Nabataean Aramaic: 𐢕𐢃𐢋𐢈 ''Nabāṭū''), also named Nabatea (), was a political state of the Arab Nabataeans during classical antiquity.
The Nabataean Kingdom controlled many of the trade routes of the region, ...
n called
Syllaeus, who deceived and misled him. A long account of this expedition through the desert is given by Strabo—who derived most of his information about Arabia from his friend Aelius Gallus. Aelius Gallus initially set sail with 10,000 infantry consisting of Romans and Roman allies, among whom were five-hundred Jews and one thousand Nabataeans.
[''Strabo's Geography'', Book xvi, chapter 4.] They crossed the Red Sea, and after fourteen days landed at
Leucê Comê, in the land of the
Nabataeans
The Nabataeans or Nabateans (; Nabataean Aramaic: , , vocalized as ; Arabic language, Arabic: , , singular , ; compare grc, Ναβαταῖος, translit=Nabataîos; la, Nabataeus) were an ancient Arab people who inhabited northern Arabian Pe ...
.
Thence, they proceeded by foot and by camel to the land of Aretas. Thence, they passed through a wasteland called Ararenê, occupied by a nomadic people, and thence proceeded another fifty days until reaching
Najran
Najran ( ar, نجران '), is a city in southwestern Saudi Arabia near the border with Yemen. It is the capital of Najran Province. Designated as a new town, Najran is one of the fastest-growing cities in the kingdom; its population has risen ...
.
From there they marched another six days where they arrived at a certain river where they joined battle with the local inhabitants, having slain 10,000 of them. Afterwards, they took the city called Asca, which had been forsaken by its king; and thence the Roman army proceeded to a city called
Athrula; and, having mastered it without a struggle, Aelius Gallus placed a garrison in it, arranged for supplies of grain and dates for his march and advanced to a city called Marsiaba.
The burning heat of the sun, the bad water, and the want of every thing necessary to support life, produced a disease among the soldiers that was altogether unknown to the Romans, and destroyed the greater part of the army; so that the Arabs were not only not subdued, but succeeded in driving the Romans even from those parts of the country which they had possessed before. At this time, Aelius Gallus and his army had spent six months on their military campaign in Arabia, on account of his treacherous guide, while he effected his retreat in sixty days, obliged to return to
Alexandria
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...
, having lost the greater part of his force. The campaign is the subject of a 1951 novel, ''The Eagle and the Sun'' by
Lord Belhaven, who had done military and civilian service in the region.
[Lord Belhaven. ''The Eagle and the Sun'' London: John Murray, 1951]
Aelius Gallus was recalled by Augustus for failure to pacify the
Kushites and was succeeded as praefect by
Gaius Petronius, a military commander and close friend of Augustus.
References
Citations
Bibliography
* (fr) J. Pirenne, "L'expédition d'Aelius Gallus en
Arabie heureuse", in ''Le royaume sud-arabe de
Qatabān et sa datation'',
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, 1961.
* (ge) H. von Wissmann, "Die Geschichte des Sabäerreichs und des Feldzug des Aelius Gallus", ''
Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt'', t. 9.1,
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...
-
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, 1976, pp. 308-544.
* (fr) A. G. Loudine, "H von Wissmann, Die Geschichte des Sabäerreichs und des Feldzug des Aelius Gallus", (
book review
__NOTOC__
A book review is a form of literary criticism in which a book is merely described (summary review) or analyzed based on content, style, and merit.
A book review may be a primary source, opinion piece, summary review or scholarly revie ...
) in ''Bibliotheca orientalis'', 37 (1980), pp. 363-365.
* (ge) M.-Th. Raepsaet-Charlier, ''Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt, Geschichte und Kultur Roms im Spiegel der neueren Forschung''. II. Principat. 9, 2 (
book review
__NOTOC__
A book review is a form of literary criticism in which a book is merely described (summary review) or analyzed based on content, style, and merit.
A book review may be a primary source, opinion piece, summary review or scholarly revie ...
), ''l'Antiquité Classique'', 49 (1980), p. 521-522.
*
W. L. Westermann, "Aelius Gallus and the Reorganization of the irrigation system of Egypt under Augustus", ''
Classical Philology
Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Class ...
'', 12 (1917), pp. 237.
* S. Jameson, "Chronology of the campaigns of Aelius Gallus and Gaius Petronius", ''
Journal of Roman Studies'', 58 (1968), pp. 71-84.
* S. E. Sidebotham, "Aelius Gallus and Arabia", ''Latomus'', 45 (1986), pp. 590-602.
* (ge) K. Buschmann, "Motiv und Ziel des Aelius-Gallus-Zuges", ''
Die Welt Des Orients'', 22 (1991), pp. 85-93.
* (ge) C. Marek, "Die Expedition des Aelius Gallus nach Arabien im Jahre 25 v.Chr.", ''
Chiron
In Greek mythology, Chiron ( ; also Cheiron or Kheiron; ) was held to be the superlative centaur amongst his brethren since he was called the "wisest and justest of all the centaurs".
Biography
Chiron was notable throughout Greek mythology ...
'', 23 (1993), pp. 121-156.
* P. Mayerson, "Aelius Gallus at Cleopatris (Suez) and on the Red Sea", ''
Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies'', 36 (1995), pp. 17-24.
* R. Simon, "Aelius Gallus’ Campaign and the Arab Trade in the Augustan Age", ''
Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae
''Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal published by Akadémiai Kiadó (Budapest, Hungary). It covers oriental studies, including Turkic, Mongolian, Manchu-Tungusian, Chinese, Japanese, T ...
'', 55 (2002), pp. 309–318.
* (ge) Heinrich Krueger, ''Der Feldzug des Aelius Gallus nach dem glucklichen Arabien unter Kaiser Augustus'', 1862
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aelius Gallus, Gaius
Roman governors of Egypt
1st-century BC Roman governors of Egypt
1st-century BC Romans
Gallus, Gaius
Ancient history of Yemen