Gaius Junius Bubulcus Brutus ( late 4th century BC) was a Roman general and statesman, he was elected

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throu ...

of the

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 Ki ...

thrice, he was also appointed ''

dictator A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a small clique. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to rule the republic in tim ...

'' or '' magister equitum'' thrice, and censor in 307 BC. In 311, he made a vow to the goddess

Salus Salus ( la, salus, "safety", "salvation", "welfare") was the Roman goddess of safety and well-being (welfare, health and prosperity) of both the individual and the state. She is sometimes equated with the Greek goddess Hygieia, though their fu ...

that he went on to fulfill, becoming the first plebeian to build a temple. The temple was one of the first dedicated to an abstract deity, and Junius was one of the first generals to vow a temple and then oversee its establishment through the construction and dedication process. The desultory manner in which Junius Bubulcus survives in the historical record obscures the stature indicated by the number of high offices he held from 317 to 302 BC; it has been observed that he "cannot have been as colourless as he appears in

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a 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 ...

Political and military career

Junius was consul in 317 BC with the

patrician Patrician may refer to: * Patrician (ancient Rome), the original aristocratic families of ancient Rome, and a synonym for "aristocratic" in modern English usage * Patrician (post-Roman Europe), the governing elites of cities in parts of medieval ...

Quintus Aemilius Barbula Quintus Aemilius Barbula ( 317–311 BC) was consul in 317 BC, in which year a treaty was made with the Apulian Teates, Nerulum was taken by Barbula, and Apulia entirely subdued. (Liv. ix. 20, 21 ; Diod. xix. 17.) Barbula was consul again in 311, ...

. The two were joint consuls again in 311. From the mid-4th century to the early 3rd century BC, several plebeian-patrician "

tickets Ticket or tickets may refer to: Slips of paper * Lottery ticket * Parking ticket, a ticket confirming that the parking fee was paid (and the time of the parking start) * Toll ticket, a slip of paper used to indicate where vehicles entered a tol ...

" repeated joint terms, suggesting a deliberate political strategy of cooperation. The Second Samnite War was a formative time in the creation of a ruling elite (the ''

nobiles The ''nobiles'' ( ''nobilis'') were members of a social rank in the Roman Republic indicating that one was "well known". This may have changed over time: in Cicero's time, one was notable if one descended from a person who had been elected consul. ...

'') that comprised both patricians and plebeians who had risen to power. As consul, Junius exerted force in central Italy to restore Roman control over the

Vestini () were an Italic tribe who occupied the area of the modern Abruzzo (central Italy), included between the Gran Sasso and the northern bank of the Aterno river. Their main centres were ''Pitinum ''(near modern L'Aquila), ''Aufinum ''(Ofena), ''Pe ...

. In 313 BC, as consul with

Lucius Papirius Cursor Lucius Papirius Cursor (c.365–after 310 BC) was a celebrated politician and general of the early Roman Republic, who was five times consul, three times magister equitum, and twice dictator. He was the most important Roman commander during the Se ...

in his fifth term, Junius is credited with the capture of

Nola Nola is a town and a municipality in the Metropolitan City of Naples, Campania, southern Italy. It lies on the plain between Mount Vesuvius and the Apennines. It is traditionally credited as the diocese that introduced bells to Christian wor ...

, Atina, and

Calatia Cālātia was an ancient town of Campania, southern Italy, c. 10 km southeast of Capua, on the Via Appia, near the point where the Via Popillia branches off from it. It is represented by a locality known as ''Villa Galazia'' and by the ...

by some sources. The following year, he was appointed either ''dictator'' or ''magister equitum'', and was sent with troops to the

Marrucini The Marrucini were an Italic tribe that occupied a small strip of territory around the ancient ''Teate'' (modern Chieti), on the east coast of Abruzzo, Italy, limited by the Aterno and Foro Rivers. Other Marrucinian centers included ''Ceio'' (Sa ...

, with some success. In 311, Junius held command in

Samnium Samnium ( it, Sannio) is a Latin exonym for a region of Southern Italy anciently inhabited by the Samnites. Their own endonyms were ''Safinim'' for the country (attested in one inscription and one coin legend) and ''Safineis'' for the The ...

. The Augustan historian

says that allied

Etruscans The Etruscan civilization () was developed by a people of Etruria in ancient Italy with a common language and culture who formed a federation of city-states. After conquering adjacent lands, its territory covered, at its greatest extent, rou ...

attacked the

colony In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state' ...

Sutrium Sutri (Latin ''Sutrium'') is an Ancient town, modern ''comune'' and former bishopric (now a Latin titular see) in the province of Viterbo, about from Rome and about south of Viterbo. It is picturesquely situated on a narrow tuff hill, surrounded ...

, an exposed outpost, and Junius fought a battle that ended with nightfall rather than resolution. The outcome of the campaign seems ambiguous: "The sum total of his achievement apparently was to sack some otherwise unknown hamlets, Talium, Cataracta, and Ceraunilia." According to Livy, Junius regained Cluviae and captured Bovianum, a town of the

Pentri The Pentri (Greek: ) were a tribe of the Samnites, and apparently one of the most important of the subdivisions of that nation. According to Salmon, their name comes from the Celtic pen- .E.T.Salmon, ''Il Sannio ed i Sanniti'', Einaudi, Torino 1995 ...

, but this may be the propaganda of his '' gens''.

Diodorus Diodorus Siculus, or Diodorus of Sicily ( grc-gre, Διόδωρος ; 1st century BC), was an ancient Greek historian. He is known for writing the monumental universal history ''Bibliotheca historica'', in forty books, fifteen of which su ...

gives a more laudatory report of Roman actions, while

Zonaras Joannes or John Zonaras ( grc-gre, Ἰωάννης Ζωναρᾶς ; 1070 – 1140) was a Byzantine Greek historian, chronicler and theologian who lived in Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul, Turkey). Under Emperor Alexios I Komnenos he held th ...

gives a less favorable ending. The varying assessments of Roman success may indicate a slim and costly victory. Whatever the scale of his victories, Junius celebrated a

triumph The Roman triumph (Latin triumphus) was a celebration for a victorious military commander in ancient Rome. For later imitations, in life or in art, see Trionfo. Numerous later uses of the term, up to the present, are derived directly or indirectl ...

which featured ''praeda pecorum'', booty in the form of cattle. During a Samnite ambush, Junius had prayed to

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but slightly less than one-thousandth t ...

and

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin at ...

, but made a vow to the goddess

, presumably for a narrow escape in battle. Salus was the divine embodiment of health, welfare, safety, and salvation both personal and public. This was also a time of plague, and in 313 Poetelius Libo Visolus had been appointed '' dictator clavi figendi causa'', that is, the dictator appointed to drive a nail, a much-debated ritual intended in this instance to stop the outbreak. Reverence toward Salus's power to grant or withhold her favor as a response to plague may also have occasioned the temple, as Junius put out public contracts for its construction five years after the battle that is supposed to have prompted the vow, when he was censor in 307. As ''dictator'' in 302 he oversaw its dedication. The temple housed paintings by Gaius Fabius, a relative of Fabius Rullianus; the ''cognomen'' Pictor, or "painter" (see

Fabius Pictor Quintus Fabius Pictor (born BC, BC) was the earliest known Roman historian. His history, written in Greek and now mostly lost besides some surviving fragments, was highly influential on ancient writers and certainly participated in introducing Gre ...

) is likely to have been acquired by a branch of the Fabii at this time.

Denarii The denarius (, dēnāriī ) was the standard Roman silver coin from its introduction in the Second Punic War to the reign of Gordian III (AD 238–244), when it was gradually replaced by the antoninianus. It continued to be minted in very ...

minted by Decimus Junius Silanus in 91 BC picture Salus and may be intended to recall the founding of her temple by his ancestor. In their second joint consulship, both Junius Bubulcus and Aemilius Barbula refused to recognize the revision of the senate roll made the previous year by the censors

Appius Claudius Caecus Appius Claudius Caecus ( 312–279 BC) was a statesman and writer from the Roman Republic. The first Roman public figure whose life can be traced with some historical certainty, Caecus was responsible for the building of Rome's first road (t ...

and

Gaius Plautius Venox Gaius Plautius Venox was a Roman statesman and general who served as consul in 347 and 341 BC. Plautius was a member of the family of the Plautii, a relatively undistinguished plebeian gens who had only achieved their first consulship in 358 BC. P ...

. Junius was ''magister equitum'' in 310 and possibly again in 309; his office in the latter year may have been ''dictator''. As censor in 307 with Marcus Valerius Maximus, he removed Lucius Annius from the senate on moral grounds. Annius had divorced his wife even though she had been a virgin when they married, and had done so without honoring his social obligations by consulting his friends. Junius was appointed ''dictator'' again in 302 BC. Livy's account of this year is somewhat confused. He makes both Junius and Valerius Maximus ''dictatores'', but military campaigns on at least four fronts may account for the multiplicity of appointments. Junius's war against the

Aequi 300px, Location of the Aequi (Equi) in central Italy, 5th century BC. The Aequi ( grc, Αἴκουοι and Αἴκοι) were an Italic tribe on a stretch of the Apennine Mountains to the east of Latium in central Italy who appear in the early hist ...

is one of a series from 304 to 300 BC. Junius swiftly put down an insurrection that broke out when Alba was colonized, and the Aequi ceased to exist as a separate people at this time.Salmon, ''Samnium'', p. 256.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Junius Bubulcus Brutus, Gaius 4th-century BC Roman consuls Ancient Roman dictators Gaius, Bubulcus Magistri equitum (Roman Republic) Roman censors