Gaius Judacilius or Gaius Vidacilius was a native of

Asculum Asculum, also known as Ausculum, was the ancient name of two Italian cities. The first is Ascoli Piceno, the ''Ausculum'' in ancient Picenum (modern Marche). It is situated in the valley of the Truentus (mod. Tronto) river on the via Salaria. It ...

Picenum Picenum was a region of ancient Italy. The name is an exonym assigned by the Romans, who conquered and incorporated it into the Roman Republic. Picenum was ''Regio V'' in the Augustan territorial organization of Roman Italy. Picenum was also ...

, and one of the chief generals of the allies in the Social War, 90 BC. He was known to have been one of the ablest and most resolute leaders of the insurrection. He first commanded in

Apulia it, Pugliese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographic ...

where he was very successful:

Canusium Canosa di Puglia, generally known simply as Canosa ( nap, label= Canosino, Canaus), is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Barletta-Andria-Trani, Apulia, southern Italy. It is located between Bari and Foggia, on the northwestern edge of the ...

and

Venusia Venosa ( Lucano: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Potenza, in the southern Italian region of Basilicata, in the Vulture area. It is bounded by the comuni of Barile, Ginestra, Lavello, Maschito, Montemilone, Palazzo San Gervasio, Ra ...

, with many other towns, opened their gates to him, and some which refused to obey him he took by force. He executed the Roman nobles who were made prisoners, and enrolled the common people and slaves among his troops. Judacilius joined with

Titus Afranius Titus Afranius, Afrenius, or Lafrenius, who was not a Roman, was one of the leaders of the Italian confederates in the Social war in 90 BC. At Mount Falerinus he united with Judacilius and Publius Ventidius Bassus and defeated the legate Pompeiu ...

(also called Lafrenius) and Publius Ventidius Bassus at Mount Falerinus, where they defeated

Pompeius Strabo Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo (c. 135 – 87 BC) was a Roman general and politician, who served as consul in 89 BC. He is often referred to in English as Pompey Strabo, to distinguish him from his son, the famous Pompey the Great, or from Strabo the ge ...

, who retreated to Firmum, after which the three went their separate ways. When Strabo had in his turn gained a victory over Afranius and laid siege to

, Judacilius, anxious to save his native town, hastened to the city with eight

cohort Cohort or cohortes may refer to: * Cohort (educational group), a group of students working together through the same academic curriculum * Cohort (floating point), a set of different encodings of the same numerical value * Cohort (military unit), ...

s. He sent word beforehand to the inhabitants that when they saw him advancing at a distance they should make a sally against Strabo's besieging force, so that the enemy should be attacked on both sides at once. The inhabitants were afraid to do so, and a massive and bloody

battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

ensued between the two forces; Roman reports of the battle speak of 75,000 soldiers on the Roman side against 60,000 Italians, although most scholars consider these numbers exaggerated. Judacilius nevertheless cut his way through the enemy's lines and into the city. However his plan of seriously wounding the opposing force had failed. He had succeeded only in barricading his forces in with the defenders. Finding that the city could not possibly hold out much longer, and resolved not to survive its fall, he first put to death all his enemies, including those of Asculum he thought had discouraged the townsfolk from rallying to the fight, and then erected a funeral pyre within the precincts of the chief temple in the city. Judacilius then feasted with his friends, and, after taking poison, he laid himself down on the pile, and commanded his friends to set it on fire.

Orosius Paulus Orosius (; born 375/385 – 420 AD), less often Paul Orosius in English, was a Roman priest, historian and theologian, and a student of Augustine of Hippo. It is possible that he was born in '' Bracara Augusta'' (now Braga, Portugal), t ...

v. 18
/ref> The town shortly thereafter fell into the hands of Pompey and was severely punished for its resistance. The leaders of the insurrection were summarily executed, and the others were driven naked from the town. Many scholars consider this battle to have been the turning point in the war.

References

{{SmithDGRBM 1st-century BC Romans Ancient Roman generals Ancient Romans who committed suicide People from Asculum 90 BC deaths Picenum Year of birth unknown