Lucius Furius Purpureo 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 letter ...

politician and general, becoming consul in the year 196 BC. Lucius Furius was from the '' gens Furia'' patrician family in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Military tribune

Purpureo was a

military tribune A military tribune (Latin ''tribunus militum'', "tribune of the soldiers") was an officer of the Roman army who ranked below the legate and above the centurion. Young men of Equestrian rank often served as military tribune as a stepping stone to ...

in 210 BC during the

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 Ital ...

. After the

Battle of Numistro The Battle of Numistro was fought in 210 BC between Hannibal's army and one of the Roman consular armies led by consul Marcus Claudius Marcellus. It was the fourth time they met in a battle. Previous encounters were located around the walls of No ...

against

Hannibal Hannibal (; xpu, 𐤇𐤍𐤁𐤏𐤋, ''Ḥannibaʿl''; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Puni ...

, he was left behind in charge of the wounded with a small number of guards, while the consul

Marcus Claudius Marcellus Marcus Claudius Marcellus (; 270 – 208 BC), five times elected as consul of the Roman Republic, was an important Roman military leader during the Gallic War of 225 BC and the Second Punic War. Marcellus gained the most prestigious award a Roma ...

pursued the enemy.

Praetor

He was a

praetor Praetor ( , ), also pretor, was the title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to a man acting in one of two official capacities: (i) the commander of an army, and (ii) as an elected '' magistratus'' (magistrate), assigned to discharge vario ...

in 200 BC and received

Cisalpine Gaul Cisalpine Gaul ( la, Gallia Cisalpina, also called ''Gallia Citerior'' or ''Gallia Togata'') was the part of Italy inhabited by Celts (Gauls) during the 4th and 3rd centuries BC. After its conquest by the Roman Republic in the 200s BC it was con ...

as his province. Shortly after he arrived in Cisalpine Gaul with 5,000

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

troops, about 40,000

Insubres The Insubres or Insubri were an ancient Celtic population settled in Insubria, in what is now the Italian region of Lombardy. They were the founders of Mediolanum (Milan). Though completely Gaulish at the time of Roman conquest, they were the r ...

Cenomani The Gaulish name Cenomani can refer to: * Aulerci Cenomani, an ancient Gallic tribe dwelling around modern Le Mans * Cenomani (Cisalpine Gaul) The Cenomani (Greek: , Strabo, Ptol.; , Polyb.), was an ancient tribe of the Cisalpine Gauls, who ...

, and

Boii The Boii (Latin plural, singular ''Boius''; grc, Βόιοι) were a Celtic tribe of the later Iron Age, attested at various times in Cisalpine Gaul (Northern Italy), Pannonia (Hungary), parts of Bavaria, in and around Bohemia (after whom the ...

, led by the Carthaginian general, Hamilcar, plundered Placentia and besieged

Cremona Cremona (, also ; ; lmo, label= Cremunés, Cremùna; egl, Carmona) is a city and ''comune'' in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po river in the middle of the ''Pianura Padana'' ( Po Valley). It is the capital of th ...

. Upon learning of the invasion, Purpureo requested more troops from Rome. The

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

responded by sending him a new army of two Roman legions and a similar number of Latin troops. After sending his original 5,000 troops to

Etruria Etruria () was a region of Central Italy, located in an area that covered part of what are now most of Tuscany, northern Lazio, and northern and western Umbria. Etruscan Etruria The ancient people of Etruria are identified as Etruscan civiliza ...

, Purpureo proceeded to raise the siege at Cremona. He gained a brilliant victory. More than 35,000 Gauls were killed or taken prisoner, and Hamilcar and three Gallic chiefs also fell in the battle. The senate voted three days of thanksgiving in consequence of the victory, and the honor of a triumph was granted to him. The following year, Purpureo was a deputy of the proconsul Publius Sulpicius Galba during peace talks with Macedonia and their ambassadors. Not much was achieved at this meeting and the Macedonians tried to convince the

Aetolia Aetolia ( el, Αἰτωλία, Aἰtōlía) is a mountainous region of Greece on the north coast of the Gulf of Corinth, forming the eastern part of the modern regional units of Greece, regional unit of Aetolia-Acarnania. Geography The Achelous ...

ns, a Roman ally, to break their alliance and join Macedonia. This event ensured that no peace was concluded and both sides continued to fight.

Consul of 196 BC

In 196 BC, Purpureo was Consul with

. Both assigned to Cisalpine Gaul, they, together and separately, forced the Boii and other native tribes into submission. On their return to Rome, Marcellus celebrated a triumph.Livy, History of Rome 33.37.

Family

Lucius Furius Purpureo was the son of Spurius Furius Purpureo. It is known that Purpureo was a descendant of

Marcus Furius Camillus Marcus Furius Camillus (; c. 446 – 365 BC) was a Roman soldier and statesman of the patrician class. According to Livy and Plutarch, Camillus triumphed four times, was five times dictator, and was honoured with the title of ''Second Founder ...

and had a son of his own namesake who served as Legatus in Aetolia in 200 BC under Publius Sulpicius Galba.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Furius Purpureo, Lucius 3rd-century BC Romans 2nd-century BC Roman consuls Ancient Roman generals Purpureo, Lucius 2nd-century BC diplomats