Manius Acilius Glabrio was a Roman general and

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 th ...

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 Kingd ...

in 191 BC. He came from an illustrious plebeian family ('' gens'') whose members held magistracies throughout the Republic and into the

Imperial era The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...

Career

Glabrio was a tribune of the plebs in 201, plebeian aedile in 197, and ''

praetor peregrinus 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 196. He was elected consul for the year 191 BC together with

Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Scipio Nasica was the name of several members of the Scipiones, a branch of the patrician Roman gens Cornelia. Metellus Scipio was born into this family, but was later adopted out to the gens Caecilia. He still retained his former name by combini ...

. As consul, Glabrio defeated the Seleucid ruler Antiochus the Great at the Battle of Thermopylae, and compelled him to leave

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wit ...

. He then turned his attention to the Aetolian League, who had persuaded Antiochus to declare war against Rome, and was only prevented from crushing them by the intercession of Titus Quinctius Flamininus. In 189, Glabrio was a candidate for the

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...

, but was opposed by the patrician faction. He was accused by the tribunes of having concealed a portion of the Syrian spoils in his own house; his legate gave evidence against him, and he withdrew his candidature. Glabrio was the first Roman to introduce the practice of overlaying statues with gold, a practice he initiated after having defeated Antiochus the Great.

Legacy

It is probable that Glabrio was the author of the '' Lex Acilia de intercalando'', a law which left it to the discretion of the pontiffs to insert or omit the intercalary month of the year; see

Roman calendar The Roman calendar was the calendar used by the Roman Kingdom and Roman Republic. The term often includes the Julian calendar established by the reforms of the Roman dictator, dictator Julius Caesar and Roman emperor, emperor Augustus in the ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Acilius Glabrio, Manius consul 563 AUC 3rd-century BC Romans 2nd-century BC Roman consuls 2nd-century BC Roman generals 2nd-century BC Roman praetors Glabrio, Manius consul 563 AUC Plebeian aediles Tribunes of the plebs