Marcus Junius D. f. D. n. Silanus was a member of the

Junii Silani The gens Junia was one of the most celebrated families of ancient Rome. The gens may originally have been patrician, and was already prominent in the last days of the Roman monarchy. Lucius Junius Brutus was the nephew of Lucius Tarquinius ...

, a noble Roman family, who held the

consulship A consul held the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic ( to 27 BC), and ancient Romans considered the consulship the second-highest level of the ''cursus honorum'' (an ascending sequence of public offices to which politic ...

in 109 BC.

Biography

Because there are only few and short sources about the history 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 Kin ...

in the second half of the second century BC, we have to rely on suppositions as to which public offices Silanus held before his consulate. In 145 BC he was perhaps one of the three magistrates who administered the Roman

mint MiNT is Now TOS (MiNT) is a free software alternative operating system kernel for the Atari ST system and its successors. It is a multi-tasking alternative to TOS and MagiC. Together with the free system components fVDI device drivers, XaA ...

. He is probably identical with the

tribune of the people Tribune of the plebs, tribune of the people or plebeian tribune ( la, tribunus plebis) was the first office of the Roman state that was open to the plebeians, and was, throughout the history of the Republic, the most important check on the power of ...

''Marcus Junius D. f.'', who introduced in 124 or 123 BC a law against exploitative Roman governors (''lex Iunia''), which preceded the ''lex Acilia repetundarum'' of the tribune Manius Acilius Glabrio (123 or 122 BC). In 113 or 112 BC Silanus was perhaps

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 Spain. In 109 BC Silanus became the first member of his family, the ''Junii Silani'', to be elected consul. He held this highest public office together with

Quintus Caecilius Metellus Numidicus Quintus Caecilius Metellus Numidicus (c. 155 BC – 91 BC) was an ancient Roman statesman and general, he was a leader of the Optimates, the conservative faction of the Roman Senate. He was a bitter political opponent of Gaius Marius. He was consul ...

, who had to continue the war against

Jugurtha Jugurtha or Jugurthen (Libyco-Berber ''Yugurten'' or '' Yugarten'', c. 160 – 104 BC) was a king of Numidia. When the Numidian king Micipsa, who had adopted Jugurtha, died in 118 BC, Jugurtha and his two adoptive brothers, Hiempsal and Adh ...

, king of Numidia, whereas Silanus undertook to fight against the

Cimbri The Cimbri (Greek Κίμβροι, ''Kímbroi''; Latin ''Cimbri'') were an ancient tribe in Europe. Ancient authors described them variously as a Celtic people (or Gaulish), Germanic people, or even Cimmerian. Several ancient sources indicate that ...

. To increase the power of

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 ...

, Silanus abolished exemptions from military service. Probably before their battle with the consul the traveling Cimbri had asked to be given a domicile on Roman territory, but 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 ...

had declined their request. Then Silanus attacked the Cimbri, but he was defeated in an uncertain location in Gallia Transalpina. In 104 BC the

Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus put Silanus on trial for his military failure, but the former consul was acquitted.

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the estab ...

, ''

Divinatio in Caecilium Cicero's ''Divinatio in Caecilium'' is his oration against Quintus Caecilius in the process for selecting a prosecutor of Gaius Verres (70 BC). Cicero asserts that he, rather than Q. Caecilius, will make the better prosecutor of Verres, the Roman ...

'' 67; ''in Verrem actio'' 2.118; Asconius, p. 80 ed. Clark

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Junius Silanus, Marcus Junii Silani 2nd-century BC Roman consuls People of the Cimbrian War

Biography

See also

Notes

References