Titus Albucius (

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 ...

c. 105 BC) was a noted orator of the late

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 ...

. He finished his studies at

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

at the latter end of the 2nd century BC, and belonged to the Epicurean sect. He was well acquainted with Greek literature, or rather, says

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 ...

, was almost a Greek.Cicero, ''Brut.'' 35. On account of his affecting on every occasion the Greek language and philosophy, he was satirized by

Lucilius The gens Lucilia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. The most famous member of this gens was the poet Gaius Lucilius, who flourished during the latter part of the second century BC.''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', vo ...

, whose lines upon him are preserved by Cicero, and Cicero himself speaks of him as a light-minded man. He accused, though unsuccessfully,

Mucius Scaevola The gens Mucia was an ancient and noble patrician house at ancient Rome. The gens is first mentioned at the earliest period of the Republic, but in later times the family was known primarily by its plebeian branches. Origin The first of the Mucii ...

, the augur, of maladministration (''repetundae'') in his province. In 105 BC, Albucius was praetor in

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...

, and in consequence of some insignificant success which he had gained over some robbers, he 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 ...

in the province. On his return to

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 ...

, he applied to 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 ...

for the honour of a

supplicatio In ancient Roman religion, a ''supplicatio'' is a day of public prayer when the men, women, and children of Rome traveled in procession to religious sites around the city praying for divine aid in times of crisis. A ''supplicatio'' can also be a ...

, but this was refused, and he was accused in 103 BC of ''repetundae'' by Gaius Julius Caesar (the elder), and condemned. Pompeius Strabo had offered himself as the accuser, but he was not allowed to conduct the prosecution, because he had been the

quaestor A ( , , ; "investigator") was a public official in Ancient Rome. There were various types of quaestors, with the title used to describe greatly different offices at different times. In the Roman Republic, quaestors were elected officials who ...

of Albucius. After his condemnation, he went into exile at Athens and pursued the study of philosophy.Cicero, ''

Tusculanae Quaestiones The ''Tusculanae Disputationes'' (also ''Tusculanae Quaestiones''; English: ''Tusculan Disputations'') is a series of five books written by Cicero, around 45 BC, attempting to popularise Greek philosophy in Ancient Rome, including Stoicism. It is s ...

'' v. 37; Gordon P. Kelly, ''A History of Exile in the Roman Republic'' (Cambridge University Press, 2006), p. 17
online.
/ref> He left behind him some orations, which had been read by Cicero.

Notes

* {{Authority control Ancient Roman rhetoricians Roman-era Epicurean philosophers Philosophers of Roman Italy Roman Republican praetors 2nd-century BC Romans Roman-era students in Athens Ancient Roman exiles Albucii

See also

Notes