Titus Annius Milo (died 48 BC) was a Roman political agitator. The son of Gaius Papius Celsus, he was adopted by his maternal grandfather, Titus Annius Luscus. In 52 BC, he was prosecuted for the murder of

Publius Clodius Pulcher Publius Clodius Pulcher (93–52 BC) was a populist Roman politician and street agitator during the time of the First Triumvirate. One of the most colourful personalities of his era, Clodius was descended from the aristocratic Claudia gens, one ...

and exiled from Rome. He was unsuccessfully defended by his friend,

Marcus Tullius 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 esta ...

, in the speech ''

Pro Milone The "Pro Tito Annio Milone ad iudicem oratio" (Pro Milone) is a speech made by Marcus Tullius Cicero in 52 BC on behalf of his friend Titus Annius Milo. Milo was accused of murdering his political enemy Publius Clodius Pulcher on the Via Appia. Cic ...

''.

Career

Milo was an ally of

Pompey Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey or Pompey the Great, was a leading Roman general and statesman. He played a significant role in the transformation of ...

and of the

Optimates Optimates (; Latin for "best ones", ) and populares (; Latin for "supporters of the people", ) are labels applied to politicians, political groups, traditions, strategies, or ideologies in the late Roman Republic. There is "heated academic dis ...

. He organized bands of armed slaves, hired thugs and gladiators in opposition to Clodius, who supported Pompey's rival,

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, ...

, and the Populares. The two opposing factions clashed in the streets of Rome between 57 BC and 52 BC.

Cursus honorum

Milo was

tribune of the plebs 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 o ...

in 57 BC. He took a prominent role in recalling Cicero from exile after Clodius had arranged for his exile the previous year. In 56 BC, Milo was charged with illegal violence by Clodius. He was defended by Cicero and Pompey (among others). The trial led to riots between Milo's and Clodius's supporters in the Forum. Pompey's opponents supported Clodius; they wanted to weaken Pompey. Eventually, Milo was acquitted. On 23 January 57 BC, Clodius tried to use a force of gladiators to block a move to recall Cicero from exile, but Milo arrested Clodius' gladiators. Milo was subsequently attacked by Clodius' gangs. Milo attempted to prosecute Clodius for carrying out this violence but was unsuccessful. Later that year he tried to prosecute Clodius again, but Clodius escaped by being elected aedile in 56 BC and so was immune from prosecution. Milo became

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 vari ...

in 54 BC, and in that year, he married

Fausta Cornelia Fausta Cornelia (also called Cornelia Fausta) was a daughter of the Roman Dictator Sulla. Biography Early life Fausta and her twin brother Faustus were the children of their father's fourth wife Caecilia Metella. They had one older half-sister, ...

, daughter of the

dictator A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a small clique. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to rule the republic in tim ...

Lucius Cornelius Sulla Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (; 138–78 BC), commonly known as Sulla, was a Roman general and statesman. He won the first large-scale civil war in Roman history and became the first man of the Republic to seize power through force. Sulla ha ...

, and the ex-wife of Gaius Memmius. In 53 BC, Milo made a bid for one of the consulships of the following year (he ran against Quintus Caecilius Metellus Scipio and Publius Plautius Hypsaeus, nominees of

, who were running together) while Clodius was standing for the praetorship. Milo was a strong candidate for he had won popular support through largesse and the promotion of extravagant games, and he enjoyed the support of the Optimates. Pompey, however, gave his support to Milo's opponents. Plautius was an old quaestor of his and Scipio was his father-in-law. Meanwhile, Clodius feared he would achieve little as praetor if Milo were to become consul. Milo's and Clodius's supporters clashed in the streets of Rome leading to a breakdown of order. The elections were declared void because of the excessive use of the tribunes' vetoes which meant that 52 BC began with an interregnum.

Death of Clodius

On 18 January 52 BC, Milo and Clodius, each with an armed retinue, met on the

Appian Way The Appian Way (Latin and Italian: ''Via Appia'') is one of the earliest and strategically most important Roman roads of the ancient republic. It connected Rome to Brindisi, in southeast Italy. Its importance is indicated by its common name, ...

near

Bovillae Bovillae was an ancient Latin town in Lazio, central Italy, currently part of Frattocchie ''frazione'' in the municipality of Marino. Overview Bovillae was a station on the Via Appia (which in 293 BC was already paved up to this point), located ...

. Milo was on his way to

Lanuvium Lanuvium, modern Lanuvio, is an ancient city of Latium vetus, some southeast of Rome, a little southwest of the Via Appia. Situated on an isolated hill projecting south from the main mass of the Alban Hills, Lanuvium commanded an extensive vie ...

to appoint a priest. Conflicting stories claim that Clodius was either peacefully heading to Rome after receiving news a friend had died or lying in wait for Milo. Whatever the reason, a scuffle led to a fight between the two parties, with Clodius being wounded by one of Milo's men (an ex-gladiator called Birria). Clodius fled to an inn, from which he was extracted on Milo's orders and murdered.

Trial

The followers of Clodius carried his body to the Senate House, the

Curia Hostilia The Curia Hostilia was one of the original senate houses or "curiae" of the Roman Republic. It was believed to have begun as a temple where the warring tribes laid down their arms during the reign of Romulus (r. c. 771–717 BC). During the early ...

, and set fire to it. Milo returned to Rome and, with the aid of the tribune Marcus Caelius Rufus, he tried to swing popular opinion round to his side again. On 22 January Milo tried to obtain an interview with Pompey at his house on the Pincian, apparently with a positive suggestion to improve the situation by withdrawing his candidature. Pompey refused to even see him. The Senate took action and passed the ''consultum ultimum'' (the ultimate decree), urging the interrex, the tribunes and Pompey to take steps to protect the Republic. In the ensuing unrest, the Senate called on Pompey to become sole consul. He levied troops and set about restoring order, partly by force but also by the legal means now at his disposal. He passed a law regarding both electoral bribery and violence and charged Milo under the new law. Pompey's actions may have been designed to placate Clodius's supporters, who would not be soothed even after they had set fire to the Curia. Pompey hand-picked Milo's jury, and the presiding magistrate, Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, was Pompey's client. Milo was defended by

, Marcus Caelius Rufus and Marcus Marcellus. Under Pompey's new procedural rules, the trial should have lasted five days, with the summing up for the defence and the verdict on the fifth day. However, on the first day, Gaius Causinius Schola appeared as a witness against Milo and described the deed in such a way as to portray Milo as a cold-blooded murderer. That worked up the Clodian crowd, who, in turn, terrified the advocate on Milo's side, Marcus Marcellus. As he began his questioning of the witnesses, the Clodian crowd drowned out his voice and surrounded him. On subsequent days, Pompey brought in armed men to keep order. On the final day of the trial, Cicero was to give a closing speech to try to prevent Milo from being condemned. Instead, he broke down after he was intimidated by the Clodian mob and either did not finish or did not present the speech well and in the style for which he was renowned. Milo was convicted by 38 votes to 13.

Exile

Milo left Rome and went into exile at Massilia (today

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...

). His property was sold by auction. During his absence, Milo was prosecuted and convicted for bribery, unlawful association and violence.

Cassius Dio Lucius Cassius Dio (), also known as Dio Cassius ( ), was a Roman historian and senator of maternal Greek origin. He published 80 volumes of the history on ancient Rome, beginning with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy. The volumes documented the ...

states that when Cicero had finished writing up his speech, he sent a copy to Milo in exile. Milo wrote back that it was lucky for him that the same speech had not been made in court because otherwise, he would "not now be enjoying the delicious

red mullet Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a seconda ...

of Massilia". Dio
40.54.3
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Death

In 48 BC, Milo joined Marcus Caelius Rufus in the rebellion against Caesar, but he died at that year's siege of

Compsa Compsa (modern Conza della Campania) was an ancient city of the Hirpini, near the sources of the Aufidus, on the boundary of Lucania and not far from that of Apulia, on a ridge 609 m above sea level. It was betrayed to Hannibal in 216 BC af ...

, near

Thurii Thurii (; grc-gre, Θούριοι, Thoúrioi), called also by some Latin writers Thurium (compare grc-gre, Θούριον in Ptolemy), for a time also Copia and Copiae, was a city of Magna Graecia, situated on the Tarentine gulf, within a sho ...

, in

Lucania Lucania was a historical region of Southern Italy. It was the land of the Lucani, an Oscan people. It extended from the Tyrrhenian Sea to the Gulf of Taranto. It bordered with Samnium and Campania in the north, Apulia in the east, and Bruttiu ...

. He was killed by a stone thrown from the city walls.

In popular culture

Titus Annius Milo appears as a recurring character in

John Maddox Roberts John Maddox Roberts is an American author of science fiction, fantasy, and historical fiction including the ''SPQR'' series and '' Hannibal's Children''. Personal life John Maddox Roberts was born in Ohio and was raised in Texas, California, a ...

' ''

SPQR series The ''SPQR'' series is a series of historical mystery stories by John Maddox Roberts, published between 1990 and 2010, and set in the final years of the Roman Republic. SPQR (the original title of the first book, until the sequels came out) is ...

'' of novels. These historical mysteries are presented as memoirs of the fictional Decius Caecilius Metellus the Younger; Milo is a trusted friend of Metellus. Milo also appears as a character in ''

A Murder on the Appian Way ''A Murder on the Appian Way'' is a historical novel by American author Steven Saylor, first published by St. Martin's Press in 1996. It is the fifth book in his ''Roma Sub Rosa'' series of mystery novels set in the final decades of the Roman Re ...

'', '' Last Seen in Massilia'' and '' A Mist of Prophecies'', in the ''

Roma Sub Rosa ''Roma Sub Rosa'' is a series of historical mystery novels by Steven Saylor set in ancient Rome and therefore populated by famous historic roman citizens. The phrase "Roma Sub Rosa" means, in Latin, "Rome under the rose." If a matter was ''sub ros ...

'' series of historical mystery novels by

Steven Saylor Steven Saylor (born March 23, 1956) is an American author of historical novels. He is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, where he studied history and classics. Saylor's best-known work is his '' Roma Sub Rosa'' historical myster ...

. Milo appears in

Conn Iggulden Connor Iggulden (; born ) is a British author who writes historical fiction, most notably the ''Emperor'' series and ''Conqueror'' series. He also co-authored '' The Dangerous Book for Boys'' along with his brother Hal Iggulden. In 2007, Iggul ...

's book '' The Field of Swords'', the third in the series ''Emperor'', as a street gangster who wages a private war with Publius Clodius. Milo is a character in Colleen McCollough's novel ''

Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, an ...

.'' He also appears in the book ''Street Fighter: Son of Spartacus'' in a plot to assassinate Julius Caesar. Milo features prominently in the 2015 novel ''

Dictator A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a small clique. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to rule the republic in tim ...

'' by British novelist Robert Harris.