Apollonius ( grc, Απολλώνιος) was a
freedman of
Publius Licinius Crassus in
ancient Rome
In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...
in the 1st century BCE.
Apollonius afterwards became a useful friend of
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 ...
's, and served in the army of
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, ...
in the
Alexandrine war, and also followed him into Spain. He was a man of great diligence and learning, and anxious to write a history of the exploits of Caesar. For this reason Cicero gave him a very flattering letter of recommendation to Caesar.
Apollonius is also believed to have written a biography of Crassus. Since he was
manumitted
Manumission, or enfranchisement, is the act of freeing enslaved people by their enslavers. Different approaches to manumission were developed, each specific to the time and place of a particular society. Historian Verene Shepherd states that ...
as a term of Publius's
will, he is by Roman custom likely to have taken the name Publius Licinius Apollonius as a
freedman. The highly laudatory account of Publius's death found in
Plutarch
Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for hi ...
suggests that Apollonius's biography was a source.
[For the available evidence on Apollonius, see ]Andrew Lintott
Andrew William Lintott (born 9 December 1936) is a British classical scholar who specialises in the political and administrative history of ancient Rome, Roman law and epigraphy. He is an emeritus fellow of Worcester College, University of Oxfor ...
, “A Historian in Cicero: ''Ad familiares'' – P. Licinius (?) Apollonius,” ''Rheinisches Museum für Philologie'' 119 (1976) 368. See also Elizabeth Rawson, '' Intellectual Life in the Late Roman Republic'' (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1985), pp. 79, 110, 229; F.B. Titchener, "Critical Trends in Plutarch's Roman Lives, 1975–1990," ''Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt'' 2.55.6 (De Gruyter 1992), p. 414
online.
/ref>
Notes
Imperial Roman slaves and freedmen
Ancient Roman writers
1st-century BC Romans
{{AncientRome-writer-stub