Marcus Junius Pera ( fl. 230216 BC) was a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

politician before and during the

Second Punic War The Second Punic War (218 to 201 BC) was the second of three wars fought between Carthage and Rome, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean in the 3rd century BC. For 17 years the two states struggled for supremacy, primarily in Ital ...

Career

Pera served as one of the

consuls A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...

for the year 230 BC; during his consulship, he – along with his colleague Marcus Aemilius Barbula – campaigned against local tribes in

Liguria Liguria (; lij, Ligûria ; french: Ligurie) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is ...

. He also was elected censor for 225 BC with

Gaius Claudius Centho Gaius Claudius Centho or Cento was a 3rd-century BC member of a prominent and wealthy patrician Roman Republican family. He was the third son of Appius Claudius Caecus, and a member of the Claudii. He was consul in the year 240 BC. He was Roman cen ...

as his colleague. They conducted a census of the Roman population: Livy reports the number of citizens as 270,213.

Dictatorship

During

Hannibal Hannibal (; xpu, 𐤇𐤍𐤁𐤏𐤋, ''Ḥannibaʿl''; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Puni ...

's invasion of Italy during the

, the

Carthaginian The term Carthaginian ( la, Carthaginiensis ) usually refers to a citizen of Ancient Carthage. It can also refer to: * Carthaginian (ship), a three-masted schooner built in 1921 * Insurgent privateers; nineteenth-century South American privateers, ...

general all but wiped out an 85,000-strong Roman army at the

Battle of Cannae The Battle of Cannae () was a key engagement of the Second Punic War between the Roman Republic and Carthage, fought on 2 August 216 BC near the ancient village of Cannae in Apulia, southeast Italy. The Carthaginians and their allies, led by ...

in 216 BC. In doing so, one consul, Lucius Aemilius Paullus, was killed. The other consul,

Gaius Terentius Varro Gaius Terentius Varro ( 218–200 BC) was a Roman politician and general active during the Second Punic War. A plebeian son of a butcher, he was a populist politician who was elected consul for the year 216 BC. While holding that office, he was de ...

, escaped to Venusia and collected his shattered army to Canusium. After news of the disaster, Pera was appointed as dictator with Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus as his ''

magister equitum The , in English Master of the Horse or Master of the Cavalry, was a Roman magistrate appointed as lieutenant to a dictator. His nominal function was to serve as commander of the Roman cavalry in time of war, but just as a dictator could be nomi ...

''. He immediately instituted a levy to replace the men killed at Cannae. A levy was ordered, conscripting underage boys to fill up four legions and even buying and arming 8,000 slave volunteers with public funds. By doing so, he had created a citizen army of four legions, reinforced by the slave-force and contributions from remaining allies. He also cancelled the debts of all men who enlisted in the armies or had been convicted of a capital offence. He fought no pitched battle against Hannibal during his time in command; he relieved

Casilinum Casilinum was an ancient city of Campania, Italy, situated some 3 miles north-west of the ancient Capua. The position of Casilinum at the junction of the Via Appia and Via Latina, at their crossing of the river Volturnus by a still-existing three-ar ...

and left his ''magister equitum'' there while he returned to Rome to repeat the auspices. Zonaras reports Pera as being wrong-footed by Hannibal as he was shadowing his camp. After ordering his men to copy the schedules of the Carthaginians – and thus not be taken by surprise – Pera was attacked by a detachment of Hannibal's army. When his troops had repulsed the offensive and retired, assuming the Carthaginians would now rest, he was surprised by a second attack from the bulk of the Carthaginian force that Hannibal had kept in reserve.Zonaras, 9.3. His dictatorship is also notable for the concurrent appointment of

Marcus Fabius Buteo Marcus Fabius Buteo (died around 210-209 BC) was a Roman politician during the 3rd century BC. He served as consul and as censor, and in 216 BC, being the oldest living ex-censor, he was appointed dictator, ''legendo senatui'', for the purpose of f ...

. It marked the only occasion in Roman history where two dictators were in office at the same time. With Pera away on campaign, Buteo was selected to appoint new men 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 ...

after its ranks had been diminished greatly at Cannae. According to Livy, Buteo was uncomfortable with the unprecedented dual-dictatorship and resigned promptly on completing his task.

References

Sources * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Junius Pera, Marcus Ancient Roman dictators 3rd-century BC Roman consuls Roman censors Pera, Marcus

Career

Dictatorship

See also

References