Publius Cornelius Dolabella (consul 10)
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Publius Cornelius Dolabella ( fl. c.10–c.28 AD) 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 ...
senator 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 ...
active during the
Principate The Principate is the name sometimes given to the first period of the Roman Empire from the beginning of the reign of Augustus in 27 BC to the end of the Crisis of the Third Century in AD 284, after which it evolved into the so-called Dominate. ...
. He was
consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throug ...
in AD 10 with
Gaius Junius Silanus Gaius Junius Silanus was a Roman Senator active during the reigns of Augustus and Tiberius. He acceded to the rank of Roman consul in 10 AD as the colleague of Publius Cornelius Dolabella. For the term 20/21 the sortition selected him to be proco ...
as his colleague. Dolabella is known for having reconstructed the
Arch of Dolabella The Arch of Dolabella and Silanus (Latin, ''Arcus Dolabellae et Silani'') or Arch of Dolabella is an ancient Roman arch. It was built by senatorial decree in 10 AD by the consuls P. Cornelius Dolabella and C. Junius Silanus. Arch The arch i ...
(perhaps formerly the
Porta Caelimontana The Porta Caelimontana or Celimontana was a gate in the Servian Wall on the rise of the Caelian Hill (''Caelius Mons''). Use The Via Caelimontana ran from it; in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Roman tombs were discovered along its sout ...
) in
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 ...
in AD 10, together with his co-consul Junius Silanus. Later,
Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68), was the fifth Roman emperor and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 un ...
used it for his aqueduct to the
Caelian Hill The Caelian Hill (; la, Collis Caelius; it, Celio ) is one of the famous seven hills of Rome. Geography The Caelian Hill is a sort of long promontory about long, to wide, and tall in the park near the Temple of Claudius. The hill over ...
. In 24 he was appointed proconsul of the province of
Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
(modern Tunisia), supposedly pacified after ten years of insurgency. This turned out to be far from the case and Dolabella was pressed hard. Despite only having half the number of soldiers of his predecessor Dolabella conceived an effective strategy. He eventually forced the insurgents to battle, slew their leader,
Tacfarinas Tacfarinas ( Latinised form of Berber Tikfarin or Takfarin; died AD 24) was a Numidian Berber from Thagaste, located in the province of Proconsular Africa (now Souk Ahras, in Algeria), who was a deserter from the Roman army who led his own Mus ...
, and brought the conflict to a final conclusion. He then initiated the conversion of the Tunisian grasslands to arable fields, which were to be the breadbasket of Rome for centuries to come.


Family

Dolabella was a member of a
patrician Patrician may refer to: * Patrician (ancient Rome), the original aristocratic families of ancient Rome, and a synonym for "aristocratic" in modern English usage * Patrician (post-Roman Europe), the governing elites of cities in parts of medieval ...
branch of the gens
Cornelii The gens Cornelia was one of the greatest patrician houses at ancient Rome. For more than seven hundred years, from the early decades of the Republic to the third century AD, the Cornelii produced more eminent statesmen and generals than any oth ...
.
Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historiography, Roman historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his t ...
provides us with the hint that he was the son of Quinctilia, a sister of the Roman politician and general Publius Quinctilius Varus, and a Publius Cornelius Dolabella;Tacitus, ''
Annales Annals are a concise form of historical writing which record events chronologically, year by year. The equivalent word in Latin and French is ''annales'', which is used untranslated in English in various contexts. List of works with titles contai ...
'', IV.66
however, authorities differ over which Dolabella was his father. In his book ''The Augustan Aristocracy'',
Ronald Syme Sir Ronald Syme, (11 March 1903 – 4 September 1989) was a New Zealand-born historian and classicist. He was regarded as the greatest historian of ancient Rome since Theodor Mommsen and the most brilliant exponent of the history of the Roman ...
identifies the father with Publius Cornelius Dolabella, consul in 44 BC and son-in-law 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 estab ...
. At the time, he was the only Cornelius Dolabella known to fit. However, since the publication of Syme's book, a new fragment of the ''Fasti Tauromenium'' has been recovered which attests to another one: Publius Cornelius Dolabella, suffect consul in 35 BC. Patrick Tansey provides several arguments that favour identifying the consul of 35 BC as the father of the consul of AD 10. Frank Burr Marsh believed that the consul of 44 BC was the grandfather of the consul of 10 AD. The Dolabella married Sulpicia Galbilla, and their son was Publius Cornelius Dolabella, consul in 55.


Biography

Dolabella served as consul from January to June 10 AD with Gaius Junius Silanus. Around the time he held the consulate Cornelius Dolabella was co-opted into two Roman priesthoods, the '' septemviri epulones'' and the '' sodales Titensis''. When the emperor
Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pri ...
died in 14, Dolabella was governor of
Dalmatia Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see #Name, names in other languages) is one of the four historical region, historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of ...
. Augustus' successor
Tiberius Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus (; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was the second Roman emperor. He reigned from AD 14 until 37, succeeding his stepfather, the first Roman emperor Augustus. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC. His father ...
, as came to be habitual, delayed the end of Dolabella's tenure to 19 or 20; the next governor of Dalmatia, Lucius Volusius Saturninus, found himself delayed in the office until after Tiberius died in the year 37. Once back in Rome, Dolabella is recorded as twice making excessively sycophantic proposals that Tiberius rejected. The first was in the year 21, following
Gaius Silius Gaius Silius (died AD 24) was a Roman senator who achieved successes as a general over German barbarians following the disaster of the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. For this achievement he was appointed consul in AD 13 with Lucius Munatius Planc ...
' suppression of a rebellion of Gaulish debtors led by Julius Florus and the
Aeduan The Aedui or Haedui (Gaulish: *''Aiduoi'', 'the Ardent'; grc, Aἴδουοι) were a Gallic tribe dwelling in the modern Burgundy region during the Iron Age and the Roman period. The Aedui had an ambiguous relationship with the Roman Republic a ...
Julius Sacrovir. Dolabella proposed that Tiberius return from Campania and enter Rome with an
ovation The ovation ( la, ovatio from ''ovare'': to rejoice) was a form of the Roman triumph. Ovations were granted when war was not declared between enemies on the level of nations or states; when an enemy was considered basely inferior (e.g., slaves, p ...
for the victory. Tiberius rejected the proposal with an angry letter, stating that he was not so destitute of renown as to covet the meaningless honour of a tour of the neighbourhood of Rome. The second was in the following year, when his colleague in the consulship, Junius Silanus, was condemned for '' majestas''. Dolabella proposed an inquiry into the morals of provincial magistrates with Tiberius as the judge. Tiberius rejected this proposal on the basis that a crime should always precede any punishment.


Africa

Dolabella was awarded the
proconsul A proconsul was an official of ancient Rome who acted on behalf of a consul. A proconsul was typically a former consul. The term is also used in recent history for officials with delegated authority. In the Roman Republic, military command, or ' ...
ar governorship of
Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
for AD 23–24. The previous proconsul had been Blaesus, the uncle of Sejanus, Tiberius' commander of the Praetorian Guard and trusted right-hand man. His main concern had been combatting the 10-year uprising led by Tacfarinus, a Numidian Berber and deserter from the Roman army. After a war of attrition Blaesus' campaign achieved its crowning success in AD 22, when his men captured Tacfarinas' brother. Tiberius accepted this as marking the end of the war. He granted Blaesus the rare privilege of adopting the honorary title of ''
imperator The Latin word ''imperator'' derives from the stem of the verb la, imperare, label=none, meaning 'to order, to command'. It was originally employed as a title roughly equivalent to ''commander'' under the Roman Republic. Later it became a part o ...
'', "victorious general", the last time this was accorded to a person outside the imperial house, and the third awarded for defeating Tacfarinas.Tacitus III.74 When Blaesus returned to Rome at the end of his term in 23, he was also accorded triumphal honours.Tacitus III.72 The emperor ordered the withdrawal of the 9th legion from Africa, confident that it was no longer needed. But Tacitus suggests that Blaesus and Tiberius were being over-optimistic about the situation, given that Tacfarinas himself was still at large with a substantial following. The Romans were soon disabused of their complacency. Tacfarinas' great strength was that there was an inexhaustible supply of would-be raiders among the desert tribes. So even if he lost many of his followers in encounters with the Romans, which he frequently did, he could rapidly reconstitute his raiding-bands. Moreover, Tacfarinas now started posing as the leader of a war of national liberation. He used the news of the withdrawal of half the Roman garrison to spread rumours that the empire was crumbling due to native revolts in its other regions, forcing the Romans to run down their forces in Africa. He claimed that the remaining garrison could be overcome, and Numidia permanently freed, by a concerted effort of all Numidians. His propaganda was highly effective and large numbers of Mauri warriors joined him, turning their backs on their young pro-Roman king,
Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importanc ...
, who had recently succeeded his father,
Juba II Juba II or Juba of Mauretania (Latin: ''Gaius Iulius Iuba''; grc, Ἰóβας, Ἰóβα or ;Roller, Duane W. (2003) ''The World of Juba II and Kleopatra Selene'' "Routledge (UK)". pp. 1–3. . c. 48 BC – AD 23) was the son of Juba I and client ...
. In addition, many peasants, the poorest stratum of society, abandoned their fields and joined the insurgents. Tacfarinas also received "deniable" assistance from the king of the Garamantes, who, although officially allied with Rome, was making handsome profits as receiver of Tacfarinas' plunder and consequently made little effort to prevent substantial numbers of his warriors from joining the insurgents. Given the emergency, Dolabella would have been justified in requesting the postponement of the 9th Legion's imminent departure, but he did not dare confront Tiberius with the grim reality of the situation in Africa.Tacitus IV.23 By the start of the 24 campaign season, Tacfarinas felt strong enough to lay siege to the Roman strong-point of Thubuscum (Khamisa, Algeria or Teboursouk, Tunisia). Dolabella hurriedly assembled all his available troops and rushed to raise the siege. As usual, the Numidians proved unable to withstand the Roman infantry charge and were routed by the first assault; they fled westwards into Mauretania. Dolabella now embarked on an all-out effort to hunt down the ever-elusive Tacfarinas, as it was evident that, unless its leader was eliminated, the insurgency would never end. The proconsul summoned assistance from Ptolemy, in whose kingdom Tacfarinas had taken refuge, and who supplied large numbers of the Mauri horsemen who had remained loyal to him. Thus reinforced, Dolabella divided his force into four divisions advancing in parallel to cover as much territory as possible, with the allied cavalry acting as scouts, criss-crossing between the main columns.Tacitus IV.24 These tactics soon paid off, as the crucial intelligence was obtained that Tacfarinas had established a camp near the half-ruined fort of ''Auzea'' (Sour el-Ghozlane, south-east of
Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...
), which Tacfarinas' men had previously burnt down. Well to the west of the Roman province, the site was surrounded by extensive forests. Tacfarinas evidently discounted the possibility that the Romans could discover his location, as he apparently failed to post a screen of sentries in the woods. Dolabella immediately despatched a strike-force of lightly-armed infantry and Numidian cavalry. They approached Tacfarinas' camp unobserved, under cover of the woods and the pre-dawn darkness. At dawn the Romans attacked the camp in full battle-order as the disorganised Numidians scrambled to pick up their weapons and to find their horses. The complete surprise resulted in a massacre, made all the bloodier by the Romans' lust for revenge after years of humiliation. Acting on strict orders the Roman centurions directed their men against Tacfarinas himself. The latter and his entourage were soon surrounded by overwhelming numbers and in a fierce fight his bodyguards were killed and his son taken prisoner. Recognising that there was no possibility of escape, Tacfarinas impaled himself on the massed spears of his assailants. The death of Tacfarinas put an end to Musulamii hopes of halting the Roman takeover of their traditional grazing lands. Dolabella launched the registration of the whole plateau for tax purposes immediately after Tacfarinas' demise and completed it by 29 or 30, as evidenced by the stone markers laid down by the Roman surveyors, some of which survive to this day. The surveyors reach as far as the Chott el Jerid on the province's southern border. The region was largely turned to grain production and the Musulamii and other tribes permanently excluded from their former grazing areas. Dolabella applied to the Senate for triumphal honours. His motion was voted down at the behest of Tiberius, despite the fact that arguably Dolabella deserved the accolade more than any of his three predecessors; unlike them, he had actually brought the war to an end by eliminating its instigator. Tacitus suggests that the reason was Sejanus' concern that his uncle's glory should not be diminished by comparison. Doubtless Tiberius' embarrassment that the war had flared up again after he had declared it won also played a part.Tacitus IV.26


Later life

Tacitus mentions Dolabella twice more in the surviving portions of his ''Annales''. In 28 Dolabella joined in the prosecution of his cousin Publius Quinctilius Varus. It is not known what Varus was charged with,Seager, ''Tiberius'', p. 173 but it may have been treason or maiestas. The outcome of the case is unknown, but the absence of his family from history makes it likely that he was either condemned or committed suicide.Seager, ''Tiberius'', p. 173; see also Steven H. Rutledge, ''Imperial Inquisitions: Prosecutors and Informants from Tiberius to Domitian'' (London: Routledge, 2001), pp. 143–44 for discussion. The date of his death is not recorded.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cornelius Dolabella, Publius 1st-century Romans 1st-century BC births 1st-century deaths Imperial Roman consuls Roman governors of Dalmatia Roman governors of Africa Epulones of the Roman Empire Dolabella, Publius Roman patricians