Aulus Licinius Archias (; fl. c. 120 – 61 BC) was a Greco-

Syrian Syrians () are the majority inhabitants of Syria, indigenous to the Levant, most of whom have Arabic, especially its Levantine and Mesopotamian dialects, as a mother tongue. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

Life

He was born in

Antioch Antioch on the Orontes (; , ) "Antioch on Daphne"; or "Antioch the Great"; ; ; ; ; ; ; . was a Hellenistic Greek city founded by Seleucus I Nicator in 300 BC. One of the most important Greek cities of the Hellenistic period, it served as ...

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

(modern

Antakya Antakya (), Turkish form of Antioch, is a municipality and the capital Districts of Turkey, district of Hatay Province, Turkey. Its area is . Prior to the devastating 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, 2023 earthquakes, its population was recorded ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

). He studied at his native city, and received a liberal education. During his school days, he showed “unusual talent as a poet.” Due to political unrest, Archias, while yet a mere youth, left Antioch and travelled around the major cities of Asia Minor, Greece, and Italy, in each of which his fame grew. In 102 BC, his reputation having been already established, especially as an improvisatore, he went to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, where he was well received amongst the highest and most influential families. His chief patron was

Lucullus Lucius Licinius Lucullus (; 118–57/56 BC) was a Ancient Romans, Roman List of Roman generals, general and Politician, statesman, closely connected with Lucius Cornelius Sulla. In culmination of over 20 years of almost continuous military and ...

, whose gentile name he assumed. Lucullus probably lived in exile. Marcus Tullius Cicero was the father of Cicero. Cicero was a child. Archias became teacher for Cicero, and inspired him in literature. In 93 BC, he visited

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

Magna Graecia Magna Graecia refers to the Greek-speaking areas of southern Italy, encompassing the modern Regions of Italy, Italian regions of Calabria, Apulia, Basilicata, Campania, and Sicily. These regions were Greek colonisation, extensively settled by G ...

, with his patron, on which occasion he received the

citizenship Citizenship is a membership and allegiance to a sovereign state. Though citizenship is often conflated with nationality in today's English-speaking world, international law does not usually use the term ''citizenship'' to refer to nationalit ...

of Lucanian Heraclea, one of the federate towns and, indirectly, by the provisions of the '' Lex Plautia Papiria'', that of Rome. He had registered with the praetor Quintus Metellus Pius under the Lex Plautia-Papiria to become a Roman citizen. He also fulfilled another requirement of having a residence in Rome. As a result, Archias was able to acquire Roman citizenship in 89 under the newly passed Lex Plautia Papiria, which granted Roman citizenship to all citizens of states allied with Rome. But for some reason his name had been left off the record of the censors in 89 B C, the year in which he attained citizenship. Archias enjoyed his citizenship in peace for twenty-seven years. In 62 BC, he was accused by a certain

Grattius Grattius (or Gratius) Faliscus was a Latin poetry, Roman poet who flourished during the life of Augustus (63 BC – 14 AD). He is known as the author of a ''Cynegetica'', a poem on hunting. Life The only reference to Grattius in any extant ancie ...

, an agent of Lucullus' political enemies, of having assumed the citizenship illegally, but

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...

successfully defended him in his speech '' Pro Archia''. Cicero's defense of his former teacher was not only on the legal grounds since he received the citizenship of Lucanian Heraclea, but on the importance of offering him citizenship, if not, based on his poetical skill, and the literary contributions he made to Rome. Cicero argued that "Archias is deserving of Roman citizenship even if he did not already possess it upon Archias's contributions to Roman society through his poetry." Further Cicero strongly argued that creators of literature had almost universally been held in high esteem. That speech, which furnishes nearly all the information concerning Archias, states that he had celebrated the deeds of

Gaius Marius Gaius Marius (; – 13 January 86 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. Victor of the Cimbrian War, Cimbric and Jugurthine War, Jugurthine wars, he held the office of Roman consul, consul an unprecedented seven times. Rising from a fami ...

and Lucullus in the

Cimbrian Cimbrian (, ; ; ) is any of several local Upper German varieties spoken in parts of the Italian regions of Trentino and Veneto. The speakers of the language are known as in German. Cimbrian is a Germanic language related to Bavarian most ...

and

Mithridatic Wars The Mithridatic Wars were three conflicts fought by the Roman Republic against the Kingdom of Pontus and its allies between 88 and 63 BC. They are named after Mithridates VI, the King of Pontus during the course of the wars, who initiated the ho ...

and that he was engaged upon a poem of which the events of Cicero's

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 thro ...

ship formed the subject. The ''

Greek Anthology The ''Greek Anthology'' () is a collection of poems, mostly epigrams, that span the Classical Greece, Classical and Byzantine periods of Greek literature. Most of the material of the ''Greek Anthology'' comes from two manuscripts, the ''Palatine ...

'' contains 35

epigram An epigram is a brief, interesting, memorable, sometimes surprising or satirical statement. The word derives from the Greek (, "inscription", from [], "to write on, to inscribe"). This literary device has been practiced for over two millennia ...

s under the name of Archias, but it is doubtful how many are his work.

References

*Steven M. Cerutti (1998), "Cicero Pro Archia Poeta Oratio", Bolchazy-Caarducci Publishers, paper back, 125 pages,

External links

* *
''Archias: Epigrams'', in English translation
at ''attalus.org'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Archias, Aulus Licinius People from Antioch 1st-century BC Roman poets 1st-century BC Greek poets 2nd-century BC births 60s BC deaths Lucanian Greeks Licinii People acquitted of crimes

Life

See also

References

External links