Lucius Calpurnius Bestia was a Roman politician, and one of the Catilinarian conspirators. He was possibly a grandson of

Lucius Calpurnius Bestia (consul) Lucius Calpurnius Bestia was a Roman senator, tribune of the plebs in 121 BC, and consul in 111. Having been appointed to the command of the operations against Jugurtha, he at first carried on the campaign energetically, but soon, having been heav ...

. He was tribune elect in 63 BC, and it had been arranged that, after entering upon his office, he should publicly accuse Cicero of responsibility for the impending war. This was to be the signal for the outbreak of revolution. The conspiracy, however, was put down and Bestia had to content himself with delivering a violent attack upon the consul on the expiration of his office. In modern literature, he is used as a secondary character in two of the

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 mysteries by

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 ...

; ''The Catiline Conspiracy'' and ''

Saturnalia Saturnalia is an ancient Roman festival and holiday in honour of the god Saturn, held on 17 December of the Julian calendar and later expanded with festivities through to 23 December. The holiday was celebrated with a sacrifice at the Temple ...

''. This Bestia is probably not the Lucius Calpurnius Bestia,

aedile ''Aedile'' ( ; la, aedīlis , from , "temple edifice") was an elected office of the Roman Republic. Based in Rome, the aediles were responsible for maintenance of public buildings () and regulation of public festivals. They also had powers to enf ...

, and a candidate for the

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 vario ...

ship in 57. He was accused of bribery during his candidature, and, in spite of Cicero's defence, was condemned. In 43 he attached himself to the party of Antony, apparently in the hope of obtaining the consulship.Sallust, ''Catiline'', xvii. 43; Appian, ''Bell. Civ.'' ii. 3; Cicero, ''Ad Q. Fr.'' ii. 3, 6.

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References

* 1st-century BC Romans Bestia, Lucius Tribunes of the plebs {{AncientRome-politician-stub