Extract

Acilius, Manius, a *novus homo, was tribune of the plebs 201 bce when he supported peace with Carthage on the terms agreed with *Scipio Africanus. Praetor 196, he suppressed a slave revolt in Etruria. He was consul 191, defeating *Antiochus (3) III at Thermopylae and beginning operations against the Aetolians. In a famous scene he made it clear to the latter that deditio (see dediticii) to Rome precluded negotiations about terms. He was assisted by *Philip (3) V, whom he ordered to desist from the siege of Lamia (2), but allowed to appropriate territory in northern Greece. He embarked on the siege of *Naupactus, but was persuaded by *Flamininus to grant the Aetolians a truce to allow them to send ambassadors to Rome. He triumphed in 190 and in 189 stood for the censorship; accused of embezzlement during his command in Greece, he abandoned his candidacy. As consul he had carried the lex Acilia de intercalando (Acilian law on intercalation), necessitated by the fact that the Roman *calendar had become four months ahead of the seasons.