Roman History and Historiography

*Attalus III of Pergamum bequeathed his kingdom to the Romans. After his death in 133 bce it was constituted as provincia Asia by M. *Aquillius (1). Originally it consisted of Mysia, the Troad (*Troas), *Aeolis, *Lydia, Ionia (see ionians), the islands along the coast, much of *Caria, and at least a land corridor through *Pisidia to *Pamphylia. Part of *Phrygia was given to Mithradates V Euergetes and was not made part of the province until 116 bce. *Lycaonia was added before 100 and the area around Cibyra in 82 bce. After 80 bce, the SE portion was removed and joined to the new province of Cilicia, as were the Phrygian assize-districts of Laodicea, Apamea, and Synnada between 56 and 50 bce. Under the empire Asia included all the territory from Amorium and Philomelium in the east to the sea; it was bounded in the north by Bithynia, in the south by Lycia, and on the east by Galatia.

The merchant discoverer, in the Augustan or Tiberian age, of new ways of navigating the Arabian Sea: specifically the possibility of using the (very violent: his ships must have been substantial) SW *monsoon to make deep-sea voyages from the south coast of *Arabia to the NW coast of India, and the SE monsoon (a gentler wind) for the journey back to the mouth of the *Red Sea (his name was given to an African cape, part of the Arabian Sea, and to the wind itself). Regular contacts archaeologically attested from the 1st cent. bce onwards at e.g. Arikamedu (see india) suggest that Hippalus was not unique, but the increasing importance of this region and its communications in the economic history of the old world in the first half of the first millennium ce is indubitable.

The battle of Pydna takes its name from the town on the north-east coast of Greece, where the Romans under L. *Aemilius Paullus (2) put an end to the Macedonian monarchy by defeating king *Perseus (2) (22 June 168 bce). As was the case with *Cynoscephalae, the battle seems to have been brought about by an unintentional clash, this time between light troops. The main Macedonian army deployed more quickly than the Roman, and at first the *phalanx carried all before it. But it became disrupted, possibly by the terrain over which it was advancing, and the Romans were able to infiltrate its formation by dividing into maniples. At the same time, Roman cavalry and *elephants defeated the Macedonian left wing, thus enveloping the phalanx's left flank, and the same thing probably happened on the Macedonian right. Some 20,000 Macedonians were killed, and about 11,000 taken prisoner, only the cavalry escaping in any numbers.

Rubico (commonly called Rubicon), reddish stream flowing into the Adriatic and marking the boundary between Italy and *Gaul (Cisalpine): possibly the modern Pisciatello. In 49 bce*Caesar, after some hesitation, precipitated civil war by crossing it.

A precipitous cliff on the *Capitol from which murderers and traitors were thrown (see tarpeia). Some ancient sources (e.g. Varro, Ling. 5. 41) place it close to the temple of *Jupiter Capitolinus; Dion. Hal. (7. 35. 4; 8. 78. 5), however, locates it at the south-east corner of the hill above the Roman Forum. The latter seems more likely, given the proximity of the Carcer and Scalae Gemoniae, which were also traditional places of execution.

An ambush on a huge scale, Trasimene was the second of Hannibal's victories. The consul, C. *Flaminius (1), with probably some 25,000 men, followed Hannibal, with perhaps some 60,000, into the narrow passage along the north shore of the lake, and found his path blocked by Spaniards and Africans, while slingers and pikemen attacked his right, Celts his left, and cavalry his rear. The consul himself fell, with 15,000 of his soldiers, and all but a handful of the rest were taken prisoner. There is some doubt about where exactly the battle took place. *Polybius(1)'s account fits the area between Passignano and Magione, and is probably to be preferred, although it has been claimed that archaeological evidence—which may not be relevant—supports Livy's apparent location between Pieve Confini and Passignano.