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Article

alae  

Brian Campbell

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Roman History and Historiography
In the republic alae sociorum were two bodies of Roman allies, including cavalry and infantry, each equivalent in size to a *legion, which fought on the wings (alae) of the battle-line. After the *Social War (3) (91–87 bce) the Romans increasingly recruited cavalry from native peoples, and *Caesar used Gallic and German cavalry units to great effect, usually placing them under their own commanders (praefecti equitum). During the Civil Wars some native contingents were used by the military dynasts under the command of Roman officers or veteran soldiers. In *Augustus' reorganization of the army, many non-Roman infantry and cavalry units were incorporated into the formal structure of the army as *auxilia. Alae (now used exclusively for cavalry) normally consisted of about 480–500 men divided into sixteen troops; probably from Flavian times, milliary alae with about 800–1,000 men divided into 24 troops were introduced. Alae were commanded by equestrian prefects, who in the three posts often held by equestrian officers (tres militiae) ranked above the prefects of auxiliary cohorts and military tribunes.

Article

Alba Fucens  

T. W. Potter

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Roman History and Historiography
  2. Roman Material Culture

Alba Fucens, a Latin colony of 6,000 (see ius latii) founded by Rome in 303 bce, on a hill above the Fucine lake (see fucinus lacus) in central Italy. It was connected to Rome by the *via Valeria, a route of great antiquity. Alba usually supported the Roman government, e.g. against *Hannibal, the socii (90 bce; see social war (3)), *Caesar, and M. *Antonius (2) (Mark Antony). In the 2nd cent. bce, dethroned kings such as *Syphax were confined here. The walls, which extend for nearly 3 km. (1 ¾ mi.), originated in the 3rd cent. bce, and the town saw substantial replanning in the 1st cent. bce. Extensive excavations have revealed the forum, basilica, shops, temples, theatres, amphitheatre, etc. Decline began in the 3rd cent. ce, and the place is not mentioned after 537 when Justinian's troops were stationed here.

Article

Albinovanus, Celsus  

Edward Courtney

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Roman History and Historiography

Albinovanus, Celsus, secretary of *Tiberius, whom he accompanied to Armenia in 21–20 bce, and friend of *Horace (Epist. 1. 3. 15–20, 8. 1), who gently rebukes him for writing excessively imitative poetry.

Article

Albucius, Titus, senator and orator  

Christian James Fordyce and M. T. Griffin

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Roman History and Historiography
Albucius, Titus senator and orator, who in youth had studied in Athens. *Lucilius (1) satirized the absurdities of his Graecomania (88–93 Marx), and *Cicero called him ‘learned in Greek letters, or rather virtually a Greek’ (Brut.131). Despite being an Epicurean (see epicurus), he held magistracies and became governor of *Sardiniac.

Article

alcoholism, Roman  

John Maxwell O'Brien and Barney Rickenbacker

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Latin Literature
  2. Roman History and Historiography
  3. Roman Material Culture
The ancient Romans were as interested in the harmful effects of excessive drinking and chronic intoxication as their Greek counterparts. In On the Nature of Things, *Lucretius writes that wine's fury disturbs the soul, debilitates the body, and provokes quarrels (3. 476–83). The younger *Seneca warns that habitual drunkenness so weakens the mind that its consequences are felt long after the drinking has stopped (Ep. 83. 26). He notes that some men become so tolerant of wine that even though they are inebriated they appear to be sober (Ep. 83. 11). Seneca also suggests that drunkenness tends to disclose and magnify character defects (Ep. 83. 19–20). In his Naturalis historia, *Pliny (1) the Elder finds irony in the fact that men spend hard-earned money on something that can damage the mind and cause madness (14. 137). Like the Greeks, Pliny comments on truth in wine (‘in vino veritas’), but emphasizes that the truths therein revealed are often better left unspoken (HN 14.

Article

Alexander the Great, reception of  

Diana Spencer

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 November 2019
Subjects:
  1. Christianity
  2. Greek History and Historiography
  3. Late Antiquity
  4. Near East
  5. Reception
  6. Roman History and Historiography
What makes Alexander Great? His story has captured the imagination of authors, artists, philosophers, and politicians across more than two millennia. He has provided a point of convergence for religious and spiritual thinkers, he has been co-opted as a champion for gender and sexual openness, he represents a paradigm for would-be charismatic dictators (and their opponents), he gives us scientific imperialism and justification for conquistadorial dreaming, and he exemplifies the risks of cultural appropriation. To understand why Alexander resonates so widely across so many different fields of study, interest groups, and media, is an exercise in reception. This Alexander who has captured the imagination is triumphantly equivocal and it is in the plurality of traditions through which this complexity is expressed that his enduring “greatness” lies. The imaginary quality of Alexander is unsurprising because more profoundly than for any comparable individual from classical antiquity, his history is a product of reception from the start: every encounter with Alexander the Great is part of a conversation that depends substantially on accounts and narrative evidence from long after his death, and at the least at one remove from the historians who first and contemporaneously chronicled his life and achievements.

Article

Alfenus Varus, Publius  

Ernst Badian and Tony Honoré

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Roman History and Historiography
Alfenus Varus, Publius, suffect consul 39 bce. Born at *Cremona, he was the first Cisalpine to gain a consulship, and the only one under Augustus. (His son, consul ce 2, was presumably born in Rome, and of consular descent.) *Porphyrio, on Hor. Sat. 1. 3. 130, identifies Alfenus vafer, a cobbler who has given up his trade, with Alfenus Varus from Cremona. The identification is doubtful, but the scholiast (see scholia) knew Varus' origin. In 41 Varus, with two other men, was concerned with confiscating land in northern Italy, or extorting money in lieu of land, for distribution to *veterans. His title is variously given by different scholiasts, and there is no other information. He was harsh in treating Virgil's *Mantua (see the anxious flattery of Ecl. 9. 26 ff.), but may have aided Virgil in regaining his land or getting compensation. Ecl. 6. 6 f. shows that Varus (it must be Alfenus) had been an officer in a war, which was to be expected, in view of his extraordinary promotion. (The scholiast's ‘explanation’ is useless.) He studied law under Ser.

Article

Alfenus Senecio, Lucius  

Anthony R. Birley

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Roman History and Historiography
Alfenus Senecio, Lucius, from *Cuicul in Numidia, either the son of a procurator of the same names who became governor of Mauretania Caesariensis (see caesarea (3)), or perhaps identical with him—in which case he was promoted to the senate. Senecio was legate of Syria Coele (see syria) in ce 200 and of *Britain between 205 and 208.

Article

Allobroges  

John Frederick Drinkwater

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Roman History and Historiography
Allobroges, a developing iron age people of central Gaul. They were annexed to Rome in 121 bce by Cn. *Domitius Ahenobarbus (2) and Q. *Fabius Maximus (Allobrogicus). An attempted revolt was crushed by C. Pomptinus (61). On the other hand, they rejected *Catiline (63) and *Vercingetorix (52).

Article

Ambiorix  

Howard Hayes Scullard and John Frederick Drinkwater

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Roman History and Historiography
Ambiorix, chief of the Eburones, a Gallic tribe between the Meuse and the Rhine who were freed by *Caesar from dependence on the Atuatuci. However, in 54 bce Ambiorix revolted against Caesar: through treachery he destroyed the camp and forces of Titurius Sabinus at Atuatuca. He then induced the *Nervii to besiege the winter camp in their territory which Q.

Article

ambitus  

Andrew Lintott

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Roman History and Historiography
Ambitus, a ‘going round’, is related to ambitio, the pursuit of public office, but always, unlike ambitio, denotes reprehensible activity which has been declared illegal.Specifically it refers to obtaining electoral support (see elections and voting (Roman)) through gifts, favours, or the promise of these. According to *Polybius (1), the Romans had made the manifest use of money to buy votes a capital offence, but we have no other evidence for this in the last two centuries of the republic (the early books of Livy refer to laws in 432, 358, and 314 bce, the last two of which at least may have some historical substance). In 181 bce a lex Cornelia Baebia instituted a system of non-capital trials, which was developed in the late republic by further laws about ambitus and related matters—the use of bribery agents, associations, and expenditure on public dinners. These laws seem to have been a response to greater competition for office. However, Roman tradition did not discourage the cultivation of voters through material benefits (see especially the *Commentariolum petitionis and Cicero, Pro Murena (see licinius murena)).

Article

Ampius Balbus, Titus  

Howard Hayes Scullard and Ernst Badian

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Roman History and Historiography
Ampius Balbus, Titus, called by his enemies ‘the trumpet of Civil War’ (Cic. Fam. 6. 12. 3), was tribune (63 bce), pro-Pompeian, and proconsul in *Asia in 58 and possibly of *Cilicia after (Broughton, MRR 3. 15; cistophori in his name were minted at Ephesus etc. ). After raising troops at *Capua (49) he served as legatus pro praetore in Asia.

Article

Amyntas (2), client king of the Romans, late 1st cent. BCE  

Max Cary, Theodore John Cadoux, and Barbara Levick

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Roman History and Historiography

Amyntas (2), a dependent king (see client kings) of the Romans in Asia Minor. Secretary of *Deiotarus, he commanded the Galatian auxiliaries of the Liberators in 42 bce, but deserted after the first battle of *Philippi. After Deiotarus' death (39 bce) Mark Antony (M. *Antonius (2)) gave him a kingdom in northern *Pisidia and neighbouring *Phrygia to which in 36 he added *Galatia and parts of *Lycaonia and *Pamphylia. In 35 Amyntas received the surrender of *Sextus Pompeius. He accompanied Antony to *Actium, but deserted before the battle. Octavian enlarged his kingdom further by adding *Isauria and *Cilicia Tracheia. He successfully attacked Cremna and the dynast Antipater of Derbe but in 25 was killed campaigning against the Homonadeis on Lake Trogitis. Though he left sons, most of his kingdom was annexed and made into the province of Galatia.

Article

Anicetus  

Arnaldo Momigliano and M. T. Griffin

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Roman History and Historiography

Anicetus or ‘Aniketos’, freedman and tutor of *Nero, who used him when prefect of the fleet at *Misenum to murder *Iulia Agrippina. Subsequently induced to confess himself the paramour of Claudia *Octavia, he was exiled to Sardinia in ce 62, where he lived in comfort and died.

Article

Anicius Faustus, Quintus  

Anthony R. Birley

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Roman History and Historiography
Anicius Faustus, Quintus, from Uzappa near Mactar in Africa, as legate of Legio III Augusta from 197–201 was responsible for extending the network of forts in southern Numidia and Tripolitania, from Castellum Dimmidi to Gholaia (Bu-Ngem). Consul in 199, he later governed Upper Moesia, and was proconsul of Asia under *Macrinus.

Article

Annaeus Mela, Lucius  

E. Phillips Barker and M. T. Griffin

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Roman History and Historiography
, youngest son of the elder Seneca (L. *Annaeus Seneca (1)) and father of Lucan M. *Annaeus Lucanus, was an imperial procurator of equestrian status. Claiming Lucan's property after his death in the Pisonian conspiracy of ce 65 (see calpurnius piso (2), c.), he was himself implicated and committed suicide (Tac. Ann.

Article

Annaeus Novatus  

Arnaldo Momigliano and M. T. Griffin

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Roman History and Historiography
Annaeus Novatus, brother of the philosopher L. *Annaeus Seneca (2), was adopted (between 41 and 52) by the orator and senator L. Junius Gallio, by which name he was then known. As proconsul of Achaia c.52 ce (Syll.3 801) he refused to consider the case put by the Jews against St *Paul (Acts 18: 12).

Article

annals and annalists  

Tim Cornell

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Latin Literature
  2. Roman History and Historiography
The Latin word annales (‘yearbooks’, ‘annals’) became the standard term for historical records in a general sense, and was frequently used by historians as a title for their works, probably in imitation of the *annales maximi. The first Latin writer to call his work ‘Annals’ was *Ennius, which proves that already in his time the term could be applied to any kind of historical work, even if, like Ennius' poem, it was not in the form of a year-by-year chronicle. Whether the earliest Roman historians, who wrote in Greek, adopted a year-by-year arrangement is disputed; the fact that later writers refer to (e.g.) Q. *Fabius Pictor's history as ‘Greek annals’ (Graeci annales: Cic. Div. 1. 43) is hardly decisive. Pliny (HN 8. 11) even calls the work of *Cato (Censorius)annales, even though Cato did not use the chronicle form, ridiculed the annales maximi (4.

Article

Annia Aurelia Galeria Lucilla  

Anthony R. Birley

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Roman History and Historiography
Annia Aurelia Galeria Lucilla, daughter of M. *Aurelius and *Annia Galeria Faustina (2), was born on 7 March 150 ce and betrothed in 161 to L. *Verus, whom she married at Ephesus in 164, becoming Augusta. Widowed early in 169, she was obliged by her father to marry Ti.

Article

Annia Galeria Faustina (1), aunt of Marcus Aurelius, d. 140 CE  

Anthony R. Birley

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Roman History and Historiography
Annia Galeria Faustina (1), daughter of M. *Annius Verus (3rd consulship 126 ce) and Rupilia Faustina, aunt of Marcus *Aurelius, was married to the future Emperor *Antoninus Pius and bore him two sons and two daughters, one of whom, the *younger Faustina, became wife of Marcus. Faustina became Augusta after Antoninus' accession in 138 and was deified on her death in 140.