Spurius Ligustinus was a Roman of Sabine origin soldier and

centurion In the Roman army during classical antiquity, a centurion (; , . ; , or ), was a commander, nominally of a century (), a military unit originally consisting of 100 legionaries. The size of the century changed over time; from the 1st century BC ...

in the

Roman army The Roman army () served ancient Rome and the Roman people, enduring through the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC), the Roman Republic (509–27 BC), and the Roman Empire (27 BC–AD 1453), including the Western Roman Empire (collapsed Fall of the W ...

during the 2nd century BC.

Life

Spurius Ligustinus was a

Sabine The Sabines (, , , ; ) were an Italic people who lived in the central Apennine Mountains (see Sabina) of the ancient Italian Peninsula, also inhabiting Latium north of the Anio before the founding of Rome. The Sabines divided int ...

man whose father left him a

jugerum The jugerum or juger (, ', ', or ') was a Roman unit of area, equivalent to a rectangle 240 Roman feet in length and 120 feet in width (about 71×35½m), i.e. 28,800 square Roman feet () or about hectare (0.623 acre). Name It was the do ...

of land and the small cottage in which Spurius was born, grew up, and continued to live throughout his life. As soon as he came of age, he married one of his cousins. Although she had no dowry and they began their life together moderately poor, they soon built themselves up into being reasonably wealthy. He also had eight children, six sons and two daughters, who would gain social rank. During the consulship of

Publius Sulpicius Galba Maximus Publius Sulpicius Galba Maximus (fl. late 3rd to early 2nd century BC) was a Roman military officer and Senator who was elected Roman consul twice, and appointed dictator once. He fought in the Second Punic War and the First and Second Macedonian ...

and Gaius Aurelius (200 BC), Sp. Ligustinus joined the Roman army. In his first two years of being a soldier, he participated in the

Macedonian Campaign The Macedonian front, also known as the Salonica front (after Thessaloniki), was a military theatre of World War I formed as a result of an attempt by the Allied Powers to aid Serbia, in the autumn of 1915, against the combined attack of Germa ...

against King

Philip V of Macedon Philip V (; 238–179 BC) was king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon from 221 to 179 BC. Philip's reign was principally marked by the Social War (220–217 BC), Social War in Greece (220-217 BC) ...

. In his third year of service,

Titus Quinctius Flamininus Titus Quinctius Flamininus (229 – 174 BC) was a Roman politician and general instrumental in the Roman conquest of Greece. Family background Flamininus belonged to the minor patrician ''gens'' Quinctia. The family had a glorious place in ...

promoted Sp. Ligustinus to centurion of the 10th maniple of hastati because of his bravery. After the Macedonians were defeated and he had returned home as his unit was demobilized, he promptly went to Hispania as a volunteer under the consulship of

Marcus Porcius Cato Marcus Porcius Cato can refer to: *Cato the Elder (consul 195 BC; called "Censorinus"), politician renowned for austerity and author * Cato the Younger (praetor 54 BC; called " Uticensis"), opponent of Caesar *Marcus Porcius Cato (consul ...

(195 BC). During the campaign, he was promoted again to centurion of the 1st century of hastati, again for bravery. Sp. Ligustinus volunteered to fight, this time against the Aetolians led by King

Antiochus III the Great Antiochus III the Great (; , ; 3 July 187 BC) was the sixth ruler of the Seleucid Empire, reigning from 223 to 187 BC. He ruled over the region of Syria and large parts of the rest of West Asia towards the end of the 3rd century BC. Rising to th ...

, under the consulship of Manius Acilius Glabrio (191 BC). Sp. Ligustinus was promoted to centurion of the 1st century of principes. After they had driven out King Antiochus in the

Battle of Thermopylae The Battle of Thermopylae ( ) was fought in 480 BC between the Achaemenid Empire, Achaemenid Persian Empire under Xerxes I and an alliance of Polis, Greek city-states led by Sparta under Leonidas I. Lasting over the course of three days, it wa ...

, he returned to Italy. Soon after, he fought in two campaigns in which he served for a year. Thereafter, he served an additional two campaigns in Hispania, one under Quintus Fulvius Flaccus who was acting as Praetor (182 BC - 181 BC), the other under Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus (180 BC). Quintus Fulvius Flaccus requested he go to Rome with a few other officers for his triumph because of their bravery. He was soon asked to go back to Spain by Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus, and four times during the three years in Spain he was made first centurion of the 1st century of the triarii. After serving twenty two years in the army, he petitioned the consulate for a further promotion. Sp. Ligustinus ended his speech to the consulate: After his speech, the consulate was moved by his words, and took him to the senate, where he was again thanked. Spurius Ligustinus received the promotion of Primus Pilus (First Centurion) of the First Legion. There is no other mention of him in Livy or other Roman writings, yet he had an excellent career in the army, and was a hero of his time.

Awards

Spurius Ligustinus was awarded the following for his acts of bravery and demonstrations of exemplary leadership: * 34 times for great/courageous acts * 6 Civic Crowns * Took part in a Triumph * Primus Pilus of the First Legion

Wars

Spurius Ligustinus fought in the following wars: *

Second Macedonian War The Second Macedonian War (200–197 BC) was fought between Macedon, led by Philip V of Macedon, and Rome, allied with Pergamon and Rhodes. Philip was defeated and was forced to abandon all possessions in southern Greece, Thrace and Asia Minor. ...

Hispania Citerior Hispania Citerior (English: "Hither Iberia", or "Nearer Iberia") was a Roman province in Hispania during the Roman Republic. It was on the eastern coast of Iberia down to the town of Cartago Nova, today's Cartagena in the autonomous community of ...

Campaign *

Aetolian War Aetolia () is a mountainous region of Greece on the north coast of the Gulf of Corinth, forming the eastern part of the modern regional units of Greece, regional unit of Aetolia-Acarnania. Geography The Achelous River separates Aetolia from Aca ...

First Celtiberian War The First Celtiberian War (181–179 BC) was the first of three major rebellions by the Celtiberians against the Roman presence in Hispania. The other two were the Celtiberian Wars, Second Celtiberian War (154–151 BC) and the Numantine War (14 ...

Lusitanian War The Lusitanian Wars, called ''Pyrinos Polemos'' ("the Fiery War") in Greek, were wars of resistance fought by the Lusitanian tribes of Hispania Ulterior against the advancing legions of the Roman Republic from 155 to 139 BC. The Lusitanians re ...

Numantine War The Numantine WarThe term Numantine War can refer to the whole conflict lasting from 154 to 133 or to just the latter part, from 143 to 133. Thus, the two conflicts are sometimes called the Numantine Wars (plural) and subdivided into the First a ...

/Second Celtiberian War

References

# Livy, ''Book 42 Paragraph 34'' # Taylor, Michael. 2020. "A Census Record as a Source in Livy? The Life and Career of Spurius Ligustinus." Mnemosyne 73, 261-278. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26989131

External links

* Livy Book 4

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ligustinus, Spurius Roman Republican soldiers Year of death unknown Year of birth unknown