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Aulus Cornelius Cossus Arvina
Aulus Cornelius Cossus Arvina was a Roman statesman and general who served as both consul and Magister Equitum twice, and Dictator in 322 BC.William Smith, "Arvina 1", No. 1, in ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', vol. I, p. 378. Family Cossus was a member of the patrician gens Cornelia. The Cornelii were one of the most important families of the Roman Republic, first attaining the consulship in 485 BC, and remaining prominent throughout the next four hundred years, producing figures such as Scipio Africanus and Sulla. Cossus was the son of Publius and grandson of Aulus,Broughton, vol. I, p. 125. and was a descendant of the Aulus Cornelius Cossus who as consul in 428 BC slew Lars Tolumnius, the King of Veii, to obtain the ''spolia opima''. Publius Cornelius Arvina, consul in 306 and 288 BC, was probably his son. Career Magister equitum Cossus first appears in history in 353 BC as magister equitum serving under the dictator Titus Manlius Torquatus.Livy, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Magister Equitum
The , in English Master of the Horse or Master of the Cavalry, was a Roman magistrate appointed as lieutenant to a dictator. His nominal function was to serve as commander of the Roman cavalry in time of war, but just as a dictator could be nominated to respond to other crises, so the ''magister equitum'' could operate independently of the cavalry; like the dictator, the appointment of a ''magister equitum'' served both military and political purposes.''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities'', pp. 404–408 ("Dictator"). Origin In the time of the Roman Kingdom, the king himself would lead the cavalry into battle, or else delegate this authority to his chief advisor, the Tribune of the Celeres, the cavalry unit that also served as the king's personal bodyguard. The last person to hold this position was Lucius Junius Brutus, nephew of Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, the seventh and final King of Rome. After the rape of Lucretia, it was Brutus who, in his capacity as Tribu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Falisci
The Falisci were an Italic peoples, Italic tribe who lived in what is now northern Lazio, on the Etruscan side of the Tiber River. They spoke an Italic languages, Italic language, Faliscan language, Faliscan, closely related to Latin. Originally a sovereign state, politically and socially they supported the Etruscan civilization, Etruscans, joining the Etruscan League. This conviction and affiliation led to their ultimate near destruction and total subjugation by Rome. Only one instance of their own endonym has been found to date: an inscription from Falerii Novi from the late 2nd century AD refers to the ', "the Faliscans who are in Sardinia", where ' is the nominative plural case. An Etruscan inscription calls them the '. The Latin cannot be far different from the original name. The -sc- suffix is "distinctive of the Italic ethnonyms". Geography The Falisci resided in a region called by the Romans the ', "Faliscan Country", located on the right bank of the Tiber River betwe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Interrex
The interrex (plural interreges) was an extraordinary magistrate during the Roman Kingdom and Republic. Initially, the interrex was appointed after the death of the king of Rome until the election of his successor, hence its name—a ruler "between kings" (). The position was retained during the Republic when both consuls were unable to assume their duties, especially holding elections. Interreges ruled for only five days, which often led several of them to be appointed in succession, the record being 15 interreges in 326 BC. They were exclusively chosen from among patrician senators, and during the Conflict of the Orders, their appointment was sometimes designed to hinder plebeians from reaching power or passing laws. As with the dictatorship, interreges are mostly found until the time of the Second Punic War. The position was only resurrected by Sulla in 82 BC so he could become dictator, and between 55 and 52 BC, when Pompey disturbed the constitution for his own benefit. Hist ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gnaeus Domitius Calvinus (consul 332 BC)
Gnaeus Domitius Calvinus was a Roman general, senator and consul (both in 53 BC and 40 BC) who was a loyal partisan of Caesar and Octavianus. Biography Domitius Calvinus came from a noble family and was elected consul for 53 BC, despite a notorious electoral scandal. He was on Caesar's side during the Civil War with Pompey. During the campaign in Greece, Caesar sent Domitius with two legions to intercept Metellus Scipio who was bringing the Syrian legions to Pompey. At the decisive Battle of Pharsalus he commanded the centre of Caesar's army. After the battle he became governor of Asia. He tried to oppose the invasion of Pharnaces, the king of Bosphorus, who had taken the occasion of the Roman civil war to invade the province of Pontus; however, he suffered a crushing defeat at the Battle of Nicopolis in Armenia (December of 48 BC). Direct intervention by Caesar brought a quick end to the conflict, and Pharnaces' army was annihilated at Zela in 47 BC. Despite this failure, he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roman Triumph
The Roman triumph (') was a civil ceremony and religious rite of ancient Rome, held to publicly celebrate and sanctify the success of a military commander who had led Roman forces to victory in the service of the state or, in some historical traditions, one who had successfully completed a foreign war. On the day of his triumph, the general wore a crown of laurel and an all-purple, gold-embroidered triumphal '' toga picta'' ("painted" toga), regalia that identified him as near-divine or near-kingly. In some accounts, his face was painted red, perhaps in imitation of Rome's highest and most powerful god, Jupiter. The general rode in a four-horse chariot through the streets of Rome in unarmed procession with his army, captives, and the spoils of his war. At Jupiter's temple on the Capitoline Hill, he offered sacrifice and the tokens of his victory to Jupiter. In Republican tradition, only the Senate could grant a triumph. The origins and development of this honour are obscur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Publius Decius Mus (consul 340 BC)
Publius Decius Mus, son of Quintus, of the plebeian gens Decia, was a Roman consul in 340 BC. He is noted particularly for sacrificing himself in battle through the ritual of ''devotio'', as recorded by the Augustan historian Livy. Career Decius Mus first enters history in 352 BC as an appointed official, one of the '' quinqueviri mensarii,'' public bankers charged with relieving citizen debts to some extent. He served with distinction in the First Samnite War under Aulus Cornelius Cossus Arvina. In 343 BC, Cossus, leading his army through the mountain fastnesses of Samnium, became trapped in a valley by the Samnites. Decius, taking 1,600 men, seized a strong point through which the Samnites were obliged to pass, and held it against them until nightfall; breaking through their lines, he re-joined the main body of the army, which had gained the summit of the mountain and relative safety. The army then swept into the Samnites, gaining a complete victory and the spoils of the en ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Samnites
The Samnites () were an ancient Italic peoples, Italic people who lived in Samnium, which is located in modern inland Abruzzo, Molise, and Campania in south-central Italy. An Oscan language, Oscan-speaking Osci, people, who originated as an offshoot of the Sabines, they formed a confederation consisting of four tribes: the Hirpini, Caudini, Caraceni (tribe), Caraceni, and Pentri. Ancient Greek historians considered the Umbri as the ancestors of the Samnites. Their migration was in a southward direction, according to the rite of ver sacrum. Although allied together against the Gauls in 354 BC, they later became enemies of the Roman Republic, Romans and fought them in a series of Samnite Wars, three wars. Despite an overwhelming victory at the Battle of the Caudine Forks (321 BC), the Samnites were subjugated in 290 BC. Although severely weakened, the Samnites would still side against the Romans, first in the Pyrrhic War and then with Hannibal in the Second Punic War. They also foug ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roman Senate
The Roman Senate () was the highest and constituting assembly of ancient Rome and its aristocracy. With different powers throughout its existence it lasted from the first days of the city of Rome (traditionally founded in 753 BC) as the Senate of the Roman Kingdom, to the Senate of the Roman Republic and Senate of the Roman Empire and eventually the Byzantine Senate of the Eastern Roman Empire, existing well into the post-classical era and Middle Ages. During the days of the Roman Kingdom, the Senate was generally little more than an advisory council to the king. However, as Rome was an electoral monarchy, the Senate also elected new Roman kings. The last king of Rome, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, was overthrown following a coup d'état led by Lucius Junius Brutus, who founded the Roman Republic. During the early Republic, the Senate was politically weak, while the various executive Roman magistrates who appointed the senators for life (or until expulsion by Roma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Capua
Capua ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Caserta, in the region of Campania, southern Italy, located on the northeastern edge of the Campanian plain. History Ancient era The name of Capua comes from the Etruscan ''Capeva''. The meaning of the name is 'City of Marshes'. Its foundation is attributed by Cato the Elder to the Etruscans, and the date is given as about 260 years before it was "taken" by Rome. That, if true, refers not to its capture in the Second Punic War (211 BC), but to its submission to Rome in 338 BC. That places the date of foundation at about 600 BC, while Etruscan power was at its highest. In the area, several settlements of the Villanovian civilization were present in prehistoric times. These were probably enlarged by the Oscans, and subsequently by the Etruscans. Etruscan supremacy in Campania came to an end with the Samnites' invasion in the latter half of the 5th century BC. In about 424 BC, Capua was captured by the Samnites, and i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
First Samnite War
The First, Second, and Third Samnite Wars (343–341 BC, 326–304 BC, and 298–290 BC) were fought between the Roman Republic and the Samnites, who lived on a stretch of the Apennine Mountains south of Rome and north of the Lucanian tribe. * The first of these wars was the result of Rome's intervention to rescue the Campanian city of Capua from a Samnite attack. * The second one was the result of Rome's intervention in the politics of the city of Naples and developed into a contest over the control of central and southern Italy. * Similarly the third war also involved a struggle for control of this part of Italy. The wars extended over half a century, and also drew in the peoples to the east, north, and west of Samnium (land of the Samnites) as well as those of central Italy north of Rome (the Etruscans, Umbri, and Picentes) and the Senone Gauls, but at different times and levels of involvement. Background By the time of the First Samnite War (343 BC), the southward ex ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gauls
The Gauls (; , ''Galátai'') were a group of Celts, Celtic peoples of mainland Europe in the Iron Age Europe, Iron Age and the Roman Gaul, Roman period (roughly 5th century BC to 5th century AD). Their homeland was known as Gaul (''Gallia''). They spoke Gaulish, a continental Celtic language. The Gauls emerged around the 5th century BC as bearers of La Tène culture north and west of the Alps. By the 4th century BC, they were spread over much of what is now France, Belgium, Switzerland, Southern Germany, Austria, and the Czech Republic, by virtue of controlling the trade routes along the river systems of the Rhône, Seine, Rhine, and Danube. They reached the peak of their power in the 3rd century BC. During the 4th and 3rd centuries BC, the Gauls expanded into Northern Italy (Cisalpine Gaul), leading to the Roman–Gallic wars, and Gallic invasion of the Balkans, into the Balkans, leading to Battle of Thermopylae (279 BC), war with the Greeks. These latter Gauls eventually settle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Military Tribune
A military tribune () was an officer of the Roman army who ranked below the legate and above the centurion. Young men of Equestrian rank often served as military tribunes as a stepping stone to the Senate. The should not be confused with the elected political office of tribune of the people () nor with that of . Early Rome The word ''tribunus'' derives from '' tribus'', "tribe". In Rome's earliest history, each of the three tribes (Ramnes, Luceres, and Tities) sent one commander when an army was mustered, since there was no standing army. The tribunes were commanders of the original legion of 3,000. By the time of the Greek historian Polybius (d. 118 BC), the tribunes numbered six, and they were appointed by the consuls. However, the process by which tribunes were chosen and assigned is complex and varies at different times. Republican period In the Republican period, there were six appointed to each legion. Authority was given to two at a time, and command rotated amo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
