Aulus Hostilius Mancinus
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Aulus Hostilius Mancinus was consul of the
Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( ) was the era of Ancient Rome, classical Roman civilisation beginning with Overthrow of the Roman monarchy, the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with the establis ...
, together with Aulus Atilius Serranus, in 170 BC. He had been an urban
praetor ''Praetor'' ( , ), also ''pretor'', was the title granted by the government of ancient Rome to a man acting in one of two official capacities: (i) the commander of an army, and (ii) as an elected ''magistratus'' (magistrate), assigned to disch ...
in 180 BC. When he was consul he was given the command of the
Third Macedonian War The Third Macedonian War (171–168 BC) was a war fought between the Roman Republic and King Perseus of Macedon. In 179 BC, King Philip V of Macedon died and was succeeded by his ambitious son Perseus. He was anti-Roman and stirred anti-Roman fe ...
(171-168 BC) for that year. The ancient Historian
Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding i ...
did not write much about his campaign, which he thought was quite uneventful. He went to
Epirus Epirus () is a Region#Geographical regions, geographical and historical region, historical region in southeastern Europe, now shared between Greece and Albania. It lies between the Pindus Mountains and the Ionian Sea, stretching from the Bay ...
on the western coast of Greece to march to
Thessaly Thessaly ( ; ; ancient Aeolic Greek#Thessalian, Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic regions of Greece, geographic and modern administrative regions of Greece, administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient Thessaly, a ...
, where the Roman troops were stationed. Epirus had just switched sides, going over to
Perseus In Greek mythology, Perseus (, ; Greek language, Greek: Περσεύς, Romanization of Greek, translit. Perseús) is the legendary founder of the Perseid dynasty. He was, alongside Cadmus and Bellerophon, the greatest Greek hero and slayer of ...
, the king of
Macedon Macedonia ( ; , ), also called Macedon ( ), was an ancient kingdom on the periphery of Archaic and Classical Greece, which later became the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. The kingdom was founded and initially ruled by the royal ...
. Perseus was told about his presence there. However, he was delayed. If he had attacked at the passage of the river Lous there would have been no escape for the Romans. Aulus Hostilius was informed about these developments and changed his route. He left Epirus and sailed to Anticyra (on the north coast of the
Gulf of Corinth The Gulf of Corinth or the Corinthian Gulf (, ) is a deep inlet of the Ionian Sea, separating the Peloponnese from western mainland Greece. It is bounded in the east by the Isthmus of Corinth which includes the shipping-designed Corinth Canal and ...
in
Boeotia Boeotia ( ), sometimes Latinisation of names, Latinized as Boiotia or Beotia (; modern Greek, modern: ; ancient Greek, ancient: ), is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the modern regions of Greece, region of Central Greece (adm ...
) and marched to
Thessaly Thessaly ( ; ; ancient Aeolic Greek#Thessalian, Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic regions of Greece, geographic and modern administrative regions of Greece, administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient Thessaly, a ...
. He was not very successful, being defeated in battle. Then he gave up his attempts first to force his way through Elimea, and then to secretly march through Thessaly and reach Macedon because Perseus anticipated all his moves. He might have been the Hostilius who proposed the Lex Hostilia, which allowed prisoners of war or those who were absent on public business, and therefore could not attend a trial, and those who were under their guardianship to be represented in court. Previously one could bring a suit on behalf of another only when acting as a guardian.


The Manilia Case

In an account by
Aulus Gellius Aulus Gellius (c. 125after 180 AD) was a Roman author and grammarian, who was probably born and certainly brought up in Rome. He was educated in Athens, after which he returned to Rome. He is famous for his ''Attic Nights'', a commonplace book, ...
in ''Attic Nights'', Aulus Hostilius Mancinus who at the time held the position of
curule aedile Aedile ( , , from , "temple edifice") was an elected office of the Roman Republic. Based in Rome, the aediles were responsible for maintenance of public buildings () and regulation of public festivals. They also had powers to enforce public orde ...
attempted a forced entry into the brothel while he was engaging in revelry. Mancinus was then pelted with stones by the prostitute Manilia. Mancinus being injured from the stones brought his case to the
tribunes Tribune () was the title of various elected officials in ancient Rome. The two most important were the tribunes of the plebs and the military tribunes. For most of Roman history, a college of ten tribunes of the plebs acted as a check on the ...
, but was appealed as it "would not have been to her (Manilia's) advantage to admit him". This being a reference to Manilia's fear that Mancinus would destroy her property, subject her to
rape Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person ...
or another form of physical assault, and/or murder her. Thomas A.J. McGinn, The Economy of Prostitution in the Roman World: A Study of Social History & the Brothel, pp. 88.


See also

* Hostilia gens * Lupanar


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hostilius Mancinus, Aulus 2nd-century BC Roman consuls Mancinus, Aulus