Lucius Hortensius was a statesman of the Hortensia gens of

ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

who lived in the 2nd century BCE. Hortensius held several magistracies in the ''

Cursus honorum The , or more colloquially 'ladder of offices'; ) was the sequential order of public offices held by aspiring politicians in the Roman Republic and the early Roman Empire. It was designed for men of senatorial rank. The comprised a mixture of ...

'', and was appointed

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 171 BCE, succeeded

Gaius Lucretius Gallus Gaius Lucretius Gallus was general of ancient Rome who served in the Third Macedonian War during the 2nd century BCE. Military career He was appointed '' duumvir navalis'', with Gaius Matienus, by the Roman senate in 181 BCE, in order to equip a ...

in the command of the fleet in 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 ...

against

Perseus of Macedon Perseus (; – 166 BC) was king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon from 179 until 168BC. He is widely regarded as the last List of kings of Macedonia, king of Macedonia and the last ruler from th ...

, and pursued a similar course of oppression as his predecessor. After Perseus launched a successful raid on the town of

Oreus Oreus or Oreos (), prior to the 5th century BC called Histiaea or Histiaia (Ἱστίαια), also Hestiaea or Hestiaia (Ἑστίαια), was a town near the north coast of ancient Euboea, situated upon the river Callas, at the foot of M ...

, which destroyed a substantial amount of the fleet's grain stores, Hortensius anchored his fleet at the city of

Abdera, Thrace Abdera () is a municipality in the Xanthi regional unit of Thrace, Greece. In classical antiquity, it was a major Greek ''polis'' on the Thracian coast. The ancient polis is to be distinguished from the municipality, which was named in its hono ...

, an ally of Rome, and demanded supplies: 100,000 ''

denarii The ''denarius'' (; : ''dēnāriī'', ) was the standard Roman silver coin from its introduction in the Second Punic War to the reign of Gordian III (AD 238–244), when it was gradually replaced by the ''antoninianus''. It continued to be mi ...

'' and 50,000 '' modii'' of wheat; and when the inhabitants sent to entreat the protection of the

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states thro ...

Aulus Hostilius Mancinus Aulus Hostilius Mancinus was consul of the Roman Republic, together with Aulus Atilius Serranus, in 170 BC. He had been an urban praetor in 180 BC. When he was consul he was given the command of the Third Macedonian War (171-168 BC) for that year. ...

and of the

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 Sena ...

, Hortensius was so enraged that he stormed and pillaged the city, beheaded its leading men, and sold the rest into

slavery Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

. This had a disastrous effect, as many neighboring towns such as

Emathia Emathia may refer to: * Emathia (Macedonia), an ancient region in northern Greece * Imathia, modern Greek administrative unit * Emathia (Thrace), a town of ancient Thrace * Emathia (Albania), a region near river Mati * Emathia (cicada) ''Ema ...

Amphipolis Amphipolis (; ) was an important ancient Greek polis (city), and later a Roman city, whose large remains can still be seen. It gave its name to the modern municipality of Amphipoli, in the Serres regional unit of northern Greece. Amphipol ...

, Maronea, Aenus -- Rome's allies in theory -- promptly closed their harbors to Roman ships. The senate contented themselves with voting Hortensius's actions to be unjust, and commanding that all who had been sold should be set free. Hortensius continued his outrages, and was again reprimanded by the senate for his treatment of the

Chalcis Chalcis (; Ancient Greek and Katharevousa: , ), also called Chalkida or Halkida (Modern Greek: , ), is the chief city of the island of Euboea or Evia in Greece, situated on the Euripus Strait at its narrowest point. The name is preserved from ...

, another ally, where he had looted the temples, and was egregiously

billet In European militaries, a billet is a living-quarters to which a soldier is assigned to sleep. In American usage, it refers to a specific personnel position, assignment, or duty station to which a soldier can be assigned. Historically, a billet w ...

ing his troops in the homes of the populace. These acts were protested by the Chalcidean leader

Mictio Mictio () was a leader at Chalcis, in Euboea, in the 2nd-century BCE. He was attached to the Roman partisans in that city, and opposed to the Aetolian party in that island during the Roman–Seleucid war, fought between the Roman Republic and Anti ...

in the senate, who pointed out that as an ally whose city had opened its doors to Rome, Chalcis had been treated far worse than the other "allies" who barred Romans from entering. We do not know if Hortensius suffered any actual punishment or recall for this, or simply a further verbal reprimand.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hortensius, Lucius Year of birth unknown Year of death uncertain Hortensii 2nd-century BC Romans 2nd-century BC Roman praetors Roman Republican admirals