Marcus Junius Pera (

fl. ''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...

230216 BC) was a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

politician before and during the

Second Punic War The Second Punic War (218 to 201 BC) was the second of Punic Wars, three wars fought between Ancient Carthage, Carthage and Roman Republic, Rome, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean Basin, Mediterranean in the 3rd century BC. For ...

Career

Pera served as one of the

consuls A consul is an official representative of a government who resides in a foreign country to assist and protect citizens of the consul's country, and to promote and facilitate commercial and diplomatic relations between the two countries. A consu ...

for the year 230 BC; during his consulship, he – along with his colleague Marcus Aemilius Barbula – campaigned against local tribes in

Liguria Liguria (; ; , ) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is roughly coextensive with ...

. He also was elected censor for 225 BC with Gaius Claudius Centho as his colleague. They conducted a census of the Roman population: Livy reports the number of citizens as 270,213.

Dictatorship

During

Hannibal Hannibal (; ; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Punic people, Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Ancient Carthage, Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Punic War. Hannibal's fat ...

's invasion of Italy during the

, the Carthaginian general all but wiped out an 85,000-strong Roman army at the

Battle of Cannae The Battle of Cannae (; ) was a key engagement of the Second Punic War between the Roman Republic and Ancient Carthage, Carthage, fought on 2 August 216 BC near the ancient village of Cannae in Apulia, southeast Italy. The Carthaginians and ...

in 216 BC. In doing so, one consul, Lucius Aemilius Paullus, was killed. The other consul,

Gaius Terentius Varro Gaius Terentius Varro ( 218-200 BCE) was a Ancient Rome, Roman politician and general active during the Second Punic War. A plebs, plebeian son of a butcher, he was a populist politician who was elected Roman consul, consul for the year 216 BCE. ...

, escaped to Venusia and collected his shattered army to Canusium. After news of the disaster, Pera was appointed as dictator with Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus as his ''

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 n ...

''. He immediately instituted a levy to replace the men killed at Cannae. A levy was ordered, conscripting underage boys to fill up four legions and even buying and arming 8,000 slave volunteers with public funds. By doing so, he had created a citizen army of four legions, reinforced by the slave-force and contributions from remaining allies. He also cancelled the debts of all men who enlisted in the armies or had been convicted of a capital offence. He fought no pitched battle against Hannibal during his time in command; he relieved Casilinum and left his ''magister equitum'' there while he returned to Rome to repeat the auspices. Zonaras reports Pera as being wrong-footed by Hannibal as he was shadowing his camp. After ordering his men to copy the schedules of the Carthaginians – and thus not be taken by surprise – Pera was attacked by a detachment of Hannibal's army. When his troops had repulsed the offensive and retired, assuming the Carthaginians would now rest, he was surprised by a second attack from the bulk of the Carthaginian force that Hannibal had kept in reserve.Zonaras, 9.3. His dictatorship is also notable for the concurrent appointment of

Marcus Fabius Buteo Marcus Fabius Buteo (died around 210-209 BC) was a Roman politician during the 3rd century BC. He served as consul in 245 BC, and as censor, and in 216 BC, being the oldest living ex-censor, he was appointed dictator, ''legendo senatui'', for th ...

. It marked the only occasion in Roman history where two dictators were in office at the same time. With Pera away on campaign, Buteo was selected to appoint new men to the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

after its ranks had been diminished greatly at Cannae. According to Livy, Buteo was uncomfortable with the unprecedented dual-dictatorship and resigned promptly on completing his task.

References

Sources * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Junius Pera, Marcus Ancient Roman dictators 3rd-century BC Roman consuls Ancient Roman censors Pera, Marcus

Career

Dictatorship

See also

References