Publius Licinius Nerva was a Roman politician during the Late

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 ...

. As a

propraetor In ancient Rome, a promagistrate () was a person who was granted the power via '' prorogation'' to act in place of an ordinary magistrate in the field. This was normally ''pro consule'' or ''pro praetore'', that is, in place of a consul or praet ...

he was assigned as Governor of Sicily in 104 BC at the outbreak of the Second Servile War. In the midst of the

Cimbrian War The Cimbrian or Cimbric War (113–101 BC) was fought between the Roman Republic and the Germanic peoples, Germanic and Celts, Celtic tribes of the Cimbri and the Teutons, Ambrones and Tigurini, who migrated from the Jutland peninsula into Roma ...

, Italian allies of Rome, upon the mustering of troops, protested ''publicani'' tax farmers selling their citizens into slavery as punishment for tax arrears. As these abuses interfered with Roman ability to speedily raise troops, the Senate decreed that any citizen of an ally would be immediately emancipated. The Senate assigned Nerva to establish a tribunal in Sicily to determine who qualified for release. A coalition of slaveholders in Sicily confronted the praetor and, with bribes and threats, shut the tribunal down. Due to the mounting pressure from the slaveholders and the slaves themselves, Nerva feared violent outbreaks from the side who came off worse in the confrontation and refused to listen to any more of the slaves' complaints. Claiming that they would not face repercussions for their actions, Nerva told the slaves to disperse and return to their masters. However, the slaves instead decided amongst themselves to start a revolt. Nerva tried to put down the revolt, but failed to react with decision; by false promises he was able to return one body of the rebels to slavery, but neglected to address more serious outbreaks near Heraclea and near

Lilybaeum Marsala (, ; ) is an Italian comune located in the Province of Trapani in the westernmost part of Sicily. Marsala is the most populated town in its province and the fifth largest in Sicily.The town is famous for the docking of Giuseppe Garibald ...

. Eventually, Nerva dispatched a detachment of 600 soldiers to Heraclea but they were defeated, the slaves now gained confidence, having won a large supply of armaments. Nerva was replaced at the end of his term by Lucius Licinius Lucullus.Diodorus Siculus, ''Bibliotheca Historica'', 36,8; A. H. Beesely, ''The Gracchi, Marius, and Sulla Epochs of Ancient History'', VI, p. 57

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Licinius Nerva, Publius Roman governors of Sicily Nerva, Publius Roman Republican praetors 1st-century BC Romans