Quintus Baebius Tamphilus (''

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 ...

'' late-3rd century BC) was a

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 ...

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 ...

who participated in negotiations with

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 ...

attempting to forestall 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 ...

. Little is known of Baebius's life and political career, but it is likely that he held the praetorship before 218 BC. When Hannibal besieged Saguntum (now

Sagunto Sagunto () is a municipality of Spain, located in the province of Valencia, Valencian Community. It belongs to the modern fertile ''comarca'' of Camp de Morvedre. It is located approximately north of the city of Valencia, close to the Costa ...

), an ally of Rome, the Saguntines petitioned for assistance, and in response 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 ...

sent Baebius and

Publius Valerius Flaccus Publius may refer to: Roman name * Publius (praenomen) * Ancient Romans with the name: ** Publius Valerius Publicola (died 503 BC), Roman consul, co-founder of the Republic **Publius Clodius Pulcher (c. 93 BC – 52 BC), Republican politician * ...

as envoys to

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, with instructions to demand that Hannibal leave Saguntum alone. They were then to proceed to

Carthage Carthage was an ancient city in Northern Africa, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classic ...

to ask for his surrender as punishment for breaking the treaty that had been concluded at the end of the

First Punic War The First Punic War (264–241 BC) was the first of three wars fought between Rome and Carthage, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean in the early 3rd century BC. For 23 years, in the longest continuous conflict and grea ...

. Turned back in Spain, the delegation got a hearing in the Carthaginian senate, but the Carthaginians supported Hannibal. T.R.S. Broughton points out that the dating of the embassy is vexed. The Augustan-era 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 ...

(21.6.3) seems to indicate that Valerius and Baebius were dispatched by the consuls of 218. Saguntum fell before the winter of 219–218, and since the envoys were supposed to have arrived before Hannibal's attack, the latest possible date is early 219. Dating based on

Polybius Polybius (; , ; ) was a Greek historian of the middle Hellenistic period. He is noted for his work , a universal history documenting the rise of Rome in the Mediterranean in the third and second centuries BC. It covered the period of 264–146 ...

points to a different story. "Probably deliberately," notes Dexter Hoyos, "Roman historical tradition afterwards distorted the facts about this embassy. … This story gathered increasingly implausible features as it went on." In 218, Baebius was part of a delegation sent to Carthage with an ultimatum in expectation of declaring war. Livy notes that the five diplomatic legates were elder statesmen; they were all of

consular 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 ...

rank except for the praetorian Baebius. The ambassadors then visited Spain and

Gaul Gaul () was a region of Western Europe first clearly described by the Roman people, Romans, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Northern Italy. It covered an area of . Ac ...

to recruit allies, with mixed results. Rome's failure to act more speedily on the diplomatic front allowed the war to expand into Gaul and Italy from Spain.

H.H. Scullard Howard Hayes Scullard (9 February 1903 – 31 March 1983) was a British historian specialising in ancient history, notable for editing the ''Oxford Classical Dictionary'' and for his many published works. Life and career Scullard's father w ...

, "The Carthaginians in Spain," in ''Cambridge Ancient History: Rome and the Mediterranean to 133 B.C.'' (Cambridge University Press, 1989, reprinted 2003), 2nd ed., vol. 8, p. 3
online.
/ref> Quintus Baebius's sons Gnaeus and Marcus were

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 ...

in an unusual instance of brothers holding the office successively (in 182 and 181 BC). The eldest son was probably the

plebeian tribune Tribune of the plebs, tribune of the people or plebeian tribune () was the first office of the Roman state that was open to the plebeians, and was, throughout the history of the Republic, the most important check on the power of the Roman Senate ...

Quintus Baebius who opposed going to war with

Philip V of Macedon Philip V (; 238–179 BC) was king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon from 221 to 179 BC. Philip's reign was principally marked by the Social War (220–217 BC), Social War in Greece (220-217 BC) ...

in 200 BC.

References

Unless otherwise noted, dates, offices, and citations of ancient sources from T.R.S. Broughton, ''The Magistrates of the Roman Republic'' (American Philological Association, 1951, 1986), vol. 1, pp. 237, 239; vol. 2 (1952), p 537. {{DEFAULTSORT:Baebius Tamphilus, Quintus Roman people of the Second Punic War Roman Republican praetors Ancient Roman diplomats 3rd-century BC Romans Tamphilus, Quintus 3rd-century BC diplomats

See also

References