Sempronius Asellio (flourished BC c. 91BC) was an early Roman historian and one of the first writers of historiographic work in Latin. He was a military tribune of P. Scipio Aemilianus Africanus at the siege of

Numantia Numantia () is an ancient Celtiberian settlement, whose remains are located on a hill known as Cerro de la Muela in the current municipality of Garray ( Soria), Spain. Numantia is famous for its role in the Celtiberian Wars. In 153 BC, Num ...

Hispania Hispania was the Ancient Rome, Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula. Under the Roman Republic, Hispania was divided into two Roman province, provinces: Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior. During the Principate, Hispania Ulterior was divide ...

in 134BC. Later he joined the circle of writers centred on Scipio Aemilianus. Asellio wrote the history of the events in which he was engaged, and thus preceded

Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war. He ...

in his more famous accounts of his military campaigns.

Life

Asellio, whose background is unknown, probably belonged to the prestigious plebeian gens Sempronia. He was greatly influenced by his co-writer

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 ...

, who was supported by Scipio Aemilianus. Polybius attempted not only to record events as they took place, but also to look for the causes that led to them. Asellio was the first Roman historian to follow this method. In his work, he showed contempt for the previous Roman historians of the annalistic school. According to him, they wrote nothing else than a diary as far as form was concerned.

Work

Sempronius Asellio composed the ''Rerum Gestarum Libri'' (

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

for "Books of Things Done"), also referenced as the ''Libri Rerum Gestarum'' or ''Historiae'' ("History"). It comprised at least fourteen books and dealt mostly with the events of the

Third Punic War The Third Punic War (149–146 BC) was the third and last of the Punic Wars fought between Carthage and Rome. The war was fought entirely within Carthaginian territory, in what is now northern Tunisia. When the Second Punic War ended in 20 ...

(149 BC - 146 BC).Crutwell, Charles Thomas (M.A.) ''A History of Roman Literature: From the Earliest Period to the Death of Marcus Aurelius'' (1877) Book I Chapter IX It is also possible his work was a continuation of

, whose own history stopped at 146 BC. Asellio's work covered events as late as 91 BC or even 83 BC.

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...

did not think highly of Asellio's work and spoke disparagingly of its simple style. Nothing, apart from 15 citations preserved by later authors (

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, ...

and some grammarians), survives of his work.

References

External links

*'' Historicorum Romanorum reliquiae'', Hermannus Peter (ed.), vol. 1, in aedibus B. G. Teubneri, Lipsiae, 1914²
pagg. 179-184
{{authority control 150s BC births 90s BC deaths 2nd-century BC historians 1st-century BC historians 2nd-century BC writers in Latin 1st-century BC writers in Latin 2nd-century BC Romans 1st-century BC deaths 1st-century BC Romans Roman Republican soldiers Latin historians Latin writers known only from secondary sources Military historians Ancient Roman military writers Old Latin-language writers Asellio Year of birth uncertain Year of birth unknown

Life

Work

See also

References

External links