Die Stadt als Museum? Volume 956 (Die Wahrnehmung der Monumente Roms in der Spätantike) || 3. Römische Topographie in der Historia Augusta
✍ Scribed by Behrwald, Ralf
- Book ID
- 111981253
- Publisher
- Akademie Verlag
- Year
- 2009
- Tongue
- German
- Weight
- 278 KB
- Edition
- 1
- Category
- Article
- ISBN
- 3050042885
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Pompeius eventually helped secure an honourable public burial of Sulla's body in the Campus Martius in 78. 2 As subsequent events showed, it did not take long for Sulla's predictions to materialize. Lepidus' bold attempts to rescind the dictator's acta soon rekindled the flames of civil war. 3 After he had left Rome for his province, Lepidus promptly proceeded to gather and arm the remnants of the defeated faction in Italy. In January 77, on the motion of L. Marcius Philippus (cos. 91, censor 86), the Senate passed the senatus consultum ultimum, commending the safety of the City and the welfare of the Republic to the interrex Appius Claudius Pulcher (cos. 79), charging the proconsul Q. Lutatius Catulus and all "other holders of imperium" to defend the City and protect the Republic: uti Ap. Claudius interrex cum Q. Catulo pro consule et ceteris quibus imperium est, urbi praesidio sint operamque dent ne quid res publica detrimenti capiat. 4 The only direct, though unfortunately rather vague, references to the official status of Pompeius during the bellum Lepidanum are provided by Plutarch in his "Life of Pompeius". Plutarch explicitly records in Pomp. 16.2 that Pompeius was appointed commander of an army against Lepidus: a¤ pedeiŁ vJg rsqasetŁ laso| g' celx Ø m. As regards the rationale for Pompeius' commission, Plutarch explains that Lepidus' "colleague, Catulus, to whom the incorrupt and sounder element in the Senate and people attached themselves, was the greatest Roman of the time in the estimate set upon his wisdom and justice but was thought better adapted for political than military leadership. The situation itself, therefore, demanded Pompeius, who was not long in deciding what course to take". 5 Furthermore, in Pomp. 17.3 Plutarch notes that after Lepidus and his partisans had been crushed, Pompeius, aware of Sertorius' successes against Metellus Pius, bluntly ignored Catulus' orders to disband his army and instead remained under arms near Rome in the hope of being sent out to reinforce Metellus. 6 Before examining the precise nature of Pompeius' official position in the war against Lepidus, a brief discussion about the date of his appointment is required. Pompeius' commission against Lepidus is generally dated to 77, but there is good reason to believe that he was enlisted the year before, under the auspices of the consul Catulus. 7 First, in Pomp. 16.1 f. (supra), Plutarch states that Pompeius got his second command because Lepidus' colleague, Catulus, was considered a better statesman than a general. This Plutarch, this might have been the first ground for estrangement and jealousy between these two men, since both were young and burning for distinction. For the fact that Sulla abdicated only in January 79, see Vervaet (2004) 58--68. That the trial of Sextus Roscius Amerinus took place while Sulla still held his menacing dictatorial powers is quite clear from Plut. Cic. 3.