Lucius Minucius Basilus
Encyclopedia
Lucius Minucius Basilus was a military commander and politician of the late Roman Republic
, a trusted associate of Julius Caesar
, who later participated in Caesar's assassination.
It was to Basilus that Cicero
wrote his first excited note after hearing of the successful assassination of Caesar. In the notes to Cicero's Selected Letters, Basilus is described:
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...
, a trusted associate of Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
, who later participated in Caesar's assassination.
It was to Basilus that Cicero
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero , was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the equestrian order, and is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.He introduced the Romans to the chief...
wrote his first excited note after hearing of the successful assassination of Caesar. In the notes to Cicero's Selected Letters, Basilus is described:
L. Minucius Basilus had been a prominent officer, probably a legatusLegatusA legatus was a general in the Roman army, equivalent to a modern general officer. Being of senatorial rank, his immediate superior was the dux, and he outranked all military tribunes...
under Caesar in GaulGaulGaul was a region of Western Europe during the Iron Age and Roman era, encompassing present day France, Luxembourg and Belgium, most of Switzerland, the western part of Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the left bank of the Rhine. The Gauls were the speakers of...
, and apparently served also in the civil war. He was, however, mortally offended because Caesar would not give him a province after his praetorship in 45 BC, but only a sum of money in return for his services, and so joined the conspiracy against him. In 43 BC he was killed by some of his own slaves whom he had punished by mutilation. He should probably be distinguished from L. Minucius Basilus, who took the name (instead of M. Satrius) on his adoption by a rich uncle, [and] mentioned as assuming by force the position of patronusPatronage in ancient RomePatronage was the distinctive relationship in ancient Roman society between the patronus and his client . The relationship was hierarchical, but obligations were mutual. The patronus was the protector, sponsor, and benefactor of the client...
over certain towns in Italy.