Marcus Terentius Varro Lucullus
Encyclopedia
Marcus Terentius Varro Lucullus (ca. 116 – soon after 56 BC), younger brother of the more famous Lucius Licinius Lucullus
, was a supporter of Lucius Cornelius Sulla
and consul
of ancient Rome
in 73 BC
. As proconsul
of Macedonia
in 72 BC
, he defeated the Bessi
in Thrace
and advanced to the Danube
and the west coast of the Black Sea
. In addition, he was marginally involved in the Third Servile War
(a.k.a. Spartacus War).
as Marcus Licinius Lucullus, he was later adopted by an otherwise unknown Marcus Terentius Varro (not the scholar). As a result of the adoption, his full official name, as quoted in inscriptions, became M(arcus) Terentius M(arci) f(ilius) Varro Lucullus. Literary texts usually refer to him as M. Lucullus or simply Lucullus which in the case of Appian
, Civil Wars 1.120, for example, caused confusion with Marcus' more famous brother, Lucius Lucullus
.
By birth, Marcus Lucullus was a member of a prominent plebeian
family, the gens Licinia. He was the grandson of the consul (151 BC) Lucius Licinius Lucullus
. His father, Lucius Licinius Lucullus, had reached the praetorship (104 BC) and could boast military successes in the oppression of the slaves in Lucania
and Sicily
during the Second Servile War
. In 101 BC
, however, the older Lucullus' career was cut short when he was convicted of embezzlement
. The mother of Marcus and Lucius Lucullus, Caecilia Metella
Calva, was closely related to two of the most influential men of his time. Lucius Cornelius Sulla
, the dictator, married her niece, Caecilia Metella Dalmatica, as his fourth wife. Sulla's close ally, the pontifex maximus
and consul (80 BC) Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius
, was a son of Caecilia Metella Calva's brother, Quintus Caecilius Metellus Numidicus
, and thus a cousin of Marcus Lucullus.
.
to fight the Marians
, Marcus Lucullus, like his brother Lucius, joined Sulla's forces. He served under his cousin, the proconsul Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius
, as a legatus
in Northern Italy. At first, Marcus Lucullus was forced to retreat into the small town of Placentia
, but once Metellus defeated the superior troops of the Marian general Gaius Norbanus
, Marcus Lucullus broke the siege and defeated a detachment left behind by Norbanus. At Fidentia
, he commanded 15 cohorts (ca. 3,600 men) and managed to defeat a superior force of 50 cohorts (12,000 men) under Gnaeus Papirius Carbo
’s legate Quinctius of which his troops killed 1,800 men.
Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius, Marcus Lucullus was nominated for and elected to the Pontifical College. This may have happened when Sulla expanded the Pontifical College from 9 to 15 members in 81 BC
. Membership in one of the four major priestly colleges was an honor that was considered almost equal to winning a consulship, and it boded well for Marcus Lucullus' future career.
, Marcus Lucullus was elected to serve as curule aedile for 79 BC
together with his older brother Lucius Licinius Lucullus
, who had recently returned from the Roman province of Asia. Their aedileship was distinguished by games which Cicero
much later still remembered for their splendor. Among other things, the brothers introduced revolving backdrops for the temporary stage that they had built for theatrical performances. Moreover, they were the first to pit an elephant against a steer in the arena.
, Marcus Lucullus presided over one cause célèbre, the trial against Gaius Antonius Hybrida
(later Cicero's colleague as consul). Antonius had enriched himself shamelessly as a legate of Sulla in Greece during the First Mithridatic War
. The prosecutor, the young Julius Caesar
, won a conviction. Antonius managed, however, to have his conviction overturned by appealing to the people's tribunes. because, as he said, he could not get a fair trial in Rome against a Greek man.
Apart from this, the praetor Marcus Lucullus is credited with an edict against armed gangs of slaves that authorized victims to demand compensation of four-times the amount of their damages from the slaves' owners.
(along with Gaius Cassius Longinus), he passed a law that provided subsidized grain for indigent Roman citizens (lex Terentia et Cassia frumentaria).
His name also appears on a famous inscription (IG VII, 413), a letter that informs the inhabitants of Oropos
in Greece that the senate has passed a decree in their favour regarding their dispute with Roman tax farmers.
After his consulship, Marcus Lucullus became governor (proconsul) of the important province of Macedonia
. He used his tenure to lead a successful campaign against a neighboring tribe, the Thracian Bessi
. In the course of this war, he advanced to the Danube and the west coast of the Black Sea where he conquered a number of Greek cities that had been bases of Mithridates VI The Great
, including Apollonia, Kallatis (Callatis)
, Tomi
, and Istros
. For these achievements, he was awarded a triumph
which he held in 71 BC
. Part of the booty from this campaign was a colossal statue of Apollo that Marcus Lucullus took from a temple on an island near Apollonia. It may have been on the occasion of his triumph that he set it up in the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus.
Earlier in the same year, 71 BC
, Marcus Lucullus also played a minor role in the defeat of Spartacus'
slave army. He was prematurely recalled from his post in Macedonia in order to assist with the suppression of the rebellious slaves. At the time, Spartacus had just managed to force his way through Crassus' troops that had him cornered near Rhegium, across from Sicily, and made his way to Brundisium, across from Greece, presumably to sail from there to Greece or Illyrium. Yet when he received the news that Marcus Lucullus and his troops had already landed in Brundisium, he turned around and faced Crassus' pursuing army for the final and decisive battle of the war.
or 65 BC
, Marcus Lucullus was put on trial by Gaius Memmius for his activities under Sulla but acquitted. In 65, he spoke as one of the witnesses for the prosecution in the maiestas trial against the former people's tribune Gaius Cornelius whom the nobility considered a revolutionary; Cornelius was defended by Cicero.
In 63 BC
, Marcus Lucullus opposed the attempt of Catilina to kill the consuls, among them Cicero, and overthrow the government. In the following year, he served as the main witness for the defense in the trial against his friend, the poet Licinius Archias
, in which Cicero gave his famous speech in defense of Archias' claims to Roman citizenship. Later, in 58
and 57
, Marcus Lucullus belonged to the group that worked behind the scenes to enable Cicero's return from exile. When his brother, Lucius Lucullus, lost his mental powers, Marcus Lucullus became his legal guardian; he buried him at his Tusculan estate in 56 BC
. Marcus Lucullus himself died not much later.
Lucullus
Lucius Licinius Lucullus , was an optimate politician of the late Roman Republic, closely connected with Sulla Felix...
, was a supporter of Lucius Cornelius Sulla
Lucius Cornelius Sulla
Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix , known commonly as Sulla, was a Roman general and statesman. He had the rare distinction of holding the office of consul twice, as well as that of dictator...
and consul
Consul
Consul was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Empire. The title was also used in other city states and also revived in modern states, notably in the First French Republic...
of ancient Rome
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
in 73 BC
73 BC
Year 73 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Lucullus and Longinus...
. As proconsul
Proconsul
A proconsul was a governor of a province in the Roman Republic appointed for one year by the senate. In modern usage, the title has been used for a person from one country ruling another country or bluntly interfering in another country's internal affairs.-Ancient Rome:In the Roman Republic, a...
of Macedonia
Macedonia (Roman province)
The Roman province of Macedonia was officially established in 146 BC, after the Roman general Quintus Caecilius Metellus defeated Andriscus of Macedon, the last Ancient King of Macedon in 148 BC, and after the four client republics established by Rome in the region were dissolved...
in 72 BC
72 BC
Year 72 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Publicola and Lentulus...
, he defeated the Bessi
Bessi
The Bessi were an independent Thracian tribe who lived in a territory ranging from Moesia to Mount Rhodope in southern Thrace, but are often mentioned as dwelling about Haemus, the mountain range that separates Moesia from Thrace and from Mount Rhodope to the northern part of Hebrus...
in Thrace
Thrace
Thrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. As a geographical concept, Thrace designates a region bounded by the Balkan Mountains on the north, Rhodope Mountains and the Aegean Sea on the south, and by the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara on the east...
and advanced to the Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
and the west coast of the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
. In addition, he was marginally involved in the Third Servile War
Third Servile War
The Third Servile War , also called the Gladiator War and the War of Spartacus by Plutarch, was the last of a series of unrelated and unsuccessful slave rebellions against the Roman Republic, known collectively as the Roman Servile Wars...
(a.k.a. Spartacus War).
Name and family
Born in RomeRome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
as Marcus Licinius Lucullus, he was later adopted by an otherwise unknown Marcus Terentius Varro (not the scholar). As a result of the adoption, his full official name, as quoted in inscriptions, became M(arcus) Terentius M(arci) f(ilius) Varro Lucullus. Literary texts usually refer to him as M. Lucullus or simply Lucullus which in the case of Appian
Appian
Appian of Alexandria was a Roman historian of Greek ethnicity who flourished during the reigns of Trajan, Hadrian, and Antoninus Pius.He was born ca. 95 in Alexandria. He tells us that, after having filled the chief offices in the province of Egypt, he went to Rome ca. 120, where he practised as...
, Civil Wars 1.120, for example, caused confusion with Marcus' more famous brother, Lucius Lucullus
Lucullus
Lucius Licinius Lucullus , was an optimate politician of the late Roman Republic, closely connected with Sulla Felix...
.
By birth, Marcus Lucullus was a member of a prominent plebeian
Plebs
The plebs was the general body of free land-owning Roman citizens in Ancient Rome. They were distinct from the higher order of the patricians. A member of the plebs was known as a plebeian...
family, the gens Licinia. He was the grandson of the consul (151 BC) Lucius Licinius Lucullus
Lucius Licinius Lucullus
This article is on the Consul of 151 BC. For the descendent see Lucullus, and for others of this name see Licinia .Lucius Licinius Lucullus was a novus homo who became Consul in 151 BC. He was imprisoned by the Tribunes for attempting to enforce a troop levy too harshly...
. His father, Lucius Licinius Lucullus, had reached the praetorship (104 BC) and could boast military successes in the oppression of the slaves in Lucania
Lucania
Lucania was an ancient district of southern Italy, extending from the Tyrrhenian Sea to the Gulf of Taranto. To the north it adjoined Campania, Samnium and Apulia, and to the south it was separated by a narrow isthmus from the district of Bruttium...
and Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
during the Second Servile War
Second Servile War
The Second Servile War was an unsuccessful slave uprising against the Roman Republic on the island of Sicily. The war lasted from 104 BC until 100 BC....
. In 101 BC
101 BC
Year 101 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Marius and Aquillius...
, however, the older Lucullus' career was cut short when he was convicted of embezzlement
Embezzlement
Embezzlement is the act of dishonestly appropriating or secreting assets by one or more individuals to whom such assets have been entrusted....
. The mother of Marcus and Lucius Lucullus, Caecilia Metella
Caecilia Metella Calva
Caecilia Metella Calva was daughter of Lucius Caecilius Metellus Calvus, Consul in 142 BC, and sister of Lucius Caecilius Metellus Dalmaticus and Quintus Caecilius Metellus Numidicus.She was married to Lucius Licinius Lucullus, Praetor in 104 BC...
Calva, was closely related to two of the most influential men of his time. Lucius Cornelius Sulla
Lucius Cornelius Sulla
Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix , known commonly as Sulla, was a Roman general and statesman. He had the rare distinction of holding the office of consul twice, as well as that of dictator...
, the dictator, married her niece, Caecilia Metella Dalmatica, as his fourth wife. Sulla's close ally, the pontifex maximus
Pontifex Maximus
The Pontifex Maximus was the high priest of the College of Pontiffs in ancient Rome. This was the most important position in the ancient Roman religion, open only to patricians until 254 BC, when a plebeian first occupied this post...
and consul (80 BC) Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius
Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius
Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius was a pro-Sullan politician and general. He was named Pius because of his 99 BC petition to return his father from exile and was true to his cognomen for the constance and inflexibility with which he always fought for his father's rehabilitation and return to...
, was a son of Caecilia Metella Calva's brother, Quintus Caecilius Metellus Numidicus
Quintus Caecilius Metellus Numidicus
Quintus Caecilius Metellus Numidicus was the leader of the conservative faction of the Roman Senate and a bitter enemy of Gaius Marius....
, and thus a cousin of Marcus Lucullus.
First Public Activities
In the early 90s, young Marcus and his brother Lucius unsuccessfully prosecuted Servilius the Augur. This man had earlier functioned as the prosecutor in the trial for embezzlement (de repetundis) that sent their father, Lucius Licinius Lucullus (praetor 104) into exile to LucaniaLucania
Lucania was an ancient district of southern Italy, extending from the Tyrrhenian Sea to the Gulf of Taranto. To the north it adjoined Campania, Samnium and Apulia, and to the south it was separated by a narrow isthmus from the district of Bruttium...
.
Service under Sulla
When Sulla returned from the East in the spring of 83 BC83 BC
Year 83 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Asiaticus and Norbanus...
to fight the Marians
Gaius Marius
Gaius Marius was a Roman general and statesman. He was elected consul an unprecedented seven times during his career. He was also noted for his dramatic reforms of Roman armies, authorizing recruitment of landless citizens, eliminating the manipular military formations, and reorganizing the...
, Marcus Lucullus, like his brother Lucius, joined Sulla's forces. He served under his cousin, the proconsul Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius
Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius
Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius was a pro-Sullan politician and general. He was named Pius because of his 99 BC petition to return his father from exile and was true to his cognomen for the constance and inflexibility with which he always fought for his father's rehabilitation and return to...
, as a legatus
Legatus
A 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...
in Northern Italy. At first, Marcus Lucullus was forced to retreat into the small town of Placentia
Piacenza
Piacenza is a city and comune in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Piacenza...
, but once Metellus defeated the superior troops of the Marian general Gaius Norbanus
Gaius Norbanus
Gaius Norbanus surnamed Bulbus was a Roman politician.In 103 BC, when tribune of the people, he accused Quintus Servilius Caepio the Elder of having brought about the defeat of his army by the Cimbri through rashness, and also of having plundered the temple of Tolosa...
, Marcus Lucullus broke the siege and defeated a detachment left behind by Norbanus. At Fidentia
Fidenza
Fidenza is a town and comune in the province of Parma, Emilia-Romagna region, Italy. It has around 24,000 inhabitants. The town was renamed Fidenza in 1927, recalling its Roman name of Fidentia; before, it was called Borgo San Donnino.-History:...
, he commanded 15 cohorts (ca. 3,600 men) and managed to defeat a superior force of 50 cohorts (12,000 men) under Gnaeus Papirius Carbo
Gnaeus Papirius Carbo
Gnaeus Papirius Carbo was a three-time consul of ancient Rome.A member of the Carbones of the plebeian gens Papiria, and nephew of Gaius Papirius Carbo , he was a strong supporter of the Marian party, and took part in the blockade of Rome...
’s legate Quinctius of which his troops killed 1,800 men.
Priesthood
Probably at the suggestion of his first cousin, the Pontifex MaximusPontifex Maximus
The Pontifex Maximus was the high priest of the College of Pontiffs in ancient Rome. This was the most important position in the ancient Roman religion, open only to patricians until 254 BC, when a plebeian first occupied this post...
Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius, Marcus Lucullus was nominated for and elected to the Pontifical College. This may have happened when Sulla expanded the Pontifical College from 9 to 15 members in 81 BC
81 BC
Year 81 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Decula and Dolabella...
. Membership in one of the four major priestly colleges was an honor that was considered almost equal to winning a consulship, and it boded well for Marcus Lucullus' future career.
Aedileship
Even though he was not even present at the elections of 80 BC80 BC
Year 80 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sulla and Metellus...
, Marcus Lucullus was elected to serve as curule aedile for 79 BC
79 BC
Year 79 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Isauricus and Pulcher...
together with his older brother Lucius Licinius Lucullus
Lucullus
Lucius Licinius Lucullus , was an optimate politician of the late Roman Republic, closely connected with Sulla Felix...
, who had recently returned from the Roman province of Asia. Their aedileship was distinguished by games which 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...
much later still remembered for their splendor. Among other things, the brothers introduced revolving backdrops for the temporary stage that they had built for theatrical performances. Moreover, they were the first to pit an elephant against a steer in the arena.
Judge
Elected praetor peregrinus, the praetor in charge of court cases involving non-Roman citizens, for 76 BC76 BC
Year 76 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Octavius and Curio...
, Marcus Lucullus presided over one cause célèbre, the trial against Gaius Antonius Hybrida
Gaius Antonius Hybrida
Gaius Antonius Hybrida was a politician of the Roman Republic. He was the second son of Marcus Antonius Orator and brother of Marcus Antonius Creticus; his mother is unknown. He was the uncle of the famed triumvir Mark Antony....
(later Cicero's colleague as consul). Antonius had enriched himself shamelessly as a legate of Sulla in Greece during the First Mithridatic War
First Mithridatic War
The First Mithridatic War was a war challenging Rome's expanding Empire and rule over the Greek world. In this conflict, the Kingdom of Pontus and many Greek cities rebelling against Rome were led by Mithridates VI of Pontus against the Roman Republic and the Kingdom of Bithynia...
. The prosecutor, the young 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....
, won a conviction. Antonius managed, however, to have his conviction overturned by appealing to the people's tribunes. because, as he said, he could not get a fair trial in Rome against a Greek man.
Apart from this, the praetor Marcus Lucullus is credited with an edict against armed gangs of slaves that authorized victims to demand compensation of four-times the amount of their damages from the slaves' owners.
Consul and Governor of Macedonia
As consul in 73 BC73 BC
Year 73 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Lucullus and Longinus...
(along with Gaius Cassius Longinus), he passed a law that provided subsidized grain for indigent Roman citizens (lex Terentia et Cassia frumentaria).
His name also appears on a famous inscription (IG VII, 413), a letter that informs the inhabitants of Oropos
Oropos
Oropos is a small town and a municipality in East Attica, Greece.-Geography:It is situated on the southern Euboean Gulf, opposite Eretria. Oropos is located N of Avlona and Athens, E of Thebes and SE of Chalcis. Oropos is linked with the road linking Nea Palatia and Sikamino...
in Greece that the senate has passed a decree in their favour regarding their dispute with Roman tax farmers.
After his consulship, Marcus Lucullus became governor (proconsul) of the important province of Macedonia
Macedonia (Roman province)
The Roman province of Macedonia was officially established in 146 BC, after the Roman general Quintus Caecilius Metellus defeated Andriscus of Macedon, the last Ancient King of Macedon in 148 BC, and after the four client republics established by Rome in the region were dissolved...
. He used his tenure to lead a successful campaign against a neighboring tribe, the Thracian Bessi
Bessi
The Bessi were an independent Thracian tribe who lived in a territory ranging from Moesia to Mount Rhodope in southern Thrace, but are often mentioned as dwelling about Haemus, the mountain range that separates Moesia from Thrace and from Mount Rhodope to the northern part of Hebrus...
. In the course of this war, he advanced to the Danube and the west coast of the Black Sea where he conquered a number of Greek cities that had been bases of Mithridates VI The Great
Mithridates VI of Pontus
Mithridates VI or Mithradates VI Mithradates , from Old Persian Mithradatha, "gift of Mithra"; 134 BC – 63 BC, also known as Mithradates the Great and Eupator Dionysius, was king of Pontus and Armenia Minor in northern Anatolia from about 120 BC to 63 BC...
, including Apollonia, Kallatis (Callatis)
Mangalia
Mangalia , is a city and a port on the coast of the Black Sea in the south-east of Constanţa County, Romania.The municipality of Mangalia also administers several summer time seaside resorts: Cap Aurora, Jupiter, Neptun, Olimp, Saturn, Venus.-History:...
, Tomi
Constanta
Constanța is the oldest extant city in Romania, founded around 600 BC. The city is located in the Dobruja region of Romania, on the Black Sea coast. It is the capital of Constanța County and the largest city in the region....
, and Istros
Histria (Sinoe)
Ancient Histria or Istros , was a Greek colony or polis on the Black Sea coast, established by Milesian settlers to trade with the native Getae. It became the first Greek town on the present day Romanian territory. Scymnus of Chios , the Greek geographer and poet, dated it to 630 BC...
. For these achievements, he was awarded a triumph
Roman triumph
The Roman triumph was a civil ceremony and religious rite of ancient Rome, held to publicly celebrate and sanctify the military achievement of an army commander who had won great military successes, or originally and traditionally, one who had successfully completed a foreign war. In Republican...
which he held in 71 BC
71 BC
Year 71 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Lentulus and Orestes...
. Part of the booty from this campaign was a colossal statue of Apollo that Marcus Lucullus took from a temple on an island near Apollonia. It may have been on the occasion of his triumph that he set it up in the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus.
Earlier in the same year, 71 BC
71 BC
Year 71 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Lentulus and Orestes...
, Marcus Lucullus also played a minor role in the defeat of Spartacus'
Spartacus
Spartacus was a famous leader of the slaves in the Third Servile War, a major slave uprising against the Roman Republic. Little is known about Spartacus beyond the events of the war, and surviving historical accounts are sometimes contradictory and may not always be reliable...
slave army. He was prematurely recalled from his post in Macedonia in order to assist with the suppression of the rebellious slaves. At the time, Spartacus had just managed to force his way through Crassus' troops that had him cornered near Rhegium, across from Sicily, and made his way to Brundisium, across from Greece, presumably to sail from there to Greece or Illyrium. Yet when he received the news that Marcus Lucullus and his troops had already landed in Brundisium, he turned around and faced Crassus' pursuing army for the final and decisive battle of the war.
Later Life and Death
In 6666 BC
Year 66 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Lepidus and Tullus...
or 65 BC
65 BC
Year 65 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Cotta and Torquatus...
, Marcus Lucullus was put on trial by Gaius Memmius for his activities under Sulla but acquitted. In 65, he spoke as one of the witnesses for the prosecution in the maiestas trial against the former people's tribune Gaius Cornelius whom the nobility considered a revolutionary; Cornelius was defended by Cicero.
In 63 BC
63 BC
Year 63 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Cicero and Hibrida...
, Marcus Lucullus opposed the attempt of Catilina to kill the consuls, among them Cicero, and overthrow the government. In the following year, he served as the main witness for the defense in the trial against his friend, the poet Licinius Archias
Aulus Licinius Archias
Aulus Licinius Archias was a Greek poet born in Antioch in Syria . In 102 BC, his reputation having been already established, especially as an improvisatore, he went to Rome, where he was well received amongst the highest and most influential families. His chief patron was Lucullus, whose gentile...
, in which Cicero gave his famous speech in defense of Archias' claims to Roman citizenship. Later, in 58
58 BC
Year 58 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Piso and Gabinius...
and 57
57 BC
Year 57 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Lentulus and Metellus...
, Marcus Lucullus belonged to the group that worked behind the scenes to enable Cicero's return from exile. When his brother, Lucius Lucullus, lost his mental powers, Marcus Lucullus became his legal guardian; he buried him at his Tusculan estate in 56 BC
56 BC
Year 56 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Lentulus and Philippus...
. Marcus Lucullus himself died not much later.
See also
- LucullusLucullusLucius Licinius Lucullus , was an optimate politician of the late Roman Republic, closely connected with Sulla Felix...
- Licinia (gens)
- For the Greek text of the Epistula de Amphiarai Oropii agris, see http://epigraphy.packhum.org/inscriptions/oi?ikey=180494&bookid=225&caller=gis®ion=3.
- A Latin version is available at http://www.kennydominican.joyeurs.com/LatinLibrary/RomanLaw/Senatus/Amphiarai_Riccobono.htm.
Ancient Sources
- AppianAppianAppian of Alexandria was a Roman historian of Greek ethnicity who flourished during the reigns of Trajan, Hadrian, and Antoninus Pius.He was born ca. 95 in Alexandria. He tells us that, after having filled the chief offices in the province of Egypt, he went to Rome ca. 120, where he practised as...
, The Civil Wars 1.92 and 120. - Asconius, Commentary on Cicero's In Toga Candida p. 84 Clark.
- Cicero, "Pro Tullio" 8-11.
- Corpus Inscriptionum LatinarumCorpus Inscriptionum LatinarumThe Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum is a comprehensive collection of ancient Latin inscriptions. It forms an authoritative source for documenting the surviving epigraphy of classical antiquity. Public and personal inscriptions throw light on all aspects of Roman life and history...
I2.719 = 11.6331. - Eutropius 6.10.1.
- Inscriptiones GraecaeInscriptiones GraecaeThe Inscriptiones Graecae , is an academic project originally begun by the Prussian Academy of Science, and today continued by its successor organisation, the Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften...
VII 413. - LivyLivyTitus Livius — known as Livy in English — was a Roman historian who wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people. Ab Urbe Condita Libri, "Chapters from the Foundation of the City," covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome well before the traditional foundation in 753 BC...
, Periochae 88. - PlinyPliny the ElderGaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...
, Naturalis Historia 4.92 and 34.38 - PlutarchPlutarchPlutarch then named, on his becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus , c. 46 – 120 AD, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia...
, Lucullus 1, 37, and 43; Caesar 4. - Quintus CiceroQuintus Tullius CiceroQuintus Tullius Cicero was the younger brother of the celebrated orator, philosopher and statesman Marcus Tullius Cicero. He was born into a family of the equestrian order, as the son of a wealthy landowner in Arpinum, some 100 kilometres south-east of Rome.- Biography :Cicero's well-to-do father...
, Commentariolum Petitionis 8. - SallustSallustGaius Sallustius Crispus, generally known simply as Sallust , a Roman historian, belonged to a well-known plebeian family, and was born at Amiternum in the country of the Sabines...
, Histories 4.18 M. - StraboStraboStrabo, also written Strabon was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher.-Life:Strabo was born to an affluent family from Amaseia in Pontus , a city which he said was situated the approximate equivalent of 75 km from the Black Sea...
, Geography 7.6.1.
Secondary Literature
- Arkenberg, J. S. "Licinii Murenae, Terentii Varrones, and Varrones Murenae." Historia 42 (1993) 326-51.
- Bradley, Keith. Slavery and Rebellion in the Roman World. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1989. ISBN 0253312590
- Broughton, T. Robert S. "Magistrates of the Roman Republic." Vol. 2. Cleveland: Case Western University Press, 1968, p. 118-19.
- Gelzer, Matthias. Cicero. Ein biographischer Versuch. Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1969 (repr. 1983). ISBN 3-515-04089-7.
- Gelzer, Matthias. Caesar. Der Politiker und Staatsmann. 6th ed. Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1960 (repr. 1983). ISBN 3-515-03907-4.
- Keaveney, Arthur. Lucullus. A Life. London/New York: Routledge, 1992. ISBN 0-415-03219-9.
- Mommsen, Theodor, "The History of Rome, Books I-V", project Gutenberg electronic edition, 2004. ISBN 0-415-14953-3.
- Strachan-Davidson, J. L. (ed.), Appian, Civil Wars: Book I, Oxford 1902.
- Taylor, Lily Ross. "Caesar's Colleagues in the Pontifical College." American Journal of Philology 63 (1942) 385-412.
- Ward, Allen M. "Politics in the Trials of Manilius and Cornelius." Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association 101 (1970), pp. 545–556.