Publius Vatinius
Encyclopedia
Publius Vatinius was a Roman
statesman during the last decades of the Republic.
in 63 BC
, the same year Marcus Tullius Cicero
was consul
. Cicero believed that Vatinius was elected on account of the influence of one of the consuls. Cicero sent him to Puteoli
to prevent the gold and silver from being carried away from the city; but his extortions were so oppressive that the inhabitants were obliged to complain of his conduct to the consul. He later served as a legatus
under Gaius Cosconius. Again Cicero claims that while there he carried out robbery and extortion.
he was tribune of the plebs and sold his services to Gaius Julius Caesar
, who was then consul along with Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus
. Vatinius was a most zealous partisan for Caesar. He brought forward several proposals before the people
, including the bill by which Caesar received the provinces of Cisalpine Gaul
and IIlyricum
for five years, to which the senate afterwards added the province of Transalpine Gaul. Cicero accuses him of setting the auspices at defiance, of offering violence to the consul Bibulus, of filling the forum with soldiers, and of crushing the veto of his colleagues in the tribunate by force of arms. It was during his tribunate that Vatinius brought forward the informer Lucius Vettius, who accused many of the most distinguished men in the state, and among others Cicero, of a plot against the life of Pompey.
Vatinius left Rome with Caesar to serve as a legatus
in Gaul. But soon he returned to Rome to run for further political offices; but he failed in standing for the praetor
ship. His animosity towards Cicero continued and he appeared as a witness against Milo and Sestius, two of Cicero's friends. Cicero spoke on behalf of Sestius with a scathing speech against the character of Vatinius.
and Marcus Licinius Crassus
were elected to the consulship for 55 BC
. Marcus Porcius Cato
was put forward by the optimates for the praetorship. To counter him, Pompeius and Crassus secured the election for Vatinius and thus successfully defeated Cato. After his year in office, Vatinius was accused of bribery by Licinius Calvus
. Calvus had previously accused Vatinius, but this was his most eloquent speech. Vatinius even interrupted him to exclaim, " I ask you, judges, if I am to be condemned because the accuser is eloquent." Cicero, despite his previous attacks against Vatinius, defended him. He did this because he was afraid of offending the triumvirs and wanted their protection from Publius Clodius. His acquittal though was more likely due to bribery by his patrons instead of Cicero's speech.
where he was again a legatus for Julius Caesar. He stayed with Caesar during the start of the civil war
. While in Greece, Caesar sent him with peace proposals to Pompeius. But instead of serving at the battle of Pharsalus
, he defended Brundisium from Decimus Laelius, who lead an attack on the city with part of Pompeius's fleet.
In return for his success, Vatinius was rewarded with the consulship in 47 BC
. In 46 BC
he defeated Marcus Octavius, a Pompeian partisan with a large army, in Illyricum, for which he received an ovatio. He was forced to surrender his army to Marcus Junius Brutus
in 44, after the death of Caesar, when Brutus went to Macedon
ia to take command of his province, because Vatinius's troops had declared in favor of Brutus.
The last we hear of him is from the Capitoline Fasti as having triumphed in December, 43 BC
.
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...
statesman during the last decades of the Republic.
Early political life
Vatinius was quaestorQuaestor
A Quaestor was a type of public official in the "Cursus honorum" system who supervised financial affairs. In the Roman Republic a quaestor was an elected official whereas, with the autocratic government of the Roman Empire, quaestors were simply appointed....
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...
, the same year Marcus Tullius 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...
was 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...
. Cicero believed that Vatinius was elected on account of the influence of one of the consuls. Cicero sent him to Puteoli
Pozzuoli
Pozzuoli is a city and comune of the province of Naples, in the Italian region of Campania. It is the main city of the Phlegrean peninsula.-History:Pozzuoli began as the Greek colony of Dicaearchia...
to prevent the gold and silver from being carried away from the city; but his extortions were so oppressive that the inhabitants were obliged to complain of his conduct to the consul. He later served 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...
under Gaius Cosconius. Again Cicero claims that while there he carried out robbery and extortion.
In the service of Caesar
In 59 BC59 BC
Year 59 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Caesar and Bibulus...
he was tribune of the plebs and sold his services to Gaius 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 was then consul along with Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus
Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus
Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus was a politician of the late Roman Republic.Bibulus was the son in law of Marcus Porcius Cato Uticencis. In 59 BC he was elected consul, supported by the optimates, conservative republicans in the Senate and opponents of Julius Caesar's triumvirate...
. Vatinius was a most zealous partisan for Caesar. He brought forward several proposals before the people
Roman assemblies
The Legislative Assemblies of the Roman Republic were political institutions in the ancient Roman Republic. According to the contemporary historian Polybius, it was the people who had the final say regarding the election of magistrates, the enactment of new statutes, the carrying out of capital...
, including the bill by which Caesar received the provinces of Cisalpine Gaul
Cisalpine Gaul
Cisalpine Gaul, in Latin: Gallia Cisalpina or Citerior, also called Gallia Togata, was a Roman province until 41 BC when it was merged into Roman Italy.It bore the name Gallia, because the great body of its inhabitants, after the expulsion of the Etruscans, consisted of Gauls or Celts...
and IIlyricum
Illyricum (Roman province)
The Roman province of Illyricum or Illyris Romana or Illyris Barbara or Illyria Barbara replaced most of the region of Illyria. It stretched from the Drilon river in modern north Albania to Istria in the west and to the Sava river in the north. Salona functioned as its capital...
for five years, to which the senate afterwards added the province of Transalpine Gaul. Cicero accuses him of setting the auspices at defiance, of offering violence to the consul Bibulus, of filling the forum with soldiers, and of crushing the veto of his colleagues in the tribunate by force of arms. It was during his tribunate that Vatinius brought forward the informer Lucius Vettius, who accused many of the most distinguished men in the state, and among others Cicero, of a plot against the life of Pompey.
Vatinius left Rome with Caesar to serve 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 Gaul. But soon he returned to Rome to run for further political offices; but he failed in standing for the praetor
Praetor
Praetor was a title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to men acting in one of two official capacities: the commander of an army, usually in the field, or the named commander before mustering the army; and an elected magistratus assigned varied duties...
ship. His animosity towards Cicero continued and he appeared as a witness against Milo and Sestius, two of Cicero's friends. Cicero spoke on behalf of Sestius with a scathing speech against the character of Vatinius.
Praetorship
After a fair amount of turmoil, Gnaeus Pompeius MagnusPompey
Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, also known as Pompey or Pompey the Great , was a military and political leader of the late Roman Republic...
and Marcus Licinius Crassus
Marcus Licinius Crassus
Marcus Licinius Crassus was a Roman general and politician who commanded the right wing of Sulla's army at the Battle of the Colline Gate, suppressed the slave revolt led by Spartacus, provided political and financial support to Julius Caesar and entered into the political alliance known as the...
were elected to the consulship for 55 BC
55 BC
Year 55 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Crassus and Pompey...
. Marcus Porcius Cato
Cato the Younger
Marcus Porcius Cato Uticensis , commonly known as Cato the Younger to distinguish him from his great-grandfather , was a politician and statesman in the late Roman Republic, and a follower of the Stoic philosophy...
was put forward by the optimates for the praetorship. To counter him, Pompeius and Crassus secured the election for Vatinius and thus successfully defeated Cato. After his year in office, Vatinius was accused of bribery by Licinius Calvus
Licinius Macer Calvus
Gaius Licinius Macer Calvus was an orator and poet of ancient Rome.Son of Licinius Macer and thus a member of the gens Licinia, he was a friend of the poet Catullus, whose style and subject matter he shared. Calvus' oratical style opposed the "Asian" school in favor of a simpler Attic model: he...
. Calvus had previously accused Vatinius, but this was his most eloquent speech. Vatinius even interrupted him to exclaim, " I ask you, judges, if I am to be condemned because the accuser is eloquent." Cicero, despite his previous attacks against Vatinius, defended him. He did this because he was afraid of offending the triumvirs and wanted their protection from Publius Clodius. His acquittal though was more likely due to bribery by his patrons instead of Cicero's speech.
Service during the civil wars
Vatinius returned to Gaul in 51 BC51 BC
Year 51 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Marcellus and Sulpicius...
where he was again a legatus for Julius Caesar. He stayed with Caesar during the start of the civil war
Caesar's civil war
The Great Roman Civil War , also known as Caesar's Civil War, was one of the last politico-military conflicts in the Roman Republic before the establishment of the Roman Empire...
. While in Greece, Caesar sent him with peace proposals to Pompeius. But instead of serving at the battle of Pharsalus
Battle of Pharsalus
The Battle of Pharsalus was a decisive battle of Caesar's Civil War. On 9 August 48 BC at Pharsalus in central Greece, Gaius Julius Caesar and his allies formed up opposite the army of the republic under the command of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus...
, he defended Brundisium from Decimus Laelius, who lead an attack on the city with part of Pompeius's fleet.
In return for his success, Vatinius was rewarded with the consulship in 47 BC
47 BC
Year 47 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Calenius and Vatinius...
. In 46 BC
46 BC
Year 46 BC was the last year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Caesar and Lepidus . The denomination 46 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe...
he defeated Marcus Octavius, a Pompeian partisan with a large army, in Illyricum, for which he received an ovatio. He was forced to surrender his army to Marcus Junius Brutus
Marcus Junius Brutus
Marcus Junius Brutus , often referred to as Brutus, was a politician of the late Roman Republic. After being adopted by his uncle he used the name Quintus Servilius Caepio Brutus, but eventually returned to using his original name...
in 44, after the death of Caesar, when Brutus went to Macedon
Macedon
Macedonia or Macedon was an ancient kingdom, centered in the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula, bordered by Epirus to the west, Paeonia to the north, the region of Thrace to the east and Thessaly to the south....
ia to take command of his province, because Vatinius's troops had declared in favor of Brutus.
The last we hear of him is from the Capitoline Fasti as having triumphed in December, 43 BC
43 BC
Year 43 BC was either a common year starting on Sunday, Monday or Tuesday or a leap year starting on Sunday or Monday of the Julian calendar and a common year starting on Monday of the Proleptic Julian calendar...
.