Tag: Rome

By July 47 BC Caesar was back in Rome, and was formally appointed dictator for the second time.In Spain the legions were in mutiny. And in Africa the Pompeians were scoring victories.He also found the legions in Campania in mutiny, demanding to be discharged. But what they really wanted was not a di...

For several years after the defeat of Antiochus, Rome was involved in no foreign wars in the east. But the uneasiness of the populations under her power grew. Philip V of Macedon continued to plot and scheme, but dared not risk another conflict with Rome. But in 179 BC Phlip V died and his son Perse...

The twenty years following Sulla's death saw the rise of three men who, if Rome's founders were truly suckled by a she-wolf, surely had within them the stuff of wolves.The three were Marcus Licinius Crassus (d. 53 BC), one of Rome's richest men ever. Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (106-48 BC), known as Pom...

The patricians found it at least necessary to make occasional concessions - often indeed such that their expected effect could be practically evaded. As early as 445 BC they were obliged to legalize marriage between patrician and plebeian. But they fought to the last against admitting plebeians to ...

Researchers have uncovered an extraordinary discovery in Slovakia: the first-ever Roman aqueduct found in the country. The aqueduct, dating back to the second century, was likely used to transport water to an ancient bathhouse. It was found during an excavation at Rusovce Mansion, located near the S...

Plutarch's Lives: Tiberius Gracchus Having completed the first two narratives, we now may proceedto take a view of misfortunes, not less remarkable, in theRoman couple, and with the lives of Agis and Cleomenes,compare these of Tiberius and Caius. They were the sons ofTiberius Gracchus, who, though h...

Two men had risen to prominence as supporters of Sulla. One was Publius Licinius Crassus (117-53 BC), who had played a major part in the victory of the Colline Gate for Sulla. The other, Gnaeus Pompeius (106-48 BC), known to the modern historians as Pompey, was a youthful commander of remarkable mil...

With the Lucanians and Bruttians renewing their attacks on Greek cities, the Greek colonies, distrusting Tarentum, in 283 BC appealed to Rome for help. The Romans sent help promptly and effectively. The wiser heads in Tarentum saw no reason to object, but the popular party was furious and began agai...

In 118 BC the king of Numidia, Micipsa, died, leaving the crown to his young sons Hiempsal and Adherbal jointly with a much older nephew, Jugurtha, who was an experienced soldier.Jugurtha arranged the assassination of Hiempsal, whilst Adherbal fled for his life and appealed to the senate. The senat...

Though in his absence Cinna revived the legislation and the methods of Sulpicius. When violence broke out in the city, he appealed to the troops in Italy and practically revived the Social War. Marius returned form exile and joined him, though he appeared more intent on revenge than on anything else...

Though whilst Rome was busied with its Macedon and Syrian adventures in the east, it neither rested in the west. Within a decade after her victory in the Second Punic War, Rome had at last gained dominance over the quarrelsome Gauls in valley of the river Po and their equally hostile neighbours, the...

Archaeologists in Luxembourg have discovered a remarkable hoard of Roman gold coins dating back around 1,600 years. The collection, featuring the portraits of nine Roman emperors from the fourth and fifth centuries C.E., includes three particularly rare coins depicting Eugenius, a short-lived and il...