Aulus Hirtius

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Aulus Hirtius (Latin: [ˈau̯lʊs ˈhɪrtɪ.ʊs]; c. 90 – 43 BC) was consul of the Roman Republic in 43 BC and a writer on military subjects. He was killed during his consulship in battle against Mark Antony at the Battle of Mutina.[1]

Biography

He was a

Rubicon river into Italy on 10 January 49 BC.[3]

During

Transalpine Gaul
in 45.

After Caesar's assassination in March 44, Hirtius was deeply involved in the maneuvering between parties. Having been nominated for that post by Caesar, Hirtius and Pansa became consuls in 43.[4]

Initially a supporter of Mark Antony, Hirtius was successfully lobbied by Cicero, who was a personal friend,[5] and switched his allegiance to the senatorial party. He then set out with an army to attack Antony who was besieging Mutina. In concert with Pansa and Octavian (the future Emperor Augustus), Hirtius compelled Antony to retire but was slain in the fighting (April 21) at the Battle of Mutina. He was honored with a public funeral, along with Pansa who died a few days later.

Hirtius added an eighth book to Caesar's

De Bello Gallico. He was formerly thought to be an author of De Bello Alexandrino, though a 2018 computer-assisted stylistic analysis disproves this.[6]

sesterces
." This alleged homosexual liaison would have taken place in 46 BC, during the civil wars when Julius Caesar took Octavian to Spain and Aulus Hirtius was serving there. However, it is possible that this was an attempt at slander by Mark Antony, who was Octavian's political opponent at the time. Allegations of homosexual submissiveness was a common method of political attack in the Roman Republic and it is impossible to know how much of it was true.

See also

  • De Fato
    , a dialogue by Cicero, where Hirtius is an interlocutor

References

  1. ^ "Aulus Hirtius | Roman soldier". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  2. ^ Cicero. On the Orator: Book 3. On Fate. Stoic Paradoxes. Divisions of Oratory, pg. 189. Translated by H. Rackham. Loeb Classical Library 349. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1942.
  3. .
  4. ^ Syme, Roman Revolution p. 95. Hirtius was already consul-designate for 43 on the Ides of March, therefore likely a nominee of Caesar's.
  5. ^ Cicero, De Fato I
  6. ^ Zhang, Olivia R., Trevor Cohen & Scott McGill. “Did Gaius Julius Caesar Write De Bello Hispaniensi? A Computational Study of Latin Classics Authorship”. HUMAN IT 14.1 (2018): 28–58
  7. ^ Suetonius, Augustus 68, translated by John Carew Rolfe.

External links

Political offices
Preceded by Roman consul
with Gaius Vibius Pansa Caetronianus
43 BC
Succeeded by
Quintus Pedius