Gnaeus Papirius Carbo (consul 85 BC)
Gnaeus Papirius Carbo | |
---|---|
Born | c. 129 BC[1] |
Died | 82 BC (aged c. 47) Lilybaeum, Sicily |
Cause of death | Executed by Pompey |
Nationality | Roman |
Office | Consul (85–84 BC, 82 BC) |
Military service | |
Allegiance | Marius and Cinna |
Commands | Bellum Octavianum Sulla's civil war |
Gnaeus Papirius Carbo (c. 129 – 82 BC) was thrice consul of the Roman Republic in 85, 84, and 82 BC.[2] He was the head of the Marianists after the death of Cinna in 84 and led the resistance to Sulla during the civil war. He was proscribed by Sulla and beheaded by Pompey in Sicily in late 82.
Life
A nephew of
He spent most of 84 BC bolstering his forces in Italy. Convincing the Italians that Sulla would reverse their citizenship and voting rights, it was not difficult for Carbo to raise forces.[6] The urban plebs, moreover, feared of Sulla's response to a second civil war after hearing of Sulla's vicious sacks of Greek cities.[7] He orchestrated the election of his successors, Scipio Asiaticus and Gaius Norbanus to the consulship for 83 BC and assumed the proconsulship of the nearby province of Cisalpine Gaul.[8] Shortly thereafter, he induced the Senate to deliver a senatus consultum ultimum declaring Sulla an enemy of the state and giving the consuls, Asiaticus and Norbanus, the province of Italy.[9]
When Sulla returned from the east in the spring of 83 BC, he defeated Norbanus at the Battle of Mount Tifata, forcing his army to flee to Capua, and induced large defections from Asiaticus' army.[10] Sulla captured Asiaticus, set him free to show his benevolence, and Norbanus extricated himself from Capua.[11] In response to these setbacks, Carbo marched south from Cisalpine Gaul, but the Marian-allied forces were unable to mount an effective defence against Sulla and his allies.[12]
Carbo induced the Assembly to elect him and
Although most notable for his role in the chaotic 80s, Carbo had also made a name for himself prior to that period, particularly during his tenure as
As with several of the notable politicians of the 90s and 80s BC, such as Publius Sulpicius, Marcus Antonius the Orator, and Lucius Crassus, Carbo had a reputation for effective oratory. For instance, Cicero writes of one occasion when Carbo made use of a certain clausula (a dichoreus or double trochee – u – x), which was so effective that the audience all gave a shout.[20]
References
- ^ Konrad, p. 78.
- ^ a b Duncan 2017, p. 249.
- ^ Duncan 2017, p. 222.
- ^ Duncan 2017, p. 225.
- ^ Chisholm 1911.
- ^ Duncan 2017, p. 225-226.
- ^ Duncan 2017, p. 226.
- ^ Duncan 2017, p. 227.
- ^ Duncan 2017, pp. 227–228.
- ^ Duncan 2017, p. 232-233.
- ^ Duncan 2017, p. 233.
- ^ Duncan 2017, p. 234.
- ^ Duncan 2017, p. 235.
- ^ Duncan 2017, p. 236.
- ^ Lynda Telford, Sulla: A Dictator Reconsidered, pp 170-172; Philip Matyszak, Cataclysm 90 BC, pp 138-139; Appian, The Civil Wars, 1,87.
- ^ Duncan 2017, p. 240.
- ^ John Leach, Pompey the Great, pp 28-29; Plutarch, The Life of Pompey, 10.3.
- ^ T. Robert S. Broughton, Magistrates of the Roman Republic Vol. 2, p.18
- ^ Cicero, De Legibus 3.42
- ^ Cicero, Orator 214
Sources
- Duncan, Mike (2017). The Storm before the Storm. New York: PublicAffairs. ISBN 978-1-5417-2403-7. Details a broad narrative history from the death of the Gracchi brothers to the dictatorship of Sulla.
- Konrad, C.F. (1994). Plutarch's Sertorius: A Historical Commentary. ISBN 0-8078-2139-X.
- Schmitz, Leonhard (1849). . In Smith, William (ed.). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Vol. 1. London: John Murray. pp. 610–612.
- public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Carbo s.v. 3. Gnaeus Papirius Carbo". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 5 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 304. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
- Appian, Bell. Civ. i. 67-98
- Livy, Epit. 79, 84, 88, 89
- Plutarch, Pompey, 5, 6, 10, and Sulla, 28
- Cicero, ad Fam. ix. 21
- Eutropius, v. 8, 9
- Orosius, v. 20
- Valerius Maximus, v. 3. 5, ix