Pontius Aquila
Pontius Aquila (possibly Lucius Pontius; died 21 April 43 BC) was a Roman politician, military commander, and one of the assassins of Julius Caesar. In 45 BC, as tribune of the plebs, he annoyed Caesar by refusing to stand during his triumphal procession, and, in the following year, joined the conspiracy to kill the dictator. Aquila died fighting at the Second Battle of Mutina against Mark Antony in April 43 BC, before the formation of the Second Triumvirate later that year.
Life
After the
It has been suggested that Aquila be identified with the Pontius whose property near Neapolis was, according to Cicero, confiscated by Caesar, which would have given Aquila an additional motive to conspire against the dictator aside from political convictions.[7] Münzer was sceptical, however, since Cicero generally referred to Aquila by his surname.[5] Zvi Yavetz has also suggested that Caesar's triumph over fellow Romans in a civil war might also been a factor in Aquila's refusal to salute the Roman leader.[8] Evans noted that "Pontius" is a name of Samnite origin, and conjectured that Caesar's rule might have reminded Aquila of Sulla's reign, in which Samnites had been ruthlessly treated.[9][page needed]
Aquila may have been an ancestor of Pontius Pilate, a 1st-century prefect of Judaea who is known for putting Jesus of Nazareth to death.[10]
Footnotes
- ^ Cadoux & Badian, p. 1183. Taylor, p. 247, and Wiseman, p. 253, identified him with the pontiff Lucius Pontius Aquila attested on an inscription (CIL XI, 3254) in that town. Münzer, col. 35, was less certain, but agreed that this probably establishes Sutrium as Aquila's home town.
- ^ Drumann & Groebe, p. 638; Münzer, col. 35.
- ^ Latin: repete ergo a me Aquila rem publicam tribunus.
- ^ Latin: si tamen per Pontium Aquilam licuerit. Suetonius, Life of Julius Caesar, 78.2.
- ^ a b c Münzer, col. 35.
- ^ Münzer, col. 36.
- ^ Epstein, p. 569.
- ^ Yavetz, p. 194.
- ^ Evans.
- ISBN 978-3-406-63362-1.
References
- Cadoux, Theodore John & ISBN 978-0-19954556-8.
- Drumann, Wilhelm (1906). Paul Groebe (ed.). Geschichte Roms in seinem Uebergange von der republikanischen zur monarchischen Verfassung, oder: Pompeius, Caesar, Cicero und ihre Zeitgenossen (in German). Vol. 3 (2nd ed.). Leipzig: Gebrüder Borntraeger.
- Epstein, David F. (1987). "Caesar's Personal Enemies on the Ides of March". Latomus. 46 (3): 566–570. JSTOR 41540686.
- Evans, Richard J. (2003). "Caesar and the Tribunes of the Plebs". Questioning Reputations: Essays on Nine Roman Republican Politicians. Pretoria: University of South Africa. ISBN 1-86888-198-9.
- Münzer, Friedrich, "Pontius 17", Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft (RE, PW), volume 22.1, columns 34–36 (Stuttgart, 1953).
- ISBN 978-0-472-11869-4.
- Wiseman, T.P. (1971). "335. L. Pontius Aquila". New Men In the Roman Senate 139 B.C.–A.D. 14. Oxford University Press.
- ISBN 0-500-40043-1.