HI202 Roman History

70-53 BCE

 

63 BCE

·        Catilinarian Conspiracy

o         Were Cicero’s actions morally or legally correct?

o         Cicero and Cato call for execution, Caesar for imprisonment

o         Cicero hailed as parens patriae (“father of the country”)

 

62

·        Pompey returns to Rome; Cicero’s letter to Pompey (p.129)

·        Bona Dea scandal involving Publius Clodius; Caesar divorces Pompeia

 

60

·        Formation of the First Triumvirate (“Three-headed monster”)

  • Pompey wants settlement of the east and land for veterans
  • Crassus wants a renegotiation of the publicani’s tax contract
  • Caesar wants a triumph and consulship for 59 BCE (holds consulship with Bibulus in 59)
  • potentia (“power”) and dignitas (“dignity and respect”)
  • Pompey marries Julia, daughter of Caesar

 

59

·        Clodius switches from patrician to plebeian status

·        Clodius passes a law reenacting banishment for execution without a trial; Cicero exiled

·        Senate awards Caesar a proconsular command in Italy, then in Cisalpine and Transalpine Gaul and Illyricum; Gallia Comata

 

58-56

·        Caesar begins to subdue Gaul

·        Clodius’ collegium launches attacks on Pompey, who counters with a collegium led by Titus Annius Milo

 

56

·        Renewal of First Triumvirate at Luca in Etruria

o                    Caesar receives maium imperium until 50

o                    Pompey and Crassus to stand for consulship for 55

o                    Pompey to receive Spain and Libya; Crassus to receive Syria

 

54-52

·        Caesar invades Britain to Londinium, quells revolt by Vercingetorix at Alesia (executed in 46 BCE)

 

55-53

·        Crassus vs. the Parthians (cataphracts; “Parthian shot”)

·        Crassus crosses the Euphrates; defeated and killed; performance of the Bacchae; legionary standards seized