Gnaeus Manlius Vulso

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Gnaeus Manlius Vulso was a politician of the Roman Republic and in 189 BC. Chr. Consul .

ancestry

According to the Fasti Capitolini , the father of Gnaeus Manlius Vulso also carried the prenomen Gnaeus and his grandfather the prenomen Lucius . According to the family tree drawn up by the ancient historian Friedrich Münzer , Gnaeus Manlius Vulso was the son of an unknown father of the same name - who probably died young - and the consul's grandson from 256 and 250 BC. BC, Lucius Manlius Vulso Longus . The brothers of Gnaeus Manlius Vulso were Lucius Manlius Vulso (praetor 197 BC) and Aulus Manlius Vulso , who 178 BC. Reached the consulate. In his generation, Gnaeus Manlius Vulso, as can be concluded from the comparison of his cursus honorum with that of his brothers, was the head of his family.

Early career

In 197 Gnaeus Manlius Vulso officiated as curular aedile and organized the most glamorous ludi Romani ever held with his colleague Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica . The aediles could afford this lavish performance because they came from very wealthy and respected Roman families. Their aim was to promote their further career. Two years after his brother Lucius, Gnaeus Manlius Vulso was 195 BC. . AD as Praetor also governor of Sicily ;. For the temple of Apollo on the Aegean island of Delos , he donated a golden laurel wreath either in his praetur or a little later.

consulate

Applications

In the candidacy for the consulate in 192 BC BC Gnaeus Manlius Vulso was just as empty as his competitor and former colleague Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica. Both repeated their candidacy for the highest office in the next year, this time Scipio Nasica was successful. Since in the consular elections for 190 BC B.C. the applicants favored by the Scipions had by far the greatest chances, Manlius Vulso should not even have allowed himself to be set up as a candidate. Eventually he was born in 189 BC. Chr. Still consul, because he had made a pact with the plebeian family of the Fulvians . Their applicant Marcus Fulvius Nobilior was chosen first and ensured that Manlius Vulso remained successful against two competitors from the ranks of the patricians .

Reasons and Sources for the Galatian War

The consul Lucius Cornelius Scipio Asiaticus had 190 BC With the help of his war-experienced brother Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus the war against the Seleucid ruler Antiochus III. be able to finish victoriously. 189 BC Fulvius Nobilior took over command in Greece and Manlius Vulso in Asia Minor . The latter happened around March 189 BC. To Ephesus , where he replaced Scipio Asiaticus as supreme commander in chief. He decided to fight the Galatians , among other things . As a reason for war, he gave not only that a contingent of Galatians on the side of Antiochus III. had fought, but also that this people had frequently visited their neighboring kingdoms. In reality, however, he was probably interested primarily in appropriating the Galatians' stolen wealth. In addition, he is likely to have acted without an official mandate from the Senate.

The war waged by Manlius Vulso was very successful, but degenerated into a campaign of looting and blackmail through Asia Minor. Hannibal wrote in Greek a polemical book about the military crimes of the consul, dedicated to the Rhodians, which has been lost. This writing, mentioned by Cornelius Nepos without any further details, was probably written soon after Manlius' campaign and served as anti-Roman propaganda. The most important source for the company is the report by the Greek historian Polybios , which is only partially preserved, but was used by the Roman historian Titus Livius . The detailed representation of Livy has been completely preserved. Also Appian moved Polybius approach as the source. For his part, Polybius relied on an excellent work, based on Xenophons Anabasis , by a Greek participant in Manlius' campaign. A quotation from Quintus Claudius Quadrigarius in Livy could indicate that this annalist used the consul's official report for his presentation.

Campaign through Southwest Asia Minor

Manlius Vulso urged the Pergameners to take part in his campaign. While King Eumenes II spoke to the Senate in Rome to promote his interests , his brothers Attalus II and Athenaeus agreed to send auxiliary troops to the Romans. The consul first visited the southwest of Asia Minor with his soldiers. Starting from Ephesus, he met Attalos in Magnesia on the meander , who brought 1,000 infantrymen and 500 cavalrymen with him. Athenaios was to join them later with the rest of the auxiliary troops. Then the combined forces crossed the Maiandros and moved up this river to the Carian city ​​of Antioch . There, the consul of Seleucus (IV.) , The son and co-regent of Antiochus III. Demanded that the Romans and Pergameners be provided with grain.

The next more important target of the Manlius Vulso, now advancing to the southeast, was the important South Phrygian city ​​of Kibyra ; the Moagetes dynast residing there had to buy the sparing of his territory from looting with 100 talents of silver and considerable deliveries of grain. Then the consul continued his raid through the Pamphylia countryside and finally reached Termessos , which was forced to pay 50 talents of silver. The further path led him north to the Pisidic city ​​of Sagalassos . The Romans devastated their fertile surrounding areas until they were handed a sum of money of 50 talents and wheat and barley were supplied as food supplies. On the advance to Synnada the consul met Seleucus (IV) who had hurried up from Apamea and gave him a guide. Sick and injured Romans as well as superfluous luggage were sent to Apamea. Many residents of nearby villages had fled for fear of the Roman troops. Upon reaching the Phrygian city of Abbassos , Manlius Vulso and his army came to the border area of ​​the Celtic-Galatian tribe of the Tolistoagians .

Fight against the Tolistoagians

Livy puts a long address into the mouth of Manlius Vulso to his soldiers, which the consul is said to have given before the campaign against the Galatians. After all, Manlius Vulso could actually have pointed out to the encouragement of his troops that their ancestors had often successfully fought against the Celts in Italy. Since many Galatians fled to high mountains, where they were difficult to attack, the Roman army was able to advance without much resistance. In Pessinus an oracle is said to have prophesied that the goddess Cybele would grant the Romans victory. The consul found Gordion deserted by the inhabitants.

A very bloody battle ensued when Manlius Vulso attacked the Tolistoagians entrenched with women and children on the steep mountain of Olympos. Before the attack, he had scouted the best ways to climb the mountain and divided his army into three divisions, one of which he led, his brother Lucius the second, and the legate Gaius Helvius the third. Attalus also assisted the Romans with his auxiliary troops. The use of numerous projectiles, spears and other long-range weapons contributed significantly to the consul's victory. So first the outposts of the Galatians were gunned down and then their camps were stormed. Refugees were killed or captured by the Roman cavalry. Since the terrain proved to be impassable and many of the dead fell into ravines, according to Polybius, the number of Roman enemies killed could not be determined. But the annalist Valerius Antias wanted to know that there were 10,000; his professional colleague Claudius Quadrigarius even gave four times that number. The Romans allegedly fell into the hands of 40,000 Tolistoagians.

Fight against Tektosages and Trokmer

The next goal of Manlius Vulso was the fight against the Galatian tribe of the Tectosages . That is why he moved from Mount Olympos in three days to Ankyra , the capital of the tectos sagas, and conquered it by surprise. While in Ankyra, a centurion raped a noble prisoner of war named Chiomara , who was married to Ortiagon , a leader of the Tolistoagians. The centurion wanted to release the victim in return for a ransom, but was beheaded when he was handed over on Chiomara's orders. In Ankyra, emissaries of the Tektosages held long-term peace negotiations with the consul, whom they wanted to lure into a deadly trap. They also tried to buy time to get their wives, children and treasures to safety behind the Halys River . On the way to one of the peace talks, Manlius Vulso was attacked by an enemy detachment and would have succumbed to superior strength if a nearby Roman troop had not intervened in the fighting in time.

Then a battle broke out around Mount Magaba , on which the tectos legend had established a permanent position. The Galatian tribe of the Trokmer had joined the tecto sagas, as had auxiliary troops of the Cappadocian king Ariarathes IV and the Paphlagonian dynast Morzios of Gangra . As in the battle for Mount Olympos, the consul sent the light infantry to the first attack, which in turn produced many dead and wounded among the closely packed enemy fighters through a hail of projectiles. The legions then advanced to the main thrust, but encountered little resistance because most of the opponents fled. Some of the Roman troops looted the Galatian camp, others pursued the refugees and killed around 8,000 of them. Manlius Vulso made great booty because the Galatians had stolen many treasures for a long time. He ordered the defeated enemies who had now come to him with peace offers to Ephesus, where he himself returned with his troops, because it had already become cold in the interior of Asia Minor in mid-autumn and accordingly.

Reorganization of Asia Minor

Manlius Vulso spent the winter in Ephesus, where numerous cities and states in Asia Minor, which had suffered from the frequent plundering of the Galatians, sent the consul congratulations and gifts such as gold crowns. Delegates of Antiochus III., Ariarathes IV. And the Galatians also came to Ephesus to find out the conditions for a peace that had been placed on them, but were sent back with only preliminary instructions.

With the beginning of the spring of 188 BC Manlius Vulso left Ephesus in the position of proconsul and moved over the Phrygian Apamea to Pamphylia, where envoy of Antiochus III. gave the Romans the required rate of money and grain deliveries. In Perge the proconsul agreed with the Seleucid commander of the city that he would withdraw his garrison within 30 days; because Antiochus III. had to cede the city to Eumenes II. In the meantime, Eumenes II and a commission of ten from the Roman Senate had arrived in Ephesus, with whom Manlius Vulso and the ambassadors of the Seleucid king met in Apamea. There the ten commissioners of the Seleucid side announced the definitive provisions for peace with Rome. After the conclusion of the treaty, the proconsul took the oath for the Roman side.

Now Manlius Vulso instructed the fleet commander Quintus Fabius Labeo in writing, the fleet of Antiochus III lying in front of Patara in Lycia . to destroy. Furthermore, with the support of the ten commissioners, he tackled the complete reorganization of Asia Minor. There Eumenes II rose to become the most powerful ruler by transferring ceded Seleucid territory. In the meantime Ariarathes IV had betrothed his daughter Stratonike to Eumenes II. This therefore enforced with the proconsul that Ariarathes IV only had to pay half instead of the 600 talents previously required.

Return to Rome and triumph

After completing his duties in Asia Minor, Manlius Vulso went with his troops and the commissioners to the Hellespont , where he dictated to the Galatian princes the terms of peace they had to observe with Eumenes II and other neighbors and warned them of further raids. He then crossed over to Europe with the Roman and Pergamene fleets. The Romans were initially able to move unmolested to Lysimacheia with their enormous booty, distributed among numerous wagons and pack animals . But then they came through independent Thracian territory and had to cross a narrow pass near Kypsela . Manlius Vulso divided his army into two divisions, which marched at the beginning and end of the column and took the booty into their midst. Nevertheless, the Romans were attacked by predatory Thracians and suffered considerable losses in men and valuable luggage. One of the commissioners, Quintus Minucius Thermus , was killed in the fighting. After crossing the Hebros there was another Thracian attack in the area of Tempyra , but this time the Romans repelled it more easily. After reaching the Macedonian border, the further march of Manlius Vulso and his army was more peaceful. During the winter, the former consul stopped in Apollonia .

Hardly was the election of the highest magistrates for 187 BC. Ended, the new consul Marcus Aemilius Lepidus opened the internal political disputes with the Fulvian party, in particular fighting Manlius Vulso and his consular colleague Marcus Fulvius Nobilior. After Lepidus and his fellow consul Gaius Flaminius had left for the province of Liguria assigned to them , Manlius Vulso arrived in Rome and at a senate session gave information about his achievements in the previous two years, which made him entitled to hold a triumphal procession . Lucius Furius Purpureo and Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus , the later conqueror of Perseus , rejected this request from the former consul . Both had belonged to the ten Senate commissioners attached to Manlius Vulso. Livius allows Manlius Vulso and his two opponents to speak in detail in speeches they have designed, but the core arguments of these speeches are likely to be historically true. Manlius Vulso was actually accused of having acted against the Galatians out of sheer greed and glory, as he was mainly held responsible for the misfortune that the Roman troops had suffered while passing through Thrace. The latter accusation seems to have also been mentioned by Polybius in his historical work.

Against considerable resistance, Manlius Vulso was finally able, with the help of his friends, to get permission to hold a triumph, which, however, in view of further hostility, he did not win until very late in 187 BC. Hosted. He displayed the treasures from the extraordinarily rich booty and distributed considerable sums of money to his soldiers. The people did not miss out either, as the Senate passed a law that any outstanding war taxes no longer had to be paid. Later, the alleged beginning of a moral decline of the Romans was attributed in particular to Manlius Vulso, because he had brought so many luxury goods from the east to Italy.

Next life

After the triumph, Manlius Vulso was apparently unable to continue his career because he failed in 184 BC. When applying for censorship . His further living conditions are unknown, as he is in the sources after the year 184 BC. No longer appears.

literature

Remarks

  1. Fasti Capitolini: Gnaeus Manlius Vulso Cn. f. L. n.
  2. ^ Friedrich Münzer: Manlius 91). In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume XIV, 1, Stuttgart 1928, Col. 1215 f.
  3. Livy 33:25 , 1.
  4. Livy 33, 42, 7 and 33, 43, 5.
  5. Inscriptions de Délos 442 , B, line 100.
  6. ^ Livy 35, 10, 2 and 35, 24, 4.
  7. Livius 37, 47, 6f.
  8. Livy 37:50, 8.
  9. Livy 37, 60, 1f .; 38, 12, 1-4; 38, 47, 8-48, 13; Appian , Syriaca 39 and 42.
  10. Cornelius Nepos , Hannibal 13, 2.
  11. Polybios 21, 33-39; Livy 38, 12-27 and 38, 37-41; Appian, Syriaca 39 and 42f.
  12. ^ Friedrich Münzer: Manlius 91). In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume XIV, 1, Stuttgart 1928, Sp. 1217.
  13. Livy 38:12, 1-13 , 10.
  14. Polybios 21, 34, 1-13; Livy 38, 13, 11-14, 14.
  15. Polybios 21, 35: 1-5; Livy 38:15, 1-6.
  16. Polybios 21, 36, 1-4; Livy 38:15, 7-15.
  17. Livius 38:17; Friedrich Münzer: Manlius 91). In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume XIV, 1, Stuttgart 1928, Sp. 1218.
  18. Polybios 21:37; Livy 38:18
  19. Livy 38, 19-23; Appian, Syriaca 42; among others
  20. Polybios 21, 38; Livy 38:24; among others
  21. Polybios 21, 39; Livy 38:25; Appian, Syriaca 42; Diodorus 29, 12.
  22. Livius 38, 26f .; Appian, Syriaca 42.
  23. Polybios 21, 43, 1-8; Livy 38, 37, 1-7.
  24. Polybios 21, 43, 9-46, 7; Livy 38, 37, 8 - 39, 1; Appian, Syriaca 39.
  25. Polybios 21, 47f .; Livy 38, 39.
  26. Polybios 21, 48, 12; Livy 38, 40, 1f.
  27. Polybios 21:49; Livy 38:40, 3-41, 10; 38, 46, 6-9; 38, 49, 7-12; Appian, Syriaca 43.
  28. Livy 38:41, 15; Appian, Syriaca 43.
  29. Livius 38, 44, 9f .; Appian, Syriaca 43.
  30. Livy 38: 45-49; Friedrich Münzer: Manlius 91). In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume XIV, 1, Stuttgart 1928, Col. 1221 f ..
  31. Livy 38:50, 1-3; 39, 6, 3ff. u. ö.
  32. Livy 39, 7, 1-5.
  33. Lucius Calpurnius Piso Frugi in Pliny , Naturalis historia 34, 14; Livy 39, 6, 7-9; Augustine , De civitate Dei 3, 21.
  34. Livy 39:40, 2.