Aulus Hirtius

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Aulus Hirtius (* around 90 BC; † April 21, 43 BC before Mutina ) was a Roman politician and writer of the late republic.

He was since 54 BC BC, perhaps as a legate , in the army of Gaius Julius Caesar in Gaul and became a confidante of the proconsul . End of 50 BC He went to Rome as Caesar's envoy, but turned back without having conducted negotiations. During the Civil War , he first served with Caesar in Hispania . 48 BC He could have been tribune of the people . 47 BC BC he was with Caesar in Antioch , the following year praetor . 45 BC BC Hirtius became governor, probably with the empire of a proconsul, of Gallia transalpina , Gaul, including Narbonensis , which had just been conquered by Caesar . Caesar nominated him and Gaius Vibius Panza Caetronianus as consuls of the year 43 BC. BC, with the result that Hirtius was deeply involved in the maneuvers of the individual parties after Caesar's murder.

Originally a follower of Mark Antony , Hirtius was successfully recruited for the senatorial side by Marcus Tullius Cicero , a personal friend . He advanced - later followed by Panza - with an army to attack Mark Antony, who was besieging Mutina at the time . Together with Octavian , Hirtius forced Antonius to retreat, but was slain on April 21 in the battle in front of Mutina . Just two days after him, Panza also succumbed to the serious injuries he had sustained in the Battle of Forum Gallorum . Both were honored together with a state funeral.

Hirtius added an eighth book to Caesar's De Bello Gallico , which he dedicated to his friend Lucius Cornelius Balbus Maior , and seems to have also been the author of the Bellum Alexandrinum . The earlier assumption that the same applies to the Bellum Africum and the Bellum Hispaniense has since been revised. Research today assumes that Hirtius was only their editor.

Hirtius' correspondence with Cicero was published in nine books, but most of it has been lost. Cicero dedicated the unfinished dialogue De fato ("On Fate") to him, in which he discusses the views of ancient philosophical schools on human destiny.

From about 45 BC Until his death was Hirtius Augur . He had a sister whom he, albeit without success, 46 BC. Chr. Cicero proposed as a new wife after his divorce.

In 1938 his tomb was discovered under the Palazzo della Cancelleria in Rome.

Work editions

  • C. Julii Caesaris Commentariorum De Bello Gallico lib. VII. Item A. Hirtii de eodem lib. VIII. Cum Facultate Superiorum. Formis Academicis. Dillingen an der Donau (print: Ignaz Mayer) 1654.

literature

Web links

Wikisource: Aulus Hirtius  - Sources and full texts (Latin)

Remarks

  1. ↑ Hieronymus , Adversus Iovinianum 1, 48.
  2. ^ Palazzo della Cancelleria. www.palazzidiroma.it, archived from the original on March 31, 2008 ; Retrieved on August 19, 2020 (Italian, three inscriptions A (ulus) Hirtius / A (uli) f (ilius) : CIL 6, 40899 , CIL 6, 40900 , CIL 6, 40901 ).
personal data
SURNAME Hirtius, Aulus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Roman politician and writer, consul 43 BC Chr.
DATE OF BIRTH around 90 BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH April 21, 43 BC Chr.
Place of death before Mutina