Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus (Consul 54 BC)

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Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus (* 98 BC ; † 48 BC at Pharsalus ) was a Roman politician of the outgoing republic .

He was the son of Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus , consul 96 BC. And husband of Porcia , sister of the younger Cato . In the sources, Domitius first met in 74 BC. When he appeared as a witness in a trial of Gaius Verres . In the following years he apparently worked as a lawyer; 73 BC He appeared as a representative of the Roman tax farmers in a trial against the inhabitants of the Greek Oropos . As a staunch supporter of the aristocratic party of the Optimates, Domitius was a friend of Marcus Tullius Cicero and an enemy of Gaius Julius Caesar . At first he also fought against Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus and the triumvirate , but allied with Pompey against Caesar before the outbreak of civil war . He was Treasurer 66 BC. BC and curular aedile 61 BC In the year 59 BC Lucius Vettius , a informer hired by Caesar, accused him of participating in a conspiracy. The allegations quickly turned out to be baseless and Vettius was murdered in prison (so-called "Vettius affair"). As praetor in 58 BC He tried together with his colleague Gaius Memmius to prevent the ratification of Caesar's office as consul.

Domitius Ahenobarbus applied for the election as consul for the year 55 BC. BC and campaigned for himself by announcing that Caesar would be relieved of his command and his provinces. However, he was overtaken by the triumvirs who agreed to make Pompey and Crassus consuls that year. In the elections in January 55, they attacked the rival candidate Ahenobarbus and thus prevailed. Eventually, however, Domitius, together with Appius Claudius Pulcher , became consul for the year 54 BC. In the year 52 BC After being reconciled with Pompey, he was chairman of the trial against Titus Annius Milo . Between 57 and 50 BC He was elected pontiff , but was defeated by Marcus Antonius when he was elected Augur in 50 BC. Chr.

49 BC Domitius was appointed by the Senate to succeed Caesar as governor in Gaul on the other side of the Alps ( Gallia Transalpina ) (January 7, 49). After the outbreak of civil war (January 10, 49 with Caesar's march on Rome) he commanded the troops of Pompey in the fight against Caesar in Corfinium , where he was defeated. Although he was treated with generosity after the defeat of Caesar, he incited Massilia ( Marseille ) to oppose him unsuccessfully. After his defeat, he went to Greece to Pompey, where he was in Pharsalos with Lentulus Spinther and Metellus Scipio fought for the office of Pontifex Maximus for the time after the victory against Caesar. After the lost battle of Pharsalus , in which he commanded the left wing against Caesar, he was slain while fleeing.

His son Gnaeus was 32 BC. Chr. Consul.

literature

Remarks

  1. ↑ Eduard Meyer, Caesars Monarchie und das Principat des Pompejus , p. 577, deduces this date of birth from the fact that Ahenobarbus was born for the year 55 BC. BC applied for consul: The phrase "suo anno" ("his year") in Cicero , ad Atticum 4, 8b suggests that he was 55, the minimum age for consuls - 43 years.
  2. ↑ Cicero, Reden gegen Verres 1,139, where Cicero calls him "adulescens clarissimus ac princeps iuventutis".
  3. ↑ On this legal dispute Theodor Mommsen , The legal dispute between Oropos and the Roman tax farmers , in: Hermes 20, 1885, pp. 268–287, on Domitius, p. 283.
  4. ↑ On the Vettius affair, for example, Meyer, Caesars Monarchie und das Principat des Pompeius , pp. 84–87.
  5. ^ Suetonius , Caesar 23; Nero 2. On this Karl Christ , Crisis and Fall of the Roman Republic , p. 300 f. and also Meyer, Caesar's Monarchy and the Principate of Pompey , pp. 93 f.
  6. ↑ Election promise: Suetonius, Caesar 24. Assault: Cassius Dio 39.31; Appian 2.17.64. General information on the consul election 55 BC Chr .: Christ, Crisis and Fall of the Roman Republic , pp. 308 f., 311; Meyer, Caesar's Monarchy and the Principate of Pompey , pp. 136, 153 f.
  7. ↑ Caesar, De bello civili ; Plutarch , Pompey 74; Appian, Civil Wars 2.76–82.
personal data
SURNAME Domitius Ahenobarbus, Lucius
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ahenobarbus, Lucius Domitius
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Roman politician; Consul 54 BC Chr.
DATE OF BIRTH 98 BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH 48 BC Chr.
Place of death at Pharsalus