Lucius Minucius Thermus

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Lucius Minucius Thermus came from the Roman family of the Minucier and was 154 and 145 BC. Roman envoy in Egypt.

Life

Most probably identical with the treated here Lucius Minucius Thermus is the Roman historian Livy mentioned Lucius Minucius , the v 182-181. BC Legate of the praetor or propaetor Quintus Fulvius Flaccus in the province of Hispania was citerior . At that time, Flaccus successfully fought the Celtiberians , which Lucius Minucius then spoke about at the beginning of 180 BC. Reported to the Senate . In addition, Minucius stood up for Flaccus' interests against Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus one who had been elected the new praetor of Hispania citerior and therefore, in contrast to Flaccus, wanted his army to remain in the province.

When the consul Aulus Manlius Vulso in 178 BC BC took military action against the Histrer , Lucius Minucius Thermus was one of Vulso's legates and informed the Senate of this war at the beginning of the next year.

154 BC Chr. Appeared Ptolemy VIII. In Rome and asked for more emphatic support for his request, except the entities it controls Cyrene the island of Cyprus to get that under the rule of his older brother and the Egyptian king Ptolemy VI. was standing. But the senators only provided very modest assistance. Five envoys, including Lucius Minucius Thermus and Gnaeus Cornelius Merula , were supposed to assist Ptolemy VIII in the implementation of his Cyprus plans. For their mission they were equipped with five pentenes . Ptolemy VIII, however, was captured by his older brother.

When Thermus returned to Italy, he was accused by the famous censor Marcus Porcius Cato in a very fragmentary speech ( De Ptolemaeo minore contra Thermum ), which speaks of a death-worthy crime. The ancient historian Werner Huss thinks it is possible that Thermus after the capture of Ptolemy VIII for him with Ptolemy VI. negotiated and because of a bribe by Ptolemy VIII planned to commit an assassination attempt on his older brother, but was finally stopped from this project by the client himself. Even if this interpretation should be correct, it is not certain whether Cato was then right with his accusations. It is possible that earlier speeches by Cato were directed against Thermus.

After the death of Ptolemy VI. (145 BC) initially led his sister and widow Cleopatra II. The government in Alexandria . Soon Ptolemy VIII was invited by envoys to take over the rule, but met with resistance from his sister. At that time Thermus was again in Alexandria as the Roman envoy; Apparently, Cato's accusation had done him no further political damage. He is likely to have acted as a mediator between Cleopatra II and her brother and worked primarily in the interests of the Roman Empire.

literature

Remarks

  1. ↑ Livy 40, 35f .; on this Friedrich Münzer : Minucius 15). In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume XV, 2, Stuttgart 1932, Sp. 1942.
  2. ↑ Livy 41: 8, 5.
  3. ↑ Polybios 33, 11, 1-7; Werner Huss: Egypt in Hellenistic times. P. 573f.
  4. ↑ Enrica Malcovati : Oratorum Romanorum fragmenta liberae rei publicae (ORF) 8 F 177-181.
  5. ↑ Werner Huss: Egypt in Hellenistic times. P. 574f .; similar to Matthias Gelzer : Porcius 9). In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume XXII, 1, Stuttgart 1953, Col. 138.
  6. ↑ Friedrich Münzer: Minucius 63). In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume XV, 2, Stuttgart 1932, Sp. 1966.
  7. ↑ Werner Huss: Egypt in Hellenistic times. P. 599.
personal data
SURNAME Minucius Thermus, Lucius
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Thermus, Lucius Minucius
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Roman envoy to Egypt (154 and 145 BC)
DATE OF BIRTH 3rd century BC BC or 2nd century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH after 145 BC Chr.