Publius Sempronius Tuditanus

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Publius Sempronius Tuditanus was a member of the Roman noble family of Sempronians and was born in 209 BC. BC Censor and 204 BC Chr. Consul .

Early career

According to the testimony of the Fasti Capitolini , the father and grandfather of Publius Sempronius Tuditanus ran the Praenomen Gaius .

The majority of Tuditanus' military and political career fell in the time of Rome's existence-threatening struggle against Hannibal in the Second Punic War . Tuditanus must have had good relations with Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus , one of the most influential Roman politicians: he achieved all known offices up to censorship during a consulate of Fabius and, conversely, appointed censor (209 BC) against his will Official colleague made Fabius Princeps senatus , although according to the previous tradition the oldest censor Titus Manlius Torquatus would have had the first right to this office.

According to a description handed down by the Roman historian Titus Livius , which essentially goes back to the Roman poet Quintus Ennius via Lucius Coelius Antipater , but was not mentioned by the reliable and detailed historian Polybius , Tuditanus was a military tribune during the battle of Cannae, which ended in a devastating defeat for the Romans (216 BC), was in a small Roman camp behind the front and got through the enemy lines to Canusium with only 600 soldiers . Two years later (214 v. Chr.) Held Tuditanus along with Gnaeus Fulvius Centumalus Maximus the curule aedileship . Both men were born in 213 BC. BC Praetors . In this year and in the two following (213–211 BC) Tuditanus is said to have taken on the task of leading protective measures against invasions by the Gauls from Ariminum (now Rimini ) ; he even conquered the (otherwise unknown) city of Atrinum. This representation is probably unhistorical.

Censorship and peace agreement with Philip V of Macedonia

Without having reached the consulate, Tuditanus was together with Marcus Cornelius Cethegus in 209 BC. Elected censor and exercised strict supervision. With a proconsular empire, Tuditanus took over in 205 BC. The high command in the war in Illyria . In the previous year, however, the Aetolians , the allies of the Romans, had agreed on a reconciliation with the Macedonian King Philip V , so that Tuditanus now had to fight the Macedonians alone. First he fought against the renegade Illyrians, but gave the order to retreat to Apollonia when Philip V advanced with a superior army. As a result of the efforts of the Epiroten , the negotiations between Tuditanus and Philip V, which resulted in a peace treaty , came about in Phoinike and thus ended the First Macedonian War .

consulate

In the meantime, Tuditanus was elected consul for 204 BC. BC, allegedly during his absence from Rome in the Balkans. Marcus Cornelius Cethegus, with whom he had also held censorship, was placed at his side as a colleague. At first, the top two state officials faced financial and recruitment problems in the capital. Then Tuditanus moved to Bruttium to fight Hannibal there. Due to the contradicting sources, it is not possible to draw a precise picture of his military activities there. On the way he was attacked by Hannibal near Kroton in southern Italy and suffered a defeat. But then he was able to unite his army with that of the consul of the previous year, Publius Licinius Crassus Dives , and is said to have won a clear victory over Hannibal at Kroton as a result. At that time Tuditanus swore to the goddess Fortuna Primigenia of Praeneste to build a temple on the Quirinal ; this sanctuary was consecrated 10 years later.

According to Livy, Tuditanus is said to have conquered Clampetia in Bruttium while still in his consulate ; in addition, Consentia and other localities surrendered to him voluntarily. But this report of Livy contradicts his statements for the next year of the war 203 BC. According to which Tuditanus' successor in office Gnaeus Servilius Caepio had achieved the submission of Clampetia and Consentia. Allegedly, Tuditanus was also 203 BC. Chr. Present as proconsul in the theater of Bruttium.

Diplomatic mission to the east

Along with Gaius Claudius Nero and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus , Tuditanus was the third envoy of a 200 BC. Delegation sent to the east. The three Romans first traveled to Greece and stopped in Athamanien , Athens and Rhodes . Lepidus brought Philip V an ultimatum because of his warlike activities against Rhodes, Pergamon and remote Ptolemaic possessions, which the Macedonian king rejected and thus triggered the Second Macedonian War . The delegation traveled on to Antiochus III. who fought the Fifth Syrian War against the Ptolemies at the time . Although the Roman envoys called on the Seleucid king to a ceasefire, they did not represent Egyptian interests very emphatically. On the onward journey they visited Ptolemy V in Alexandria and thanked him for the loyalty his father had shown to Rome during the Second Punic War. Because of their non-interference in the Ptolemaic-Seleucid conflict, their mission for the Egyptian king was nevertheless disappointing.

After the report on the delegation's trip to the East, Tuditanus is no longer mentioned in the sources.

literature

Remarks

  1. F. Münzer (see Lit.), Col. 1444.
  2. That the period from 219 to 216 BC 3rd Book of the Histories of Polybius , which deals with the Second Punic War, is completely preserved.
  3. Livy 22:50 , 6-12; 22, 60, 8-18; Frontinus , strategemata 4, 5, 7 and Appian , Hannibalica 26 differ in the details .
  4. Livy 24:43, 6-8.
  5. Livy 24:43, 6; 24, 44, 3; 24, 47, 14; 25, 3, 5; 26, 1, 5; on this DNP, Vol. 11, Col. 396.
  6. Livy 27:11 , 7-16; 27, 36, 6-8.
  7. Livy 29:12, 2-16; Zonaras 9, 11; Appian, Macedonica 3.
  8. Fasti Capitolini; Cicero , Brutus 58; Cato maior de senectute 10; Livy 29:11, 10; 29, 12, 16; 29, 13, 1; among others
  9. Livy 29:13 , 8; 29, 15, 5ff .; 29, 16, 6f.
  10. Livy 29:13 , 1-3; 29, 34, 4f .; 29, 36, 6-9 (with exaggerated numbers of enemies killed and captured); Zonaras 9, 11; Cassius Dio , fragment 57, 70.
  11. Livy 29, 36, 8; 34, 53, 5.
  12. Livy 29:38, 1.
  13. Livy 30:19 , 11.
  14. Livy 30: 1, 3; 30, 27, 7.
  15. Polybios 16, 27 and 34; Livy 31, 2, 3f .; on this Werner Huss : Egypt in the Hellenistic Period 332–30 BC Chr . CH Beck, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-406-47154-4 , p. 420 f., 496 f . ; but the events are chronologically unclear.