Publius Valerius Poplicola (Consul 475 BC)

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Publius Valerius Poplicola († 460 BC ) was a politician of the early Roman Republic who came from the patrician family of the Valerians . In the years 475 BC BC and 460 BC He officiated as consul .

Life

Publius Valerius Poplicola was the son of the important multiple consul of the same name . According to the Fasti Capitolini, his grandfather used the prenomen Volusi . The tradition about him, as for all persons of the time of the early Roman Republic, is historically unreliable; among other things, it was strongly painted by the family legend.

According to the Roman historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus , Publius Valerius Poplicola and his brother Marcus were supposed to be during the Battle of Lake Regillus in 496 BC. He hurried to the aid of his dying uncle Marcus Valerius . The brothers carried their uncle out of the fray and then took part in the battle again, ultimately falling.

These statements by Dionysius contradict his own account, which was given in the further course of his historical work, but also the other sources, according to which Publius Valerius Poplicola lived much longer. So Dionysius tells first that Poplicola in 492 BC BC bought grain with a second high-ranking Roman on behalf of the Senate in Sicily . The Roman historian Titus Livius also reports on this mission, but does not name the participants. It was probably only historians who lived during the late Roman Republic who came up with the names of the ambassadors given by Dionysius.

Together with Gaius Nautius Rutilus , Poplicola rose for the first time in 475 BC. To the highest state office, the consulate. He waged war against the Veienti and Sabines , defeated them in front of the Etruscan city Veji and was allowed to celebrate a triumph for this success , but he did not succeed in conquering Veji. Confused details of the warlike events reported by Livius and Dionysius may go back to the annalist Valerius Antias .

In the further course of his vita, Poplicola appears in the tradition as a people-friendly statesman. When the consul Appius Claudius Crassus Inregillensis Sabinus in 471 BC BC fought out a controversy with the tribunes about the proposed law of Volero Publilius ( concerning the election of plebeian magistrates) , Poplicola displayed a mediating attitude in this dispute.

462 BC BC Poplicola is said to have been Interrex . Two years later, 460 BC. In any case, he officiated for the second time as consul, with Gaius Claudius Crassus Inregillensis Sabinus as his colleague. At that time there was a threat of clashes between the aristocratic upper class and the plebeians over the proposed law, which the tribune Gaius Terentilius Harsa in 462 BC. BC (namely to set up a five-man commission to restrict the powers of the consuls) to become a danger for Rome because in the meantime Appius Herdonius occupied the Capitol with exiles, clients and slaves . Poplicola assured the plebs that he would allow a consultation on Terentilius' request, and thus achieved that the citizens were ready to fight against Herdonius. During the subsequent storming of the Capitol, he was fatally hit by a stone. The plebs also made a financial contribution to the solemn celebration of his funeral.

literature

Remarks

  1. ↑ Fasti Capitolini ad annum 460 BC Chr.
  2. ^ A b Hans Volkmann : Valerius 301. In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Altertumswwissenschaft (RE). Volume VIII A, 1, Stuttgart 1955, Col. 178-180 (here: 178).
  3. ^ Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Antiquitates Romanae 6, 12.
  4. ↑ Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Antiquitates Romanae 7, 1, 3, and 7, 1, 6.
  5. ^ Livy, Ab urbe condita 2, 34, 3 and 2, 34, 7.
  6. ^ Livius, Ab urbe condita 2, 52, 6ff .; Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Antiquitates Romanae 9, 28; Diodor , Bibliothéke historiké 11, 60; among others
  7. ↑ Triumphal Acts; Livy, Ab urbe condita 2, 53; Dionysios of Halicarnassus, Antiquitates Romanae 9, 34f.
  8. ^ Hans Volkmann: Valerius 301. In: Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswwissenschaft (RE). Volume VIII A, 1, Stuttgart 1955, Col. 178-180 (here: 179).
  9. ^ Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Antiquitates Romanae 9, 49.
  10. ^ Livy, Ab urbe condita 3, 8, 4.
  11. ↑ Fasti Capitolini ad annum 460 BC Chr .; Livy, Ab urbe condita 3:15 ; Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Antiquitates Romanae 10, 9; Diodor, Bibliothéke historiké 11, 85; among others
  12. ^ Livy, Ab urbe condita 3, 17f .; Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Antiquitates Romanae 10, 15f .; among others
personal data
SURNAME Valerius Poplicola, Publius
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Poplicola, Publius Valerius
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Roman consul 475 BC BC and 460 BC Chr.
DATE OF BIRTH 6th century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH 460 BC Chr.