Publius Ventidius Bassus

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Publius Ventidius Bassus (* shortly before 89 BC; † after 38 BC) was a Roman general and 43 BC. Chr. Suffect consul .

Marcus Antonius on the obverse of a denarius struck by Ventidius with the legend M ANT IMP III VIR RPC . Jupiter Victor can be seen on the back, in connection with the legend P VENTIDI, PONT IMP .

origin

Publius Ventidius Bassus was the son of a not further known Publius Ventidius. According to Aulus Gellius , he was like Ventidius Bassus himself a mule driver. Ventidius Bassus was born in Picenum , most likely in Asculum or Auximum.

Whether Ventidius Bassus was actually of as low an origin as claimed in the sources is doubted in modern science. Aside from the fact that men like him, who rose so strongly from relatively modest backgrounds, liked to paint their beginnings as particularly low for literary reasons, the fact that he had to take part in a triumphal procession as a toddler suggests a noble parentage conclude. Perhaps he was born into a leading Italian family that became impoverished because of their participation in the alliance war against Rome.

Early life

The chronologically first known event in the life of Ventidius Bassus is mentioned only by imperial, not by contemporary authors: then he had a little boy with his mother along with many other prisoners in Rome before the car of the triumphant Gnaeus Pompey Strabo fro, the case on 25 December 89 BC Celebrated his victory over the Asculans and Picenter.

Ventidius Bassus had a phenomenal career. He was poor in his younger years and probably had to work as a mule driver, but over time he grew to some degree of prosperity such that he could sell mules to provincial officials. Later, many envious people liked to hold homo novus in front of his original work. But the fortune thus acquired formed the basis for his social advancement.

Career under Caesar

The greatest initial sponsor of the young Ventidius Bassus was none other than Gaius Iulius Caesar , whom he served during his Gallic campaign (58–51 BC) and then in the civil war (from 49 BC), perhaps initially as a supplier of pack animals and wagons for the Roman army and later in military positions. He carried out all tasks - as later as General of Antony - very energetically and won the respect and friendship of Caesar through punctual and precise execution of his orders.

Caesar had Ventidius Bassus admitted to the Senate , probably in 47 BC. When the great general made many of his companions senators in order to reward them and to win loyal followers for his policy in this decisive political body. 46 or 45 BC Bassus received the tribunate of the people . Before his assassination (on the Ides of March 44 BC), Caesar had determined those people who were to hold the most important government offices in the next few years. So Ventidius Bassus was born in June 44 BC. After Caesar's will praetor for 43 BC. Chr. Determined.

Career under Antonius until 43 BC Chr.

Ventidius Bassus probably joined as early as June 44 BC. To the later triumvir Mark Antony , who was the most powerful of the former followers of the murdered Caesar and who sought his successor. In any case, Ventidius Bassus began to raise about since July 44 BC. Two legions (probably in the Caesarian veteran colonies in Campania and Apulia ) for Antonius. This seems to have taken longer; the exact chronology for this can not be worked out clearly from the writings of Cicero . According to Appian, who also does not classify the events chronologically correctly, Cicero is said to have fled Rome from Ventidius Bassus, while Cicero's own words only know that he was still in July 44 BC. BC did not take the warnings of his friend Titus Pomponius Atticus about the former muleteer too seriously.

Only from March 43 BC Ventidius Bassus reappears in the sources. The consul Aulus Hirtius and the young Caesar heir Octavian (later Emperor Augustus ) came to the aid of the Caesar murderer Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus , who was besieged by Antonius in Mutina, along the Via Aemilia and threatened to involve Antony's troops in a two-front war. Therefore Ventidius Bassus tried to send reinforcements to Antonius, raised a third legion for this purpose in his homeland Picenum and waited there for the time being. The fact that he did not seek to unite with Antonius right away may be due to the fact that Antonius apparently learned that the second consul, Gaius Vibius Panza Caetronianus , was rushing to the aid of four other newly recruited legions, Decimus Brutus. Therefore Ventidius Bassus and his troops seem to have blocked the most important road that led to the battlefield, the Via Flaminia . Pansa is likely to have switched to the Via Cassia, which Ventidius Bassus can no longer monitor, and was able to unite with an auxiliary corps sent to meet him by Hirtius, but then suffered a heavy defeat at Forum Gallorum against Antonius . Then Hirtius came with elite troops and was in turn able to defeat Antonius. The two consuls and Octavian fought in the following battle of Mutina on April 21, 43 BC. Chr. Antonius again without Ventidius Bassus being able to assist him, since he and his army were still too far east of Bononia.

At the end of April, the Senate, headed by Cicero, decided to declare Ventidius Bassus, like many other supporters of Antonius, an enemy of the state. Octavian, however, whom the Senate had now wanted to drop in misunderstanding of the military situation, sought a reconciliation with Antonius and proposed to Ventidius Bassus either to join his army or to get a free retreat to Antonius in order to make an alliance with him bring closer. Ventidius Bassus decided to move west to Antonius, and therefore set out on April 23, 43 BC. BC, unmolested by Octavian, on the strenuous, mountainous route across the Apennines , as his opponents kept the Via Aemilia occupied. In contrast to Octavian, Decimus Brutus, like the Senate, did not want an understanding with Antonius and therefore persecuted him in order to be able to finally destroy him. To do this, he absolutely had to prevent the troops of Antonius from being reinforced by those of Ventidius Bassus. Although this was forced to cope with longer and more difficult routes than the Decimus Brutus, marching north on the Via Aemilia, it had a considerable time advantage. Hans Georg Gundel estimates that Ventidius Bassus led his troops to the Ligurian coast on a 375 km long route in around 12 days, and attests that he has great leadership skills. After this enormous march performance, the general was able to bring his troops in Vada Sabatia west of Genoa Antonius (around May 3, 43 BC).

For Antonius this increase in his troops was extremely welcome, as it strengthened his military position considerably, since his own troops were already decimated and very used up. Decimus Brutus therefore had to behave defensively and the still undecided Marcus Aemilius Lepidus may only have joined him (on May 29, 43 BC) because of the now much stronger position of Antonius. According to a comment by Decimus Brutus in a letter to Cicero, the troops of Ventidius Bassus supposedly wanted to stay in Italy after their arrival at Antonius and initially turn northwest to Pollentia . But Decimus Brutus was able to take Pollentia an hour before the arrival of an advance guard sent by Antonius under Lucius Trebellius (on May 10, 43 BC). But this maneuver was probably only staged as a diversion, in order to put Antonius in a position to withdraw unmolested along the sea to the west. It can also hardly be assumed that Ventidius Bassus marched along to Pollentia under the command of Trebellius.

There is no news of Ventidius Bassus for the next few months; but he should have been involved in the preliminary negotiations for the conclusion of the second triumvirate . This was sealed at the important meeting of Antonius, Octavian and Lepidus in Bononia (October 43 BC) and gave the three men complete power over the west of the empire (the eastern provinces were occupied by the Caesar murderers). In any case, Ventidius Bassus was born in the second half of 43 BC. Appointed pontiff .

Octavian laid on November 27, 43 BC BC, when the triumvirate was formally confirmed by the Titic Law, his office as consul down; the second consul, Quintus Pedius , had given his time a little earlier. Therefore, a follower of Antonius and Octavian were each appointed as new suffect consuls: Ventidius Bassus (who resigned his praetor office) and Gaius Carrinas Since Octavian held a much higher office as a triumvir, it was easy for him to renounce the dignity of a consul, while Antony the Ventidius Bassus rewarded with the bestowal of this office for his important services. Even if nothing is reported about the activity of the homo novus as consul, the terrible proscriptions , the most prominent victim of which was Cicero, fell during his term of office . In Rome, verses of mockery about the favorites of the new rulers, including Ventidius Bassus, were publicly smeared on the walls, pointing to his lowly origins as a mule driver and expressing the displeasure of the population about his unusual rise.

Peruvian War

When Antony 42 BC BC went to the Balkans together with Octavian in order to render the murderers of Caesar harmless there, he should have appointed his confidante Ventidius Bassus as governor of Gallia comata .

But only with the description of the Peruvian War in 41 BC Ventidius Bassus reappears in the sources. According to Cassius Dio , who only mentions the Antonian general at this point in his brief report on this war, Ventidius Bassus (together with Quintus Fufius Calenus ) did not allow the soldiers sent by Octavian to Spain to cross the Alps and thus provided a reason for the outbreak of this War. Appian's account, which is the main source for the bellum Perusinum and probably (at least indirectly) goes back to the reliable historical work of war participant Gaius Asinius Pollio , only reports that the latter prevented Octavian's troops from marching on, but finally came to an agreement with them. One can only work out the share of Ventidius Bassus in the acts of war more precisely from Appian's account.

After the outbreak of war in Italy, Octavian ordered Quintus Salvidienus Rufus Salvius, who was moving to Spain with an army, to retreat. However, Asinius Pollio pursued this from the Cisalpina and Ventidius Bassus from Gaul; Together with Quintus Fufius Calenus, now governor of all of Gaul, these three commanders of Antony commanded eleven legions. When Salvidienus was also threatened from the south by Lucius Antonius , he had to fear being worn out between the two armies of Antonius. But Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa , the genius general of Octavian, was able to surprisingly take sutrium and thus threaten Lucius Antonius from a second side. The brother of the triumvir therefore wanted to join the army of Ventidius Bassus quickly, but decided to receive them in Perusia. However, Octavian and his two generals Agrippa and Salvidienus closed a ring of siege around Lucius Antonius, who was in Perusia, and at the same time built defensive positions against the relief armies, which were commanded by Ventidius Bassus and Asinius Pollio from the north and Lucius Munatius Plancus from the south advanced. But since the generals of Mark Antony apparently did not like to see a new war between the triumvirs, they argued about the supreme command and also did not hear anything about Mark Antony staying in distant Egypt with Cleopatra VII , they lacked the right desire to fight and they also went after one Manius's appeal for help from Lucius Antonius did not convey a decisive attempt to break through to Perusia. There was also an aversion between the Antonian generals; Munatius Plancus despised Ventidius Bassus because of his earlier profession as a mule driver. Now one of the main initiators of the war, the emancipated Fulvia , who as the wife of Mark Antony represented his interests against Octavian in Italy, tried to persuade Ventidius Bassus and other allied generals such as Munatius Plancus to intervene more forcefully. Asinius Pollio and Ventidius Bassus made an attempt at relief for Perusia, but could not overcome the much weaker defenses, on the contrary even withdrew from the army of Agrippa and Octavian spatially separated to Ravenna and Ariminum (today Rimini ), where they withdrew without a fight were detained by Octavian's troops. Apparently they still did not lead the fight with all the sharpness, since they should have been able to break through to Perusia due to their troop strength. Instead, Lucius Antonius had to endure the winter in this city and, along with his people, increasingly suffered from hunger. Ventidius Bassus and other Antonian generals tried once more in the beginning of 40 BC. To blow up the blockade of Perusia, but apparently again without any particular enthusiasm, since they were quickly pushed by Agrippa and Salvidienus to Fulginiae , where they communicated with Lucius Antonius via fire signs, but could not bring relief. In addition, Ventidius Bassus and Asinius Pollio pursued a completely different strategy for the further procedure than Munatius Plancus. In the end, the armies that should have helped Lucius Antonius withdrew at all (although they supposedly still had a remarkable 13 legions) and caused Perusia to settle in late February 40 BC. Had to surrender. The generals of Mark Antony marched separately, pursued by Octavian's army detachments, to various cities in Italy (Brundisium, Ravenna, Taranto) without wanting to continue fighting. In this war, Ventidius Bassus was not particularly committed to the above-mentioned reasons, despite his considerable military abilities which had emerged in other battles, and therefore he was not able to distinguish himself.

Nothing is known about the route of Ventidius Bassus and his further actions in the next few months, except that the two legions of Munatius Plancus, who fled to Greece with Fulvia to Marcus Antonius, now chose Ventidius Bassus as their commander. So the latter must have remained loyal to Antonius.

When Mark Antony finally arrived in Italy, the war-weary troops prevented further fighting among the triumvirs, which therefore secured further peace in the Treaty of Brundisium (September 40 BC).

Parthian campaign

Antonius now commissioned Ventidius Bassus, as proconsul with eleven legions, the Parthians and Quintus Labienus from the 41 BC, who had passed over to them. To drive out conquered Asia Minor and Syria . This planned reconquest of lost Roman territories was intended to reestablish the Euphrates as the imperial border. According to Cassius Dio, Ventidius Bassus was said to be only after the Treaty of Misenum at the beginning of 39 BC. BC, while after the probably more reliable Appian he moved to the east immediately after the Treaty of Brundisium and therefore probably already at the beginning of 39 BC. Opened the war. Since Appian reported extensively on the Parthian Wars in his own book of his historical work, which was lost, Cassius Dio is the main source.

Labienus withdrew from Asia Minor to the Taurus without a fight and from there called the Parthians for help, who soon advanced, but did not even wait for the reinforcements of Labienus' troops. Instead, they immediately advanced against the army of Ventidius Bassus, who proved to be an excellent tactician in the battles that followed, which were so successful for him. He chose a suitable battlefield for his troops with great military skill and also calculated the equipment and troop strength of the enemy precisely in order to then quickly achieve victory in a quick attack based on the surprise effect with as little own losses as possible. This tactic, which led to the brilliant victories of Ventidius Bassus, was taught to later generals as an example. This time he had set up camp on a mountain and surrounded it with strong entrenchments. He waited until the Parthians had climbed the summit and were tired as a result, and only then stormed all the more violently at his opponents, who, moreover, could not bring their dreaded archers to their full advantage because of the terrain. They suffered a heavy defeat and had to retreat to Cilicia . Labienus, whose army largely passed over to the general of Antonius, also fled to Cilicia, but was soon killed there.

Cilicia was now in the hands of Ventidius Bassus, who wanted to march on over the Amanus Pass to Syria. But his legate, Poppaedius (?) Silo, who had hurried ahead , came too late, as Pharnapates already occupied this pass on behalf of the Parthian king's son Pakoros . Silo was defeated and only saved by the surprising appearance of the main Roman power under Ventidius Bassus, who again brilliantly defeated the opponents on Mount Trapezon with a sophisticated strategy; Pharnapates fell in battle (in the summer of 39 BC).

The Parthians now had to retreat behind the Euphrates (around autumn 39 BC) , while Ventidius Bassus occupied Syria and Palestine and from the local rulers who had joined the Parthians (e.g. the Nabatean king Malchos , Antiochus von Kommagene , Antigonus , who fought for Judea with Herod the Great ), collected large amounts of compensation. Since Rome supported Herod militarily in regaining his throne, Ventidius Bassus should actually have fought Antigonus, but because of the efforts of the campaign so far, he was satisfied with the contributions, which the Jewish historian Flavius ​​Josephus of course interprets as bribes from Antigonus. Now Ventidius Bassus and his legions moved into winter quarters, which were laid out over a large area from Cappadocia to Syria because of the difficult provisioning .

Early 38 BC The king's son Pakoros wanted to invade Syria again after new levies. Antonius stayed in Athens and left Ventidius Bassus to continue defending the Parthians. Since his troops camped far apart, the Roman general needed time to gather them and had to fear a quick offensive by Pakoros, which would have been a complete success for the Parthians. But now Ventidius Bassus knew a border prince, of whose contacts with the Parthians he knew. He told him, apparently confidentially, that the Romans hoped that Pakoros would attack near Zeugma on the Euphrates, since the Parthians could not use their cavalry and archers so well there because of the nature of the terrain. As the Romans had hoped, the prince immediately brought the wrong news to the Parthians, who then unwisely did not cross the Euphrates at a different (unknown) point on the shortest route at Zeugma, and thus lost 40 days. Ventidius Bassus used this time to gather his army quickly, which was completed three days before the arrival of the Pakoros. At Gindaros , north-east of Antioch, which was both in the center of the rallying movement of his army and in the defensive area against the Parthians, he set up his well-protected camp. Again he let the Asiatic warriors move closer to the Roman entrenchments and only then opened the powerful and concentrated counter-attack. He won the whole length and Pakoros also had to lose his life on the other side. This defeat, which was so devastating for the Parthians, deterred them from further incursions into the Roman Empire for the next few decades. Later historical falsification claimed that this decisive victory of Ventidius Bassus took place on the 15th anniversary of the devastating defeat of Marcus Licinius Crassus at Carrhae against the Parthians (June 9, 53 BC); after all, it should actually be in June 38 BC. Have been achieved.

Ventidius Bassus was now being dubbed emperor by his army (as was the actual ruler of the eastern half of the empire, Marcus Antonius, who had not yet made any contribution to the Roman victories). H. Gundel connects coins of Ventidius Bassus, which designate him as emperor, with his victory on Gindaros and accordingly dates them to the year 38 BC. BC, while according to other researchers it was in 41 or 39 BC. Were minted. On the obverse of these coins appears the head of Antonius, on the reverse the representation of a male figure, which is interpreted in different ways, either as a picture of Ventidius Bassus with a spear and olive branch in his hands or as Iuppiter Victor with a scepter and a laurel branch.

Ventidius Bassus refrained from further advancing into the Parthian Empire because, according to Plutarch, he was afraid of Antonius' jealousy, but in any case had not received any commission from him. William Shakespeare put the wisdom into Ventidius Bassus' mouth in beautiful verse that it is not wise for a general to achieve greater victories than his superior. Instead, the successful Roman general went over to suppressing further resistance, for example in Syrian cities, by having the cut off head of Pakoros publicly shown there in order to scare his enemies. He also provided military aid to Herod, whom he sent two legions to reinforce. Then he besieged Antiochus of Kommagene in Samosata , the capital of Northern Syria . He accused him of protecting escaped enemies from the Romans, but was primarily after the king's huge treasures. The capture of the strong fortress of Antiochus did not succeed, but the latter was already ready to pay a thousand talents for a peace treaty when Antony, envious of the victories of Ventidius Bassus, arrived and now took over the high command himself (approx. July 38 BC .). However, the Triumvir did much less and had to be content with only 300 talents in reparation payments from Antiochus. 36 BC Chr. Antonius should then suffer a complete defeat in a counter-offensive against the Parthians and therefore could not in the least connect to the successes of Ventidius Bassus.

The commander, who had become too successful, probably accompanied Antonius to Athens and was then able to console himself at home in Rome with the fact that he was the first to celebrate a triumph over the Parthians (November 27, 38 BC). The military merits of Antonius were also thought of again, although he had not contributed anything to the Parthian victories and was not present in Rome. Sallust is said to have written a speech for the triumph of Ventidius Bassus, which some scholars consider fictitious. The speech is not received.

death

There is no news of the further fate of Ventidius Bassus. Presumably he died before the battle of Actium (31 BC), as he received a state funeral after Gellius, which, as a friend of Antonius, he would hardly have been granted after his defeat by the now sole ruler Octavian.

literature

  • Hans Georg Gundel : Ventidius 5) . In: Paulys Realenzyklopädie der classical antiquity , Vol. VIII A 1, Sp. 795–816.
  • Jochen Bleicken : Augustus . Berlin 1998. pp. 112f .; 126f .; 139f .; 192f .; 216f.
  • Daniel Bühler, power and loyalty. Publius Ventidius: A Roman career between republic and monarchy , Munich 2009. (New, detailed scientific study that shows the possibilities and limits of a climber in the age of the fall of the republic using the life course of Ventidius as an example, but in its results partly from the above article deviates.)

Remarks

  1. ↑ It is not certain whether Ventidius actually officially carried the Cognomen Bassus , since it is rarely and only attested by later authors (e.g. Gellius 15, 4, 2.4); the surviving fasting tables (e.g. for the Parthian triumph) do not mention any cognomen of Ventidius
  2. ↑ On the coin shown here, IMP cannot be recognized on the obverse, but there are copies of the coin that have this designation for Antonius. See Bühler, Macht und Treue, p. 198, FN6.
  3. ↑ Velleius Paterculus 2, 65, 3; Cassius Dio 43, 51, 4
  4. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l Gellius 15, 4, 3.
  5. ↑ Gundel (see Lit.), Col. 796f.
  6. ↑ See review in Sehepunkte zu Daniel Bühler, Macht und Treue , Munich 2009, pp. 14–44.
  7. ↑ Deviating from the rest of the tradition, Cassius Dio , 43, 51, 4–5 , states that Ventidius had already fought against the Romans.
  8. ↑ Velleius Paterculus 2, 65, 3 ; Valerius Maximus 6, 9, 9 ; Pliny , Natural History 7, 135 ; Juvenal 7, 199-201 .
  9. ↑ Cf. for example Lucius Munatius Plancus in Cicero , ad familiares 10, 18, 3 (from the year 43 BC).
  10. ↑ Pliny, Natural History 7, 135; Appian , Civil Wars 3, 66, 270.
  11. ^ Cassius Dio 43, 51, 5
  12. ↑ Cassius Dio 43, 51, 5; Valerius Maximus 6, 9, 9; among others
  13. ↑ Civil Wars 3, 66, 270f.
  14. ↑ ad Atticum 16, 1, 4.
  15. ^ Appian, Civil Wars 3, 66, 271.
  16. ↑ According to Cicero ( Philippika 12, 20; 12, 23) he was at least at the beginning of March 43 BC In northern Picenum.
  17. ^ Cicero, ad Brutum 1, 3, 4.
  18. ^ Appian, Civil Wars 3, 80, 328
  19. ↑ Decimus Brutus in Cicero, ad familiares 11, 10, 3.
  20. ↑ (see lit.), col. 801.
  21. ^ Decimus Brutus in Cicero, ad familiares 11, 10, 3 and 11, 13, 3; Gaius Asinius Pollio in Cicero, ad familiares 10, 33, 4
  22. ↑ ad familiares 11, 13, 3.
  23. ↑ Cicero, ad familiares 11, 13, 4.
  24. ↑ H. Gundel, Col. 801.
  25. ^ Inscriptions on coins.
  26. ^ Tables of fasting ( Attilio Degrassi , Inscriptiones Italiae 13, 1, 274); Cassius Dio 47, 15, 2; among others
  27. ↑ 48, 10, 1.
  28. ↑ Civil Wars 5, 20, 80.
  29. ^ Appian, Civil Wars 5:24 , 95; 5, 31, 121.
  30. ↑ Appian, Civil Wars 5, 31f., 123f.
  31. ^ Appian, Civil Wars 5, 32, 126ff.
  32. ^ Appian, Civil Wars 5, 33, 130-133
  33. ^ Appian, Civil Wars 5, 35, 139ff.
  34. ^ Appian, Civil Wars 5, 50, 208.
  35. ^ Appian, Civil Wars 5, 50, 208ff.
  36. ↑ Assumptions about this compiled in H. Gundel, Col. 806.
  37. ^ Appian, Civil Wars 5, 50, 212.
  38. ↑ 48, 39, 2; also Plutarch, Antonius 33, 1.
  39. ↑ Civil Wars 5, 65, 276.
  40. ↑ Cassius Dio 48, 39, 3-40, 6; Frontinus , strategemata 2, 5, 36.
  41. ↑ Cassius Dio 48:41; Frontinus, Strategemata 2, 5, 37; Location information at Strabon 16, 2, 8 p. 751
  42. ^ Cassius Dio 48, 41, 5.
  43. ↑ Jewish Antiquities 14, 392f .; Jewish War 1, 288f.
  44. ↑ cf. Frontinus, Strategemata 1, 6.
  45. ^ Cassius Dio 49, 19f .; Frontinus, Stratagems 1, 1, 6; 2, 2, 5; shorter Plutarch, Antonius 34, 2; among others
  46. ↑ Cassius Dio 49, 21, 2; among others
  47. ↑ Col. 811f.
  48. ^ Cohen I² p. 45 No. 75; among others
  49. ↑ Tanja Itgenshorst , Tota illa pompa , Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2005, CD-ROM supplement 2, p. 396.
  50. ↑ Antony 34, 4
  51. ^ Shakespeare, Antonius and Cleopatra , 3rd act, 1st scene
  52. ↑ Cassius Dio 49, 20, 4.
  53. Jump up ↑ Josephus, Jüdische Antiquities 14, 434; Jewish War 1, 317.
  54. ↑ Plutarch, Antonius 34, 4ff .; Cassius Dio 49, 20, 5 - 21, 1
  55. ↑ Triumphal-Fasti ( Inscriptiones Italiae 13, 1, 86f.); Cassius Dio 49, 21, 2f .; Plutarch, Antonius 34, 9; among others
  56. ^ Fronto , ad Verum imperatorem 2, p. 122 ed. Van den Hout: Ventidius individuelle postquam Parthos fudit fugavitque, ad victoriam suam praedicandam orationem a C. Sallustio mutuatus est .
  57. ↑ 15, 4, 1.
personal data
SURNAME Ventidius Bassus, Publius
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bassus, Publius Ventidius
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Roman senator and general
DATE OF BIRTH before 89 BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH after 38 BC Chr.