Quintus Caecilius Bassus

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Quintus Caecilius Bassus († after 43 BC) was a Roman knight who came from the plebeian family of the Caecilians and had been in charge since 47 BC. BC in Syria a revolt against the dictator Gaius Iulius Caesar , which his generals could not suppress. Early 43 BC BC he had to hand over his troops to the Caesar murderer Gaius Cassius Longinus .

Life

The beginning of the political career of Quintus Caecilius Bassus is unclear. Two different versions of this have survived, one of which is only mentioned by the ancient historian Appian , who came from Alexandria and wrote in Greek . According to this, Gaius Iulius Caesar, when he was 47 BC. BC Syria passed through, leaving a young relative there, the Proquaestor Sextus Iulius Caesar , as governor with a legion for the planned Parthian campaign , but who was placed by Caecilius Bassus as a tried and tested military advisor. Sextus Caesar, however, is said to have behaved unscrupulously and extremely improperly for a commanding officer and to have brusquely rejected Bassus' allegations made against him for this reason. When Bassus followed an order to go to his superior too late, the Proquaestor had him dragged around in front of his eyes, whereupon the angry soldiers murdered Sextus Caesar in a tumult. Fearing the revenge of the dictator Caesar, the mutineers swore to persist in the riot and to defend themselves to the utmost; Bassus was forced to take part.

Appian traces the subsequent deviating report to an unsafe source who, according to some ancient historians, could be Lucius Scribonius Libo , but according to another view, the Roman historian Titus Livius . This presentation is considered to be much more credible than the first version and also agrees with the other sources, among which the detailed and reliable report by Cassius Dios deserves special mention.

According to this second variant, Bassus was involved in the Roman civil war as a supporter of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus and after his defeat in the battle of Pharsalus (48 BC) fled to Tire , where he first lived as a private citizen. But after Sextus Caesar in 47 BC. After becoming governor of Syria, Bassus planned for the next year in 46 BC. BC, encouraged by false rumors about a supposedly negative course of Gaius Iulius Caesar's campaign in Africa to instigate a rebellion. From this he might hope to build his own position of power. At first he made secret contacts with old party comrades and tried to win over Garrison soldiers of Sextus Caesar. When his machinations were discovered, he pretended that his troops were drafted to support the campaign of Mithridates of Pergamum against the Bosporan Empire . This declaration was believed and Bassus was released again. Thereupon he forged a letter allegedly sent to him, according to which the dictator Caesar had been beaten and died in Africa; he himself had been appointed governor of Syria by the victorious Pompeians. By this ruse and with the help of the troops he had drawn together, he was able to seize Tire and then turned against Sextus Caesar, who defeated him, however. Thereupon Bassus succeeded in secretly agitating many enemy soldiers to his side until Sextus Caesar was finally murdered by his own legion.

After Sextus' death, Bassus was able to take over most of his army, but not those soldiers who had wintered in Apamea . These fled to Cilicia and, although they were persecuted by Bassus, did not serve in his service. Thereupon Bassus returned to Syria, took up his position in Apamea and fortified this city. He carried out further armor, also recruited slaves and soon commanded an army the strength of two legions. With the support of the troops of the Arab prince Alchandonios and temporary Parthian military aid, Bassus fended off all attacks by Gaius Antistius Vetus . Perhaps he also tried to get in touch with the Galatian prince Deiotaros . Antipater , the father of Herod the Great , sponsored by Sextus Caesar, opposed Bassus as a follower of Caesar.

After Caesar Lucius Staius Murcus for the year 44 BC. After the dictator's assassination on March 15 of the same year, Staius Murcus went over to the assassins immediately , but then moved to Syria in execution of the order given to him by Caesar and fought there with three legions against Bassus, was defeated by this, however. Staius Murcus called on the Bithynian governor Quintus Marcius Crispus to help. The combined army of the two generals comprised six legions. Together they besieged Bassus in Apamea, now clearly superior in military terms. Its soldiers finally left around the beginning of 43 BC. Caesar murderer Gaius Cassius Longinus appeared in Syria, who was also able to take over the armies of Murcus and Crispus and thus a total of eight legions. Cassius then dismissed Bassus unhurt.

Bassus' later fates are unknown.

literature

Remarks

  1. ^ Appian , Civil Wars 3, 77; 4, 58.
  2. ^ Appian, Civil Wars 3, 77.
  3. ^ Friedrich Münzer : Caecilius 36). In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume III, 1, Stuttgart 1897, Col. 1198.
  4. ↑ Cassius Dio 47, 26, 3-7; Appian, Civil Wars 3, 77; Cicero , Pro rege Deiotaro 25 with Scholien; Livy , periochae 114.
  5. ↑ Cassius Dio 47, 27, 1; Strabon 16, 753; Flavius ​​Josephus , Jüdische Antiquities 14, 268; Jewish War 1, 216.
  6. ↑ Cassius Dio 47, 27, 2-5; Cicero, Epistulae ad Atticum 14, 9, 3; Strabo 16, 753.
  7. ^ Cicero, Pro rege Deiotaro 23.
  8. ^ Josephus, Jewish War 1, 217.
  9. ^ Appian, Civil Wars 3, 77f. and 4, 58; Cassius Dio 47, 27, 5; Josephus, Jüdische Antiquities 14, 270; Jewish War 1, 217f. (with imprecise dating).
  10. ^ Letter from Cassius to Cicero ( epistulae ad familiares 12, 11, 1); Letter from Marcus Junius Brutus to Cicero ( epistulae ad Brutum 2, 3, 3); Appian, Civil Wars 3, 78 and 4, 59; Cassius Dio, Roman History 47, 28, 1 and 47, 28, 4; among others
personal data
SURNAME Caecilius Bassus, Quintus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Roman knight, opponent of Gaius Iulius Caesar
DATE OF BIRTH 1st century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH after 43 BC Chr.