Lucius Opimius
Encyclopedia
Lucius Opimius was Roman
consul
in 121 BC
, known for ordering the execution of 3,000 supporters of popular leader Gaius Gracchus
without trial, using as pretext the state of emergency
declared after Gracchus's recent and turbulent death.
He is first mentioned for crushing the revolt of the town of Fregellae
in 125 BC
. He was elected consul in 121 BC with Quintus Fabius Maximus Allobrogicus
, and while Fabius was campaigning in Gaul
, he took part in perhaps the most decisive event of Roman history to that point.
When Gaius Gracchus
and M. Fulvius Flaccus
were defeated for re-election by Opimius and Fabius, Gracchus organized a mass protest on the Aventine Hill
. Alarmed by this action, the Senate
passed the motion senatus consultum ultimum
, which Opimius understood as an order to suppress their activities by any means necessary -- including force. He gathered an armed force of Senators and their supporters, and confronted Gracchus and his followers, an act which quickly became a pitched battle inside the city of Rome
. Gracchus, Flaccus, and many of their followers were slain in this conflict, and after clearing the streets of his opponents, Opimius established a quaestio or tribunal that condemned to death 3000 people accused of being supporters of Gracchus.
Opimius was prosecuted for these violent actions in 120 BC
, but Carbo
won his acquittal. Opimius' victory established the senatus consultum ultimum in Roman constitutional practice, providing a limitless tool that the various Roman factions used against each other in the following years as the Republic slipped increasingly into violence and civil war.
In 116 BC
, Opimius headed a commission that divided Numidia
between Jugurtha
and his brother Adherbal
. Suspecting that the commission had been influenced by bribes from Jugurtha, its members were later investigated by a tribunal that censured their conduct. Humiliated, Opimius went into exile
in Dyrrhachium
, where he later died.
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...
consul
Consul
Consul was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Empire. The title was also used in other city states and also revived in modern states, notably in the First French Republic...
in 121 BC
121 BC
Year 121 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Opimius and Allobrogicus...
, known for ordering the execution of 3,000 supporters of popular leader Gaius Gracchus
Gaius Gracchus
Gaius Sempronius Gracchus was a Roman Populari politician in the 2nd century BC and brother of the ill-fated reformer Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus...
without trial, using as pretext the state of emergency
State of emergency
A state of emergency is a governmental declaration that may suspend some normal functions of the executive, legislative and judicial powers, alert citizens to change their normal behaviours, or order government agencies to implement emergency preparedness plans. It can also be used as a rationale...
declared after Gracchus's recent and turbulent death.
He is first mentioned for crushing the revolt of the town of Fregellae
Fregellae
Fregellae was an ancient town of Latium adiectum, situated on the Via Latina between Aquinum and Frusino , near the left branch of the Liris....
in 125 BC
125 BC
Year 125 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Hypsaeus and Flaccus...
. He was elected consul in 121 BC with Quintus Fabius Maximus Allobrogicus
Quintus Fabius Maximus Allobrogicus
Quintus Fabius Maximus Allobrogicus, was a Roman statesman and general.Fabius Maximus Allobrogicus, a member of the patrician gens Fabia, was the son of Quintus Fabius Maximus Aemilianus, consul of 145 BC...
, and while Fabius was campaigning in Gaul
Gaul
Gaul was a region of Western Europe during the Iron Age and Roman era, encompassing present day France, Luxembourg and Belgium, most of Switzerland, the western part of Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the left bank of the Rhine. The Gauls were the speakers of...
, he took part in perhaps the most decisive event of Roman history to that point.
When Gaius Gracchus
Gaius Gracchus
Gaius Sempronius Gracchus was a Roman Populari politician in the 2nd century BC and brother of the ill-fated reformer Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus...
and M. Fulvius Flaccus
Marcus Fulvius Flaccus
Marcus Fulvius Flaccus was the name of several Romans, including:* Marcus Fulvius Flaccus * Marcus Fulvius Flaccus -See also:* Fulvius, for other members of the gens* Flaccus, on the cognomen...
were defeated for re-election by Opimius and Fabius, Gracchus organized a mass protest on the Aventine Hill
Aventine Hill
The Aventine Hill is one of the seven hills on which ancient Rome was built. It belongs to Ripa, the twelfth rione, or ward, of Rome.-Location and boundaries:The Aventine hill is the southernmost of Rome's seven hills...
. Alarmed by this action, the Senate
Roman Senate
The Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic, however, it was not an elected body, but one whose members were appointed by the consuls, and later by the censors. After a magistrate served his term in office, it usually was followed with automatic...
passed the motion senatus consultum ultimum
Senatus consultum ultimum
Senatus consultum ultimum , more properly senatus consultum de re publica defendenda is the modern term given to a decree of the Roman Senate during the late Roman Republic passed in times of emergency...
, which Opimius understood as an order to suppress their activities by any means necessary -- including force. He gathered an armed force of Senators and their supporters, and confronted Gracchus and his followers, an act which quickly became a pitched battle inside the city of Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
. Gracchus, Flaccus, and many of their followers were slain in this conflict, and after clearing the streets of his opponents, Opimius established a quaestio or tribunal that condemned to death 3000 people accused of being supporters of Gracchus.
Opimius was prosecuted for these violent actions in 120 BC
120 BC
Year 120 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Manilius and Carbo...
, but Carbo
Gaius Papirius Carbo (consul 120 BC)
Gaius Papirius Carbo was an Ancient Roman statesman and orator. He was associated with Gaius Gracchus in carrying out the provision of the agrarian law of Tiberius Gracchus. When tribune of the people , Carbo carried out a law extending the secret ballot for the enactment and repeal of laws...
won his acquittal. Opimius' victory established the senatus consultum ultimum in Roman constitutional practice, providing a limitless tool that the various Roman factions used against each other in the following years as the Republic slipped increasingly into violence and civil war.
In 116 BC
116 BC
Year 116 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Geta and Eburnus...
, Opimius headed a commission that divided Numidia
Numidia
Numidia was an ancient Berber kingdom in part of present-day Eastern Algeria and Western Tunisia in North Africa. It is known today as the Chawi-land, the land of the Chawi people , the direct descendants of the historical Numidians or the Massyles The kingdom began as a sovereign state and later...
between Jugurtha
Jugurtha
Jugurtha or Jugurthen was a King of Numidia, , born in Cirta .-Background:Until the reign of Jugurtha's grandfather Masinissa, the people of Numidia were semi-nomadic and indistinguishable from the other Libyans in North Africa...
and his brother Adherbal
Adherbal
Adherbal, son of Micipsa and grandson of Masinissa, was a king of Numidia between 118 BC and 112 BC. He inherited the throne after the death of his father, and ruled jointly with his younger brother Hiempsal, and Jugurtha, the nephew of Masinissa...
. Suspecting that the commission had been influenced by bribes from Jugurtha, its members were later investigated by a tribunal that censured their conduct. Humiliated, Opimius went into exile
Exile
Exile means to be away from one's home , while either being explicitly refused permission to return and/or being threatened with imprisonment or death upon return...
in Dyrrhachium
Durrës
Durrës is the second largest city of Albania located on the central Albanian coast, about west of the capital Tirana. It is one of the most ancient and economically important cities of Albania. Durres is situated at one of the narrower points of the Adriatic Sea, opposite the Italian ports of Bari...
, where he later died.