Marcus Baebius Tamphilus
Encyclopedia
Marcus Baebius Tamphilus was a consul
of the Roman Republic
in 181 BC along with P. Cornelius Cethegus
. Baebius is credited with reform legislation pertaining to campaigns for political offices
and electoral bribery (ambitus
). The Lex Baebia
was the first bribery law in Rome
and had long-term impact on Roman administrative practices in the provinces
.
Baebius played an important diplomatic and military role in the Roman-Syrian War
. In carrying out the deportation
of the Apuani
of Liguria
for the purpose of occupying their territory, Baebius is also a significant figure in tracing the history of Roman expansionism
.
name Baebius who are known to have held the highest magistracies belong to the branch distinguished by the cognomen
Tamphilus. Marcus's brother Gnaeus was consul in 182 BC, in an unusual instance of two brothers holding the office in succession. Their father, Quintus
, was a praetor
; the Q. Baebius Tamphilus who was tribune of the plebs
in 200 may have been the eldest of his sons.
In November 193 BC, Baebius was elected praetor
for the following year. In the sortition
to allot provinces
Baebius drew Hispania Citerior
and Atilius Serranus got Hispania Ulterior
. Although the sequence of events and thus reconstructions of causation differ among scholars, the senate
decided to override the lots, a constitutional procedure that during this period required a senatorial decree and a vote in the people's assembly
. The senate is sometimes thought to have reacted to news at Rome that Antiochus III of Syria
had invaded Greece by crossing to Demetrias
, but this report was likely not delivered till mid-year. At any rate, the senate awarded Atilius the dual provinciae of Macedonia
and the Roman fleet
, with orders to build 30 quinquereme
s and to man them with sailors from the allies, and sent him in the spring of 192 to the Peloponnese
. Baebius was given a provincia over the Bruttii
, in modern-day Calabria
, with command of two legions
, 15,000 Italian allied infantry, and 500 Italian allied cavalry. The Bruttii had sided with Hannibal and the Carthaginians
until their defeat by the Romans; during the previous year, three Roman colonies
had been established in their confiscated territory, which was not yet regarded as secure. Later that year, Baebius and his troops were moved to Tarentum
and Brundisium, where he prepared for a crossing to Epirus. During this same time, the consul L. Quinctius Flaminius levied troops
in preparation for war the following year. From 192 to 190, praetors were regularly dispatched to southern Italy to guard the coastline against rumored attack and to ensure the continued loyalty of Roman allies. Baebius's assignment from the senate was "to guard the entire coast in the vicinity of Tarentum and Brundisium."
As propraetor for the following year, Baebius was assigned to Macedonia
and Greece. These territories had not been annexed under Roman rule at the time, and the assignment was a military command. The provinciae of Baebius and Atilius in the East overlap, but their missions differ. Atilius was charged with defending Roman allies with his fleet, ostensibly against Nabis
of Sparta, who in any event had died before the praetor's arrival. Baebius's smaller force, shipped out in September or October, held the region around Apollonia.
During the winter of 191, Baebius negotiated at Dassaretis
with Philip V of Macedon
, who was increasingly ill-disposed toward Antiochus. Only the city of Demetrias and the Aetolians
were supporting Antiochus. Baebius agreed that Philip should keep any territories he captured from the Aetolians and their allies, and Baebius himself garrisoned the strategically located Thessalian
city of Larisa
in time to prevent its capture by Antiochus. Before the arrival of the new consul M'. Acilius Glabrio
in April, Philip and Baebius had conducted "devastatingly swift" operations in Thessaly that regained most of the towns the Aetolians had taken in the previous year, leaving little that Glabrio would be required to do. The consul's arrival precipitated the surrender of most of Antiochus's allies, and left the forces of the East outnumbered militarily by a two-to-one margin. Facing either retreat to Asia or a battle on his own terms, Antiochus chose to fight at Thermopylae
, in the hope of using the terrain to compensate for his disadvantages. After an overwhelming defeat, he was compelled to abandon Greece, and returned to Ephesus
. The entire campaign lasted only about six months.
Although Antiochus's invasion had failed, the need to respond to it had shown the Roman senate the vulnerability of the settlement arrived at in Greece in 194, which diplomatic missions had hoped to address. "The conclusion was typical," notes a historian of the period, "not that the settlement was wrong in principle, but that the general conditions under which it had been implemented were too uncertain. Rome needed to ensure that no major threat to the peace existed, not merely in the Balkans, but in the whole Aegean area, including Asia Minor
. … It was necessary to redefine, but this time not just in terms of physical geography but in terms of geo-politics." As a result L. Cornelius Scipio
, consul for 190, was given Greece as his province, with the understanding that he should cross into Asia as he deemed necessary.
, who had lodged complaints about Philip's occupation of Aenus
and Maroneia
. At a hearing, Philip himself testified on the question of whether Rome had agreed that he could hold any cities he had captured during the campaign of 191, or only those cities that had been "originally" Aetolian. Although Baebius should have been able to answer that question conclusively, he appears not to have, and the commission arrived at no summation: "The hearing was in fact a farce."
The delegation also met with Achaean
magistrates to discuss Achaean treatment of Sparta.
The consular colleague of Baebius in 181 was P. Cornelius Cethegus
. Both consuls were assigned to Liguria
as their province. Their efforts to levy troops
were hampered by a plague, and this delay kept them from coming to the aid of the proconsul
L. Aemilius Paullus
, who was under siege. Paullus managed a victory without their relief, took an impressive number of prisoners of war, and earned a triumph
.
Other Ligures
sent peace envoys to Rome, and while their overtures were rejected by the distrustful senate, Cornelius and Baebius faced no military challenges in their province. Their imperium
was nevertheless prorogued
for the following year. The senate's instructions were that they should await their successors and then dismiss their troops and return to Rome, but when the plague claimed the life of one of the consuls for 180, public business was suspended, and the two proconsuls decided to march against the Ligurian Apuani
, presumably without authorization. The Apuani, who had no reason to expect an attack from Rome after extending an offer of peace, were caught by surprise and effected an immediate surrender (deditio).
The senate then approved a plan for removing the Apuani from their land and allocated "sizable" public funds for that purpose. The proconsuls forced thousands of families to leave their homes in the mountains and resettled them in territory
which formerly belonged to the Samnites and which was now ager publicus
, land held in common ostensibly for the benefit of the Roman people
. It was claimed that this action reduced the Apuanian threat to the security of the Republic, and the senate voted Cornelius and Baebius a triumph without controversy, though others had been denied under similar circumstances for insufficient hostages or booty for the treasury
. The Augustan
historian Livy
, however, later said that this was the first triumph awarded nullo bello gesto, "without a war waged." The policy of deportation continued to be carried out by consuls assigned to Liguria for several years, and substantial populations from among the Ligures were moved to central Italy.
had not been regularized before the 190s; the consulship and praetorship might be held in either order, without prerequisites. At the beginning of the Republic, imperium
had been granted to the two consuls and a sole praetor; by 197 BC, there were six praetors. The annexation of territories had led to a shortage of personnel qualified to hold imperium and meet administrative and military demands in the new provinces, and commands were frequently extended (prorogatio
) beyond the annual magistracy. A law dating to ca. 196 BC began to require that candidates for the consulship must first have served as praetors, and fiercer competition for the praetorship stimulated campaign corruption and bribery (ambitus
).
Baebius spearheaded legislation to crack down on ambitus. Anyone convicted of bribery was disqualified from holding public office for ten years. This law was accompanied by an attempt to regulate prorogation. The Lex Baebia et Cornelia of 181 devised a complicated system aimed at limiting the number of ex-praetors vying for the consulship. In the sortition
for provinciae, the two Spains were to be left out in odd-numbered years, and only four praetorships would be available in those years. In effect, a provincial appointment in Spain meant automatic prorogation, resulting in a two-year term. The Lex Baebia thus marks the constitutionalized acceptance of routinely extending commands past the year of the elected magistracy. This law was supported by M. Porcius Cato
, the famous legislative and moral reformer. But because this limit only decreased the number of administrators available for other provinces, resulting in further use of prorogation, six praetors became the norm again in the mid-170s, and the moral issues
were set aside.
These laws should also be viewed in the context of other legislation during the Middle Republic that was aimed at disrupting the hold of factions and dynasties on political power. The extra-constitutional activities of Cornelius and Baebius in Liguria may cast doubt on the extent to which personal probity underlay their efforts at reform. A law proposed in 151 BC and also supported by Cato forbade reelection to the consulship after M. Claudius Marcellus
held his third term; the early 20th-century historian G.W. Botsford observed that while Cato may have intended to help "new men" (novi homines
) advance, in practice "the measure contributed to the further subordination of the individual to the plutocratic machine." Botsford held that the Baebian bribery law was put forward "in the same partisan spirit rather than in the interest of political morality," and that it failed to achieve its aim. Another consular Lex de ambitu in 159 is sometimes thought to have carried the death penalty, but in practice the punishment was exile, and "this law had no more effect than the earlier."
Roman consul
A consul served in the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic.Each year, two consuls were elected together, to serve for a one-year term. Each consul was given veto power over his colleague and the officials would alternate each month...
of the Roman Republic
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...
in 181 BC along with P. Cornelius Cethegus
Publius Cornelius Cethegus (consul 181 BC)
Publius Cornelius Cethegus, Roman statesman, was a member of the gens Cornelia of the branch with the cognomen Cethegus.Cethegus was elected curule aedile in 187 BC, praetor in 185 BC and consul in 181 BC. During his consulship, the grave of the legendary Roman king Numa Pompilius was discovered...
. Baebius is credited with reform legislation pertaining to campaigns for political offices
Cursus honorum
The cursus honorum was the sequential order of public offices held by aspiring politicians in both the Roman Republic and the early Empire. It was designed for men of senatorial rank. The cursus honorum comprised a mixture of military and political administration posts. Each office had a minimum...
and electoral bribery (ambitus
Ambitus
In ancient Roman law, ambitus was a crime of political corruption, mainly a candidate's attempt to influence the outcome of an election through bribery or other forms of soft power...
). The Lex Baebia
Lex Baebia
Lex Baebia was one of many laws enacted during the Roman Republic to combat ambitus in the electoral process.There is some confusion over the exact nature of this law; whether it was indeed a single law or two. Lex Baebia de Praetoribus mandated the election of four and then six praetors on...
was the first bribery law in Rome
Roman law
Roman law is the legal system of ancient Rome, and the legal developments which occurred before the 7th century AD — when the Roman–Byzantine state adopted Greek as the language of government. The development of Roman law comprises more than a thousand years of jurisprudence — from the Twelve...
and had long-term impact on Roman administrative practices in the provinces
Roman province
In Ancient Rome, a province was the basic, and, until the Tetrarchy , largest territorial and administrative unit of the empire's territorial possessions outside of Italy...
.
Baebius played an important diplomatic and military role in the Roman-Syrian War
Roman-Syrian War
The Roman–Syrian War , also known as War of Antiochos or Syrian War, was a military conflict between two coalitions led by the Roman Republic and the Seleucid Empire under Antiochus the Great...
. In carrying out the deportation
Deportation
Deportation means the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. Today it often refers to the expulsion of foreign nationals whereas the expulsion of nationals is called banishment, exile, or penal transportation...
of the Apuani
Apuani
The Apuani were one of the most formidable and powerful of the Ligurian tribes who lived in ancient north-western Italy, mentioned repeatedly by Livy...
of Liguria
Liguria
Liguria is a coastal region of north-western Italy, the third smallest of the Italian regions. Its capital is Genoa. It is a popular region with tourists for its beautiful beaches, picturesque little towns, and good food.-Geography:...
for the purpose of occupying their territory, Baebius is also a significant figure in tracing the history of Roman expansionism
Expansionism
In general, expansionism consists of expansionist policies of governments and states. While some have linked the term to promoting economic growth , more commonly expansionism refers to the doctrine of a state expanding its territorial base usually, though not necessarily, by means of military...
.
Family
During the Republican era, all men with the familyGens
In ancient Rome, a gens , plural gentes, referred to a family, consisting of all those individuals who shared the same nomen and claimed descent from a common ancestor. A branch of a gens was called a stirps . The gens was an important social structure at Rome and throughout Italy during the...
name Baebius who are known to have held the highest magistracies belong to the branch distinguished by the cognomen
Cognomen
The cognomen nōmen "name") was the third name of a citizen of Ancient Rome, under Roman naming conventions. The cognomen started as a nickname, but lost that purpose when it became hereditary. Hereditary cognomina were used to augment the second name in order to identify a particular branch within...
Tamphilus. Marcus's brother Gnaeus was consul in 182 BC, in an unusual instance of two brothers holding the office in succession. Their father, Quintus
Quintus Baebius Tamphilus
Quintus Baebius Tamphilus was a praetor of the Roman Republic who participated in negotiations with Hannibal attempting to forestall the Second Punic War....
, was a praetor
Praetor
Praetor was a title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to men acting in one of two official capacities: the commander of an army, usually in the field, or the named commander before mustering the army; and an elected magistratus assigned varied duties...
; the Q. Baebius Tamphilus who was tribune of the plebs
Tribune
Tribune was a title shared by elected officials in the Roman Republic. Tribunes had the power to convene the Plebeian Council and to act as its president, which also gave them the right to propose legislation before it. They were sacrosanct, in the sense that any assault on their person was...
in 200 may have been the eldest of his sons.
Early career
M. Baebius Tamphilus was a tribune of the plebs in 194. In that same year, he served on a three-man commission (triumviri coloniae deducendae) with an otherwise unknown Decimus Junius Brutus and the Marcus Helvius who was praetor in 197, for the purpose of establishing a Roman colony at Sipontum in southern Italy.Roman-Syrian War
- See Roman–Syrian War for background on Baebius's military and diplomatic activities.
In November 193 BC, Baebius was elected praetor
Praetor
Praetor was a title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to men acting in one of two official capacities: the commander of an army, usually in the field, or the named commander before mustering the army; and an elected magistratus assigned varied duties...
for the following year. In the sortition
Sortition
In politics, sortition is the selection of decision makers by lottery. The decision-makers are chosen as a random sample from a larger pool of candidates....
to allot provinces
Roman province
In Ancient Rome, a province was the basic, and, until the Tetrarchy , largest territorial and administrative unit of the empire's territorial possessions outside of Italy...
Baebius drew Hispania Citerior
Hispania Citerior
During the Roman Republic, Hispania Citerior was a region of Hispania roughly occupying the northeastern coast and the Ebro Valley of what is now Spain. Hispania Ulterior was located west of Hispania Citerior—that is, farther away from Rome.-External links:*...
and Atilius Serranus got Hispania Ulterior
Hispania Ulterior
During the Roman Republic, Hispania Ulterior was a region of Hispania roughly located in Baetica and in the Guadalquivir valley of modern Spain and extending to all of Lusitania and Gallaecia...
. Although the sequence of events and thus reconstructions of causation differ among scholars, 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...
decided to override the lots, a constitutional procedure that during this period required a senatorial decree and a vote in the people's assembly
Rogatio
In Roman constitutional law, rogatio is the term for a legislative bill placed before an Assembly of the People in ancient Rome. The rogatio procedure underscores the fact that the Roman senate could issue decrees, but was not a legislative or parliamentarian body...
. The senate is sometimes thought to have reacted to news at Rome that Antiochus III of Syria
Antiochus III the Great
Antiochus III the Great Seleucid Greek king who became the 6th ruler of the Seleucid Empire as a youth of about eighteen in 223 BC. Antiochus was an ambitious ruler who ruled over Greater Syria and western Asia towards the end of the 3rd century BC...
had invaded Greece by crossing to Demetrias
Demetrias
Demetrias was an ancient Greek city in Magnesia , near the modern city of Volos. It was founded by Demetrius Poliorcetes, one of the successors of Alexander the Great.-External links:*...
, but this report was likely not delivered till mid-year. At any rate, the senate awarded Atilius the dual provinciae of Macedonia
Macedonia (Roman province)
The Roman province of Macedonia was officially established in 146 BC, after the Roman general Quintus Caecilius Metellus defeated Andriscus of Macedon, the last Ancient King of Macedon in 148 BC, and after the four client republics established by Rome in the region were dissolved...
and the Roman fleet
Roman Navy
The Roman Navy comprised the naval forces of the Ancient Roman state. Although the navy was instrumental in the Roman conquest of the Mediterranean basin, it never enjoyed the prestige of the Roman legions...
, with orders to build 30 quinquereme
Quinquereme
From the 4th century BC on, new types of oared warships appeared in the Mediterranean Sea, superseding the trireme and transforming naval warfare. Ships became increasingly bigger and heavier, including some of the largest wooden ships ever constructed...
s and to man them with sailors from the allies, and sent him in the spring of 192 to the Peloponnese
Peloponnese
The Peloponnese, Peloponnesos or Peloponnesus , is a large peninsula , located in a region of southern Greece, forming the part of the country south of the Gulf of Corinth...
. Baebius was given a provincia over the Bruttii
Bruttii
The Bruttii , were an ancient Italic people who inhabited the southern extremity of Italy, from the frontiers of Lucania to the Sicilian Straits and the promontory of Leucopetra, roughly corresponding to modern Calabria.-History:...
, in modern-day Calabria
Calabria
Calabria , in antiquity known as Bruttium, is a region in southern Italy, south of Naples, located at the "toe" of the Italian Peninsula. The capital city of Calabria is Catanzaro....
, with command of two legions
Roman legion
A Roman legion normally indicates the basic ancient Roman army unit recruited specifically from Roman citizens. The organization of legions varied greatly over time but they were typically composed of perhaps 5,000 soldiers, divided into maniples and later into "cohorts"...
, 15,000 Italian allied infantry, and 500 Italian allied cavalry. The Bruttii had sided with Hannibal and the Carthaginians
Carthaginian Republic
Ancient Carthage was a civilization centered on the Phoenician city-state of Carthage, located in North Africa on the Gulf of Tunis, outside what is now Tunis, Tunisia. It was founded in 814 BC...
until their defeat by the Romans; during the previous year, three Roman colonies
Colonia (Roman)
A Roman colonia was originally a Roman outpost established in conquered territory to secure it. Eventually, however, the term came to denote the highest status of Roman city.-History:...
had been established in their confiscated territory, which was not yet regarded as secure. Later that year, Baebius and his troops were moved to Tarentum
Tarentum
Tarentum may refer to:* Taranto, Apulia, Italy; on the site of the ancient Roman city Tarentum; formerly the Greek colony Taras. See also: History of Taranto* Tarentum, Pennsylvania, United States** Tarentum Bridge, in the above place...
and Brundisium, where he prepared for a crossing to Epirus. During this same time, the consul L. Quinctius Flaminius levied troops
Conscription
Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...
in preparation for war the following year. From 192 to 190, praetors were regularly dispatched to southern Italy to guard the coastline against rumored attack and to ensure the continued loyalty of Roman allies. Baebius's assignment from the senate was "to guard the entire coast in the vicinity of Tarentum and Brundisium."
As propraetor for the following year, Baebius was assigned to Macedonia
Macedonia (Roman province)
The Roman province of Macedonia was officially established in 146 BC, after the Roman general Quintus Caecilius Metellus defeated Andriscus of Macedon, the last Ancient King of Macedon in 148 BC, and after the four client republics established by Rome in the region were dissolved...
and Greece. These territories had not been annexed under Roman rule at the time, and the assignment was a military command. The provinciae of Baebius and Atilius in the East overlap, but their missions differ. Atilius was charged with defending Roman allies with his fleet, ostensibly against Nabis
Nabis
Nabis was ruler of Sparta from 207 BC to 192 BC, during the years of the First and Second Macedonian Wars and the War against Nabis. After taking the throne by executing two claimants, he began rebuilding Sparta's power. During the Second Macedonian War, he sided with King Philip V of Macedon and...
of Sparta, who in any event had died before the praetor's arrival. Baebius's smaller force, shipped out in September or October, held the region around Apollonia.
Dassaretae
The Dassaretae , or Dexaroi, were an ancient Greek tribe of Epirus on the border with Illyria near Lake Ohrid. They were the northern-most subtribe of the Chaonians. Theopompus writes of fourteen Epirotian tribes, speakers of a strong west-Greek dialect, of which the Dexaroi were a part...
with Philip V of Macedon
Philip V of Macedon
Philip V was King of Macedon from 221 BC to 179 BC. Philip's reign was principally marked by an unsuccessful struggle with the emerging power of Rome. Philip was attractive and charismatic as a young man...
, who was increasingly ill-disposed toward Antiochus. Only the city of Demetrias and the Aetolians
Aetolian League
The Aetolian League was a confederation of tribal communities and cities in ancient Greece centered on Aetolia in central Greece. It was established, probably during the early Hellenistic era, in opposition to Macedon and the Achaean League. Two annual meetings were held in Thermika and Panaetolika...
were supporting Antiochus. Baebius agreed that Philip should keep any territories he captured from the Aetolians and their allies, and Baebius himself garrisoned the strategically located Thessalian
Thessaly
Thessaly is a traditional geographical region and an administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thessaly was known as Aeolia, and appears thus in Homer's Odyssey....
city of Larisa
Larissa
Larissa is the capital and biggest city of the Thessaly region of Greece and capital of the Larissa regional unit. It is a principal agricultural centre and a national transportation hub, linked by road and rail with the port of Volos, the city of Thessaloniki and Athens...
in time to prevent its capture by Antiochus. Before the arrival of the new consul M'. Acilius Glabrio
Manius Acilius Glabrio (consul 191 BC)
Manius Acilius Glabrio was a consul of the Roman Republic in 191 BC. He came from an illustrious plebeian family whose members held magistracies throughout the Republic and into the Imperial era....
in April, Philip and Baebius had conducted "devastatingly swift" operations in Thessaly that regained most of the towns the Aetolians had taken in the previous year, leaving little that Glabrio would be required to do. The consul's arrival precipitated the surrender of most of Antiochus's allies, and left the forces of the East outnumbered militarily by a two-to-one margin. Facing either retreat to Asia or a battle on his own terms, Antiochus chose to fight at Thermopylae
Battle of Thermopylae (191 BC)
The Battle of Thermopylae was fought in 191 BC between a Roman army led by consul Manius Acilius Glabrio and a Seleucid force led by King Antiochus III the Great. The Romans were victorious, and as a result, Antiochus was forced to flee Greece. It was described by Appian and by Livy at...
, in the hope of using the terrain to compensate for his disadvantages. After an overwhelming defeat, he was compelled to abandon Greece, and returned to Ephesus
Ephesus
Ephesus was an ancient Greek city, and later a major Roman city, on the west coast of Asia Minor, near present-day Selçuk, Izmir Province, Turkey. It was one of the twelve cities of the Ionian League during the Classical Greek era...
. The entire campaign lasted only about six months.
Although Antiochus's invasion had failed, the need to respond to it had shown the Roman senate the vulnerability of the settlement arrived at in Greece in 194, which diplomatic missions had hoped to address. "The conclusion was typical," notes a historian of the period, "not that the settlement was wrong in principle, but that the general conditions under which it had been implemented were too uncertain. Rome needed to ensure that no major threat to the peace existed, not merely in the Balkans, but in the whole Aegean area, including Asia Minor
Asia Minor
Asia Minor is a geographical location at the westernmost protrusion of Asia, also called Anatolia, and corresponds to the western two thirds of the Asian part of Turkey...
. … It was necessary to redefine, but this time not just in terms of physical geography but in terms of geo-politics." As a result L. Cornelius Scipio
Scipio Asiaticus
Lucius Cornelius Scipio Asiaticus was a Roman general and statesman. He was the son of Publius Cornelius Scipio and the older brother of Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus...
, consul for 190, was given Greece as his province, with the understanding that he should cross into Asia as he deemed necessary.
Diplomatic missions
From 185 to 184, Baebius was one of the ambassadors (legati) sent to negotiate disputes between Philip, his former joint commander in the Roman-Syrian War, and surrounding Greek politiesPolity
Polity is a form of government Aristotle developed in his search for a government that could be most easily incorporated and used by the largest amount of people groups, or states...
, who had lodged complaints about Philip's occupation of Aenus
Aenus (Thrace)
Aenus , modern Enez in Turkey, was an ancient Greek city on the southeastern coast of Thrace. Formerly called Poltyobria , it was located near the mouth of the Hebrus River, not far from the Melas Gulf , which is formed by the Thracian Chersonesus to the east...
and Maroneia
Maroneia
Maroneia is a village and a former municipality in the Rhodope peripheral unit, East Macedonia and Thrace, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Maroneia-Sapes, of which it is a municipal unit. Population 7,644...
. At a hearing, Philip himself testified on the question of whether Rome had agreed that he could hold any cities he had captured during the campaign of 191, or only those cities that had been "originally" Aetolian. Although Baebius should have been able to answer that question conclusively, he appears not to have, and the commission arrived at no summation: "The hearing was in fact a farce."
The delegation also met with Achaean
Achaean League
The Achaean League was a Hellenistic era confederation of Greek city states on the northern and central Peloponnese, which existed between 280 BC and 146 BC...
magistrates to discuss Achaean treatment of Sparta.
Consulship and triumph
Marcus Baebius succeeded his brother Gnaeus in the consulship. Family influence was perhaps not absent in the election, since it fell to Gnaeus as presiding magistrate to select rogatores, the election officials to whom voters voiced their choice, and to declare the winners.The consular colleague of Baebius in 181 was P. Cornelius Cethegus
Publius Cornelius Cethegus (consul 181 BC)
Publius Cornelius Cethegus, Roman statesman, was a member of the gens Cornelia of the branch with the cognomen Cethegus.Cethegus was elected curule aedile in 187 BC, praetor in 185 BC and consul in 181 BC. During his consulship, the grave of the legendary Roman king Numa Pompilius was discovered...
. Both consuls were assigned to Liguria
Liguria
Liguria is a coastal region of north-western Italy, the third smallest of the Italian regions. Its capital is Genoa. It is a popular region with tourists for its beautiful beaches, picturesque little towns, and good food.-Geography:...
as their province. Their efforts to levy troops
Conscription
Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...
were hampered by a plague, and this delay kept them from coming to the aid of the proconsul
Proconsul
A proconsul was a governor of a province in the Roman Republic appointed for one year by the senate. In modern usage, the title has been used for a person from one country ruling another country or bluntly interfering in another country's internal affairs.-Ancient Rome:In the Roman Republic, a...
L. Aemilius Paullus
Lucius Aemilius Paulus Macedonicus
Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus was a two-time consul of the Roman Republic and a noted general who conquered Macedon putting an end to the Antigonid dynasty.-Family:...
, who was under siege. Paullus managed a victory without their relief, took an impressive number of prisoners of war, and earned a triumph
Roman triumph
The Roman triumph was a civil ceremony and religious rite of ancient Rome, held to publicly celebrate and sanctify the military achievement of an army commander who had won great military successes, or originally and traditionally, one who had successfully completed a foreign war. In Republican...
.
Other Ligures
Ligures
The Ligures were an ancient people who gave their name to Liguria, a region of north-western Italy.-Classical sources:...
sent peace envoys to Rome, and while their overtures were rejected by the distrustful senate, Cornelius and Baebius faced no military challenges in their province. Their imperium
Imperium
Imperium is a Latin word which, in a broad sense, translates roughly as 'power to command'. In ancient Rome, different kinds of power or authority were distinguished by different terms. Imperium, referred to the sovereignty of the state over the individual...
was nevertheless prorogued
Prorogatio
In the constitution of ancient Rome, prorogatio was the extension of a commander's imperium beyond the one-year term of his magistracy, usually that of consul or praetor...
for the following year. The senate's instructions were that they should await their successors and then dismiss their troops and return to Rome, but when the plague claimed the life of one of the consuls for 180, public business was suspended, and the two proconsuls decided to march against the Ligurian Apuani
Apuani
The Apuani were one of the most formidable and powerful of the Ligurian tribes who lived in ancient north-western Italy, mentioned repeatedly by Livy...
, presumably without authorization. The Apuani, who had no reason to expect an attack from Rome after extending an offer of peace, were caught by surprise and effected an immediate surrender (deditio).
The senate then approved a plan for removing the Apuani from their land and allocated "sizable" public funds for that purpose. The proconsuls forced thousands of families to leave their homes in the mountains and resettled them in territory
Ligures Baebiani
In ancient geography, the Ligures Baebiani were a settlement of Ligurians in Samnium, Italy.The towns of Taurasia and Cisauna in Samnium had been captured in 298 BC by the consul L. Cornelius Scipio Barbatus, and the territory of the former remained Roman state domain...
which formerly belonged to the Samnites and which was now ager publicus
Ager publicus
The ager publicus is the Latin name for the public land of Ancient Rome. It was usually acquired by expropriation from Rome's enemies.In the earliest periods of Roman expansion in central Italy, the ager publicus was used for Roman and Latin colonies...
, land held in common ostensibly for the benefit of the Roman people
SPQR
SPQR is an initialism from a Latin phrase, Senatus Populusque Romanus , referring to the government of the ancient Roman Republic, and used as an official emblem of the modern day comune of Rome...
. It was claimed that this action reduced the Apuanian threat to the security of the Republic, and the senate voted Cornelius and Baebius a triumph without controversy, though others had been denied under similar circumstances for insufficient hostages or booty for the treasury
Aerarium
Aerarium was the name given in Ancient Rome to the public treasury, and in a secondary sense to the public finances....
. The Augustan
Augustan literature (ancient Rome)
Augustan literature is the period of Latin literature written during the reign of Augustus , the first Roman emperor. In literary histories of the first part of the 20th century and earlier, Augustan literature was regarded along with that of the Late Republic as constituting the Golden Age of...
historian Livy
Livy
Titus Livius — known as Livy in English — was a Roman historian who wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people. Ab Urbe Condita Libri, "Chapters from the Foundation of the City," covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome well before the traditional foundation in 753 BC...
, however, later said that this was the first triumph awarded nullo bello gesto, "without a war waged." The policy of deportation continued to be carried out by consuls assigned to Liguria for several years, and substantial populations from among the Ligures were moved to central Italy.
Electoral reform
It was Baebius's task also to hold elections for the next year. Rome's expansionist activities had created a culture of ambition that threatened to corrupt the electoral process. A flurry of legislation in the 190s and 180s attempted to address these growing problems. Advancement through the political career trackCursus honorum
The cursus honorum was the sequential order of public offices held by aspiring politicians in both the Roman Republic and the early Empire. It was designed for men of senatorial rank. The cursus honorum comprised a mixture of military and political administration posts. Each office had a minimum...
had not been regularized before the 190s; the consulship and praetorship might be held in either order, without prerequisites. At the beginning of the Republic, imperium
Imperium
Imperium is a Latin word which, in a broad sense, translates roughly as 'power to command'. In ancient Rome, different kinds of power or authority were distinguished by different terms. Imperium, referred to the sovereignty of the state over the individual...
had been granted to the two consuls and a sole praetor; by 197 BC, there were six praetors. The annexation of territories had led to a shortage of personnel qualified to hold imperium and meet administrative and military demands in the new provinces, and commands were frequently extended (prorogatio
Prorogatio
In the constitution of ancient Rome, prorogatio was the extension of a commander's imperium beyond the one-year term of his magistracy, usually that of consul or praetor...
) beyond the annual magistracy. A law dating to ca. 196 BC began to require that candidates for the consulship must first have served as praetors, and fiercer competition for the praetorship stimulated campaign corruption and bribery (ambitus
Ambitus
In ancient Roman law, ambitus was a crime of political corruption, mainly a candidate's attempt to influence the outcome of an election through bribery or other forms of soft power...
).
Baebius spearheaded legislation to crack down on ambitus. Anyone convicted of bribery was disqualified from holding public office for ten years. This law was accompanied by an attempt to regulate prorogation. The Lex Baebia et Cornelia of 181 devised a complicated system aimed at limiting the number of ex-praetors vying for the consulship. In the sortition
Sortition
In politics, sortition is the selection of decision makers by lottery. The decision-makers are chosen as a random sample from a larger pool of candidates....
for provinciae, the two Spains were to be left out in odd-numbered years, and only four praetorships would be available in those years. In effect, a provincial appointment in Spain meant automatic prorogation, resulting in a two-year term. The Lex Baebia thus marks the constitutionalized acceptance of routinely extending commands past the year of the elected magistracy. This law was supported by M. Porcius Cato
Cato the Elder
Marcus Porcius Cato was a Roman statesman, commonly referred to as Censorius , Sapiens , Priscus , or Major, Cato the Elder, or Cato the Censor, to distinguish him from his great-grandson, Cato the Younger.He came of an ancient Plebeian family who all were noted for some...
, the famous legislative and moral reformer. But because this limit only decreased the number of administrators available for other provinces, resulting in further use of prorogation, six praetors became the norm again in the mid-170s, and the moral issues
Mos maiorum
The mos maiorum is the unwritten code from which the ancient Romans derived their social norms. It is the core concept of Roman traditionalism, distinguished from but in dynamic complement to written law. The mos maiorum The mos maiorum ("ancestral custom") is the unwritten code from which the...
were set aside.
These laws should also be viewed in the context of other legislation during the Middle Republic that was aimed at disrupting the hold of factions and dynasties on political power. The extra-constitutional activities of Cornelius and Baebius in Liguria may cast doubt on the extent to which personal probity underlay their efforts at reform. A law proposed in 151 BC and also supported by Cato forbade reelection to the consulship after M. Claudius Marcellus
Marcus Claudius Marcellus (consul 166 BC)
Marcus Claudius Marcellus was Roman consul for year 166 BC , for 155 BC , and for 152 BC ....
held his third term; the early 20th-century historian G.W. Botsford observed that while Cato may have intended to help "new men" (novi homines
Novus homo
Homo novus was the term in ancient Rome for a man who was the first in his family to serve in the Roman Senate or, more specifically, to be elected as consul...
) advance, in practice "the measure contributed to the further subordination of the individual to the plutocratic machine." Botsford held that the Baebian bribery law was put forward "in the same partisan spirit rather than in the interest of political morality," and that it failed to achieve its aim. Another consular Lex de ambitu in 159 is sometimes thought to have carried the death penalty, but in practice the punishment was exile, and "this law had no more effect than the earlier."