Quintus Minucius Rufus (consul 197 BC)
Encyclopedia
Quintus Minucius Rufus was a consul
of the Roman Republic
in 197 BC.
when Roman forces took back Capua
after their defeat the previous year
by Hannibal. He was a plebeian aedile in 201.
As praetor
in 200, Minucius was assigned to Bruttium (modern-day Calabria
), where he investigated thefts from the temple of Proserpina
at Locri
. His imperium
was prorogued
as propraetor into 199 so he could continue to look into the sacrilege
. The year was plagued by bad omens; Minucius reported two from his province
, a foal born with five feet, and three chickens born with three feet each.
In his study of the praetorship during the Republic, T. Corey Brennan
has speculated that the prosecution of sacrilege at Bruttium may have been a useful way to out and suppress the "dissident element" in the region; the stated task of Minucius's prorogation was "to complete inquiries into coniurationes among the Bruttii." The word coniuratio during this period carried multiple connotations; literally a "swearing together" or "oath," it could refer both to a ritualized oath-taking and to a political conspiracy. The suppression of the Bacchanalia
thirteen years later, recorded by Livy and a bronze tablet inscribed
with the senate
's decree, was also described as a series of coniurationes, and demonstrates at least a perceived connection between political dissent and private religious practices. Those whom Minucius arrested at Bruttium for sacrilege were sent to Rome, then returned to Locri with instructions from the senate that they restore the funds taken from the shrine.
and Ligurians
. Both consuls of this year were assigned military commands in Italy, and coordinated strategically. Minucius advanced to Genua (modern Genoa
) and proceeded to Liguria
, where he fought a campaign. He then crossed the Appennines and ravaged the country of the Gallic Boii
, whose request for aid from the Insubres
went unanswered.
Minucius's consular colleague, C. Cornelius Cethegus
, fought against Insubres
and Cenomani
, but achieved his victory in a single pitched battle
that resulted in the mass slaughter of 35,000 men and the capture of 5,200. The reports sent by the two commanders were greeted by a decree of a four-day supplicatio
, or thanksgiving, and both presented themselves at the Temple of Bellona
to ask jointly for a triumph
. Two tribune
s, however, came forward to block Minucius's request, and after two days of argument, he withdrew. Cethegus resubmitted his request, which the senate
approved omnium consensu, "with the consent of all." The senate denied Minucius the same honor in part because, Livy
says, he had taken no hostages to prove he had captured the number of towns he claimed. It was further alleged that he had lost too many men in a series of battles that had decided little.
Minucius then staged his own triumph over the Boii and Ligurians on the Alban Mount. Although the triumph was registered in the Fasti
and was carried out with the usual trappings, without senate authorization the triumphator had to present the celebration at his own expense, from booty won at war; this necessity led to accusations that Minucius had appropriated the funds from the public treasury.
Despite the opposition to his triumph, Minucius continued to have political influence and must have demonstrated skill as an administrator, as he plays a role in international negotiations throughout the 180s and possibly again in 174. In the wake of the Galatian War
, he was among the ten legati
sent in 189–188 BC with the proconsul
Manlius Vulso
to work out the terms of a treaty with Antiochus
. Questions had been raised about Vulso's right to a triumph for his Galatia
n victories; it was the position of the ten commissioners that he had not been authorized to take action because there had been no official declaration of war by the senate. The controversy indicates an early anxiety that the imperium exercised by a magistrate or promagistrate acting abroad could distort power relations within the republican system of government.
In 183, Minucius served on a three-man embassy to Transalpine Gaul to try to prevent the Celts from entering northern Italy
. In 174, he may have been the Quintus Minucius who was sent to Crete with ten ships to settle unrest.
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 197 BC.
Early career
In 211 BC, Minucius was an officer serving under Q. Fulvius FlaccusQuintus Fulvius Flaccus
Quintus Fulvius Flaccus, son of Marcus Fulvius Flaccus , Quintus was consul in 237 BC, fighting the Gauls in northern Italy. He was censor in 231 BC, again consul in 224 BC, when he subdued the Boii...
when Roman forces took back Capua
Capua
Capua is a city and comune in the province of Caserta, Campania, southern Italy, situated 25 km north of Naples, on the northeastern edge of the Campanian plain. Ancient Capua was situated where Santa Maria Capua Vetere is now...
after their defeat the previous year
Battle of Capua (212 BC)
The First Battle of Capua was fought in 212 BC between Hannibal and two Roman consular armies. The Roman force was led by two consuls, Quintus Fulvius Flaccus and Appius Claudius Pulcher. The Roman force was defeated, but managed to escape. Hannibal temporarily managed to raise the siege of Capua...
by Hannibal. He was a plebeian aedile in 201.
Praetorship in Locri
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...
in 200, Minucius was assigned to Bruttium (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....
), where he investigated thefts from the temple of Proserpina
Proserpina
Proserpina or Proserpine is an ancient Roman goddess whose story is the basis of a myth of Springtime. Her Greek goddess' equivalent is Persephone. The probable origin of her name comes from the Latin, "proserpere" or "to emerge," in respect to the growing of grain...
at Locri
Locri
Locri is a town and comune in the province of Reggio Calabria, Calabria, southern Italy. The name derives from the ancient Greek town Locris.-History:...
. His 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 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...
as propraetor into 199 so he could continue to look into the sacrilege
Sacrilege
Sacrilege is the violation or injurious treatment of a sacred object. In a less proper sense, any transgression against the virtue of religion would be a sacrilege. It can come in the form of irreverence to sacred persons, places, and things...
. The year was plagued by bad omens; Minucius reported two from his province
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...
, a foal born with five feet, and three chickens born with three feet each.
In his study of the praetorship during the Republic, T. Corey Brennan
T. Corey Brennan
Terry Corey Brennan is an associate professor of Classics at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, , and was a guitarist and songwriter involved with several bands, most notably the alternative rock band The Lemonheads....
has speculated that the prosecution of sacrilege at Bruttium may have been a useful way to out and suppress the "dissident element" in the region; the stated task of Minucius's prorogation was "to complete inquiries into coniurationes among the Bruttii." The word coniuratio during this period carried multiple connotations; literally a "swearing together" or "oath," it could refer both to a ritualized oath-taking and to a political conspiracy. The suppression of the Bacchanalia
Bacchanalia
The bacchanalia were wild and mystic festivals of the Greco-Roman god Bacchus , the wine god. The term has since come to describe any form of drunken revelry.-History:...
thirteen years later, recorded by Livy and a bronze tablet inscribed
Senatus consultum de Bacchanalibus
The senatus consultum de Bacchanalibus is a notable Old Latin inscription dating to AUC 568, or 186 BC. It was discovered in 1640 at Tiriolo, southern Italy...
with 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...
's decree, was also described as a series of coniurationes, and demonstrates at least a perceived connection between political dissent and private religious practices. Those whom Minucius arrested at Bruttium for sacrilege were sent to Rome, then returned to Locri with instructions from the senate that they restore the funds taken from the shrine.
Compromised triumph
As consul in 197, Minucius fought against GaulsGauls
The Gauls were a Celtic people living in Gaul, the region roughly corresponding to what is now France, Belgium, Switzerland and Northern Italy, from the Iron Age through the Roman period. They mostly spoke the Continental Celtic language called Gaulish....
and Ligurians
Ligures
The Ligures were an ancient people who gave their name to Liguria, a region of north-western Italy.-Classical sources:...
. Both consuls of this year were assigned military commands in Italy, and coordinated strategically. Minucius advanced to Genua (modern Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
) and proceeded 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:...
, where he fought a campaign. He then crossed the Appennines and ravaged the country of the Gallic Boii
Boii
The Boii were one of the most prominent ancient Celtic tribes of the later Iron Age, attested at various times in Cisalpine Gaul , Pannonia , in and around Bohemia, and Transalpine Gaul...
, whose request for aid from the Insubres
Insubres
The Insubres were a Gaulish population settled in Insubria, in what is now Lombardy . They were the founders of Milan . Though ethnically Celtic at the time of Roman conquest , they were most likely the result of the fusion of pre-existing Ligurian, Celtic and "Italic" population strata with Gaulish...
went unanswered.
Minucius's consular colleague, C. Cornelius Cethegus
Gaius Cornelius Cethegus
Gaius Cornelius Cethegus was a consul of the Roman Republic in 197 BC, from the Cethegus branch of the gens Cornelia .He became proconsul in Spain in 200 BC and was elected aedile in absentia. In this office he arranged magnificent plays...
, fought against Insubres
Insubres
The Insubres were a Gaulish population settled in Insubria, in what is now Lombardy . They were the founders of Milan . Though ethnically Celtic at the time of Roman conquest , they were most likely the result of the fusion of pre-existing Ligurian, Celtic and "Italic" population strata with Gaulish...
and Cenomani
Cenomani (Cisalpine Gaul)
The Cenomani , was an ancient tribe of the Cisalpine Gauls, who occupied the tract north of the Padus , between the Insubres on the west and the Veneti on the east. Their territory appears to have extended from the river Addua to the Athesis...
, but achieved his victory in a single pitched battle
Pitched battle
A pitched battle is a battle where both sides choose to fight at a chosen location and time and where either side has the option to disengage either before the battle starts, or shortly after the first armed exchanges....
that resulted in the mass slaughter of 35,000 men and the capture of 5,200. The reports sent by the two commanders were greeted by a decree of a four-day supplicatio
Supplicatio
Supplicatio in ancient Rome was a solemn thanksgiving or supplication to the gods decreed by the senate: all the temples were opened, and the statues of the gods placed in public upon couches to which the people offered up their thanksgivings and prayers.A Supplicatio was decreed for two different...
, or thanksgiving, and both presented themselves at the Temple of Bellona
Temple of Bellona (Rome)
The temple of Bellona was an ancient Roman temple dedicated to the goddess Bellona and sited next to the Temple of Apollo Sosianus and the Theatre of Marcellus in Rome.-History:...
to ask jointly for 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...
. Two tribune
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...
s, however, came forward to block Minucius's request, and after two days of argument, he withdrew. Cethegus resubmitted his request, which 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...
approved omnium consensu, "with the consent of all." The senate denied Minucius the same honor in part because, 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...
says, he had taken no hostages to prove he had captured the number of towns he claimed. It was further alleged that he had lost too many men in a series of battles that had decided little.
Minucius then staged his own triumph over the Boii and Ligurians on the Alban Mount. Although the triumph was registered in the Fasti
Fasti
In ancient Rome, the fasti were chronological or calendar-based lists, or other diachronic records or plans of official and religiously sanctioned events...
and was carried out with the usual trappings, without senate authorization the triumphator had to present the celebration at his own expense, from booty won at war; this necessity led to accusations that Minucius had appropriated the funds from the public treasury.
Diplomatic missions
Galatian War
The Galatian War was a war between the Galatian Gauls and the Roman Republic supported by their allies Pergamum in 189 BC. The war was fought in Galatia in central Asia Minor, in present day Turkey....
, he was among the ten legati
Legatus
A legatus was a general in the Roman army, equivalent to a modern general officer. Being of senatorial rank, his immediate superior was the dux, and he outranked all military tribunes...
sent in 189–188 BC with 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...
Manlius Vulso
Gnaeus Manlius Vulso
Gnaeus Manlius Vulso was a Roman consul for the year 189 BC, together with Marcus Fulvius Nobilior. He led a victorius campaign against the Galatian Gauls of Asia Minor in 189 BC during the Galatian War. He may have been awarded a triumph in 187BCE...
to work out the terms of a treaty with Antiochus
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...
. Questions had been raised about Vulso's right to a triumph for his Galatia
Galatia
Ancient Galatia was an area in the highlands of central Anatolia in modern Turkey. Galatia was named for the immigrant Gauls from Thrace , who settled here and became its ruling caste in the 3rd century BC, following the Gallic invasion of the Balkans in 279 BC. It has been called the "Gallia" of...
n victories; it was the position of the ten commissioners that he had not been authorized to take action because there had been no official declaration of war by the senate. The controversy indicates an early anxiety that the imperium exercised by a magistrate or promagistrate acting abroad could distort power relations within the republican system of government.
In 183, Minucius served on a three-man embassy to Transalpine Gaul to try to prevent the Celts from entering northern Italy
Northern Italy
Northern Italy is a wide cultural, historical and geographical definition, without any administrative usage, used to indicate the northern part of the Italian state, also referred as Settentrione or Alta Italia...
. In 174, he may have been the Quintus Minucius who was sent to Crete with ten ships to settle unrest.