Servius Sulpicius Galba (consul 144 BC)
Encyclopedia
Servius Sulpicius Galba was a consul
of Rome
in 144 BC
.
He served as tribune of the soldiers
in the second legion in Macedon
ia, under Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus, to whom he was personally hostile. After the conquest of Perseus
in 167 BC
, when Aemilius had returned to Rome, Galba endeavoured to prevent a triumph
being conferred upon the former; he did not succeed, although his efforts created considerable sensation.
He was praetor
in 151 BC
, and received Hispania
(the Iberian Peninsula
, comprising modern Spain
and Portugal
) as his province, where a war was carried on against the Celtiberians. On his arrival there he hastened to the relief of some Roman subjects who were hard pressed by the Lusitania
ns. Galba succeeded so far as to put the enemy to flight; but as, with his exhausted and undisciplined army, he was incautious in their pursuit, the Lusitanians turned round, and a fierce contest ensued, in which 7000 Romans fell. Galba then collected the remnants of his army and his allies, and took up his winter-quarters at Conistorgis.
In the spring of 150 BC
, he again marched into Lusitania, and ravaged the country. The Lusitanians sent an embassy to him, declaring that they repented of having violated the treaty which they had concluded with Atilius,and promised henceforth to observe it faithfully. The mode in which Galba acted on that occasion is one of the most infamous and atrocious acts of treachery and cruelty that occur in history. He received the ambassadors kindly, and lamented that circumstances, especially the poverty of their country, should have induced then to revolt against the Romans. He promised them fertile lands if they would remain faithful allies of Rome. He induced them, for this purpose, to, leave their homes, and assemble in three hosts, with their women and children, in the three places which he fixed upon, land in which he himself would inform each host what territory they were to occupy. When they were assembled in the manner he had prescribed, he went to the first body, commanded them to surrender their arms, surrounded them with a ditch, and then sent his armed soldiers into the place, who forthwith massacred them all. In the same manner he treated the second and third hosts. Very few of the Lusitanians escaped from the bloody scene; but among the survivors was Viriathus
, destined one day to be the avenger of the wrong done to his countrymen. Appian states that Galba, although he was very wealthy, was extremely niggardly, and that he did not even scruple to lie or perjure himself, provided he could thereby gain pecuniary advantages.
In the following year when he had returned to Rome, the tribune
, Lucius Scribonius Libo
, brought a charge against him for the outrage he had committed on the Lusitanians; and Cato the Elder
, then 85 years old, attacked him most unsparingly in the assembly of the people
. Galba, although a man of great oratorical power himself, had nothing to say in his own justification; but bribery, and the fact of his bringing his own children and the orphan child of a relative before the people, and imploring mercy, procured his acquittal.
Notwithstanding this occurrence, he was afterwards made consul
for the year 144 BC
, with Lucius Aurelius Cotta. The two consuls disputed in the senate as to which of them was to undertake the command against Viriathus in Hispania. Great dissension prevailed also in the senate, but it was resolved in the end, that neither should be sent to Hispania, and that Quintus Fabius Maximus Aemilianus
, the consul of the year before, should continue to command the army in Hispania.
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...
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...
in 144 BC
144 BC
Year 144 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Galba and Cotta . The denomination 144 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for...
.
He served as tribune of the soldiers
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 the second legion in Macedon
Macedon
Macedonia or Macedon was an ancient kingdom, centered in the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula, bordered by Epirus to the west, Paeonia to the north, the region of Thrace to the east and Thessaly to the south....
ia, under Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus, to whom he was personally hostile. After the conquest of Perseus
Perseus of Macedon
Perseus was the last king of the Antigonid dynasty, who ruled the successor state in Macedon created upon the death of Alexander the Great...
in 167 BC
167 BC
Year 167 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Paetus and Pennus...
, when Aemilius had returned to Rome, Galba endeavoured to prevent 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...
being conferred upon the former; he did not succeed, although his efforts created considerable sensation.
He was 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...
in 151 BC
151 BC
Year 151 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Lucullus and Albinus...
, and received Hispania
Hispania
Another theory holds that the name derives from Ezpanna, the Basque word for "border" or "edge", thus meaning the farthest area or place. Isidore of Sevilla considered Hispania derived from Hispalis....
(the Iberian Peninsula
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...
, comprising modern Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
) as his province, where a war was carried on against the Celtiberians. On his arrival there he hastened to the relief of some Roman subjects who were hard pressed by the Lusitania
Lusitania
Lusitania or Hispania Lusitania was an ancient Roman province including approximately all of modern Portugal south of the Douro river and part of modern Spain . It was named after the Lusitani or Lusitanian people...
ns. Galba succeeded so far as to put the enemy to flight; but as, with his exhausted and undisciplined army, he was incautious in their pursuit, the Lusitanians turned round, and a fierce contest ensued, in which 7000 Romans fell. Galba then collected the remnants of his army and his allies, and took up his winter-quarters at Conistorgis.
In the spring of 150 BC
150 BC
Year 150 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Flamininus and Balbus...
, he again marched into Lusitania, and ravaged the country. The Lusitanians sent an embassy to him, declaring that they repented of having violated the treaty which they had concluded with Atilius,and promised henceforth to observe it faithfully. The mode in which Galba acted on that occasion is one of the most infamous and atrocious acts of treachery and cruelty that occur in history. He received the ambassadors kindly, and lamented that circumstances, especially the poverty of their country, should have induced then to revolt against the Romans. He promised them fertile lands if they would remain faithful allies of Rome. He induced them, for this purpose, to, leave their homes, and assemble in three hosts, with their women and children, in the three places which he fixed upon, land in which he himself would inform each host what territory they were to occupy. When they were assembled in the manner he had prescribed, he went to the first body, commanded them to surrender their arms, surrounded them with a ditch, and then sent his armed soldiers into the place, who forthwith massacred them all. In the same manner he treated the second and third hosts. Very few of the Lusitanians escaped from the bloody scene; but among the survivors was Viriathus
Viriathus
Viriathus was the most important leader of the Lusitanian people that resisted Roman expansion into the regions of Western Hispania , where the Roman province of Lusitania would be established...
, destined one day to be the avenger of the wrong done to his countrymen. Appian states that Galba, although he was very wealthy, was extremely niggardly, and that he did not even scruple to lie or perjure himself, provided he could thereby gain pecuniary advantages.
In the following year when he had returned to Rome, the 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...
, Lucius Scribonius Libo
Lucius Scribonius Libo
Several men of plebeian status were named Lucius Scribonius Libo during the Roman Republic and Roman Empire; they were members of the gens Scribonia.-L. Scribonius Libo :...
, brought a charge against him for the outrage he had committed on the Lusitanians; and Cato the Elder
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...
, then 85 years old, attacked him most unsparingly in the assembly of the people
Roman assemblies
The Legislative Assemblies of the Roman Republic were political institutions in the ancient Roman Republic. According to the contemporary historian Polybius, it was the people who had the final say regarding the election of magistrates, the enactment of new statutes, the carrying out of capital...
. Galba, although a man of great oratorical power himself, had nothing to say in his own justification; but bribery, and the fact of his bringing his own children and the orphan child of a relative before the people, and imploring mercy, procured his acquittal.
Notwithstanding this occurrence, he was afterwards made 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...
for the year 144 BC
144 BC
Year 144 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Galba and Cotta . The denomination 144 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for...
, with Lucius Aurelius Cotta. The two consuls disputed in the senate as to which of them was to undertake the command against Viriathus in Hispania. Great dissension prevailed also in the senate, but it was resolved in the end, that neither should be sent to Hispania, and that Quintus Fabius Maximus Aemilianus
Quintus Fabius Maximus Aemilianus
Quintus Fabius Maximus Aemilianus was a Roman statesman and consul .Fabius was by adoption a member of the patrician gens Fabia, but by birth he was the eldest son of Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus and Papiria Masonis and the elder brother of Scipio Aemilianus...
, the consul of the year before, should continue to command the army in Hispania.
See also
- Sulpicia (gens)