Aelius Gallus

Last updated

Gaius Aelius Gallus was a Roman prefect of Egypt from 26 to 24 BC. He is primarily known for a disastrous expedition he undertook to Arabia Felix (modern day Yemen) under orders of Augustus.

Contents

Life

Aelius Gallus was the 2nd praefect of Roman Egypt (Aegyptus) in the reign of Augustus during the years 26–24 BC. He replaced Cornelius Gallus, with whom he has often been confused.

Aelius Gallus was also known to be an intimate friend of the Greek geographer Strabo and has been identified with the Aelius Gallus frequently quoted by Galen, whose remedies are stated to have been used with success in his Arabian expedition. [1]

The expedition to Arabia Felix, of which an account is given by his friend Strabo, [2] as well as by Cassius Dio [3] and Pliny the Elder [4] [5] turned out to be a complete failure. In this expedition, Strabo mentioned Ilasaros as the controller of Hadhramaut at that time.

Gallus undertook the expedition from Egypt by the command of Augustus, partly with a view to explore the country and its inhabitants, and partly to conclude treaties of friendship with the people, or to subdue them if they should oppose the Romans, for it was believed at the time that Arabia was full of all kinds of treasures.

When Aelius Gallus set out with his army, he trusted to the guidance of a Nabataean called Syllaeus, who deceived and misled him. A long account of this expedition through the desert is given by Strabo [6] [7] —who derived most of his information about Arabia from his friend Aelius Gallus. [8] [9] [10] [11] Aelius Gallus initially set sail with 10,000 infantry consisting of Romans and Roman allies, among whom were five-hundred Jews and one thousand Nabataeans. [12] They crossed the Red Sea, and after fourteen days landed at Leuke Kome in the land of the Nabataeans. [12] Thence, they proceeded by foot and by camel to the land of Aretas. Thence, they passed through a wasteland called Ararenê, occupied by a nomadic people, and thence proceeded another fifty days until reaching Najran. [12] From there they marched another six days where they arrived at a certain river where they joined battle with the local inhabitants, having slain 10,000 of them. Afterwards, they took the city called Asca, which had been forsaken by its king; and thence the Roman army proceeded to a city called Athrula; and, having mastered it without a struggle, Aelius Gallus placed a garrison in it, arranged for supplies of grain and dates for his march and advanced to a city called Marsiaba. [12] Guglielmo Ferrero (The Greatness and Decline of Rome, v. IV, Chap. X, trans. Chaytor, Heinemann, London, 1908) suggests that this city is Marib . The burning heat of the sun, the bad water, and the want of every thing necessary to support life, produced a disease among the soldiers that was altogether unknown to the Romans, and destroyed the greater part of the army; so that the Arabs were not only not subdued, but succeeded in driving the Romans even from those parts of the country which they had previously possessed. At this time, Aelius Gallus and his army had spent six months on their military campaign in Arabia, on account of his treacherous guide, while he effected his retreat in sixty days, obliged to return to Alexandria, having lost the greater part of his force. The campaign is the subject of a 1951 novel, The Eagle and the Sun by Lord Belhaven, who had done military and civilian service in the region. [13]

Aelius Gallus was recalled by Augustus for failure to pacify the Kushites and was succeeded as praefect by Gaius Petronius, a military commander and close friend of Augustus.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Petronia gens</span> Ancient Roman family

The gens Petronia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. This gens claimed an ancient lineage, as a Petronius Sabinus is mentioned in the time of Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, the last of the Roman kings, but few Petronii are mentioned in the time of the Republic. They are frequently encountered under the Empire, holding numerous consulships, and eventually obtaining the Empire itself during the brief reign of Petronius Maximus in AD 455.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gaius Caesar</span> Grandson and heir of Roman emperor Augustus

Gaius Caesar was a grandson and heir to the throne of Roman emperor Augustus, alongside his younger brother Lucius Caesar. Although he was born to Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Julia, Augustus' only daughter, Gaius and Lucius were raised by their grandfather as his adopted sons and joint-heirs. He experienced an accelerated political career befitting a member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, with the Roman Senate allowing him to advance his career without first holding a quaestorship or praetorship, offices that ordinary senators were required to hold as part of the cursus honorum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arabia Felix</span> Former Latin name for South Arabia and Yemen

Arabia Felix was the Latin name previously used by geographers to describe South Arabia, or what is now Yemen.

Legio X <i>Fretensis</i> Roman legion

Legio X Fretensis was a legion of the Imperial Roman army. It was founded by the young Gaius Octavius in 41/40 BC to fight during the period of civil war that started the dissolution of the Roman Republic. X Fretensis is then recorded to have existed at least until the 410s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Archelaus of Cappadocia</span> Roman client prince and the last king of Cappadocia

Archelaus was a Roman client prince and the last king of Cappadocia. He was also husband of Pythodorida, Queen regnant of Pontus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baraqish</span> Town in Al Jawf Governorate, Yemen

Barāqish or Barāgish or Aythel is a town in north-western Yemen, 120 miles to the east of Sanaa in al Jawf Governorate on a high hill. It is located in Wādī Farda(h), a popular caravan route because of the presence of water. It was known to the Greeks and Romans as Athlula, from the ancient Sabaean yθl.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minaeans</span> Ancient Yemeni kingdom

The Minaean people were the inhabitants of the kingdom of Ma'in in modern-day Yemen, dating back to the 6th century BCE. It was located along the strip of desert called Ṣayhad by medieval Arab geographers, which is now known as Ramlat al-Sab'atayn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Artavasdes IV</span> King of Armenia

Artavasdes IV of Armenia; also known as Artavasdes II of Atropatene; Artavasdes II of Media Atropatene and Armenia Major; Artavasdes II, and Artavasdes was an Iranian prince who served as King of Media Atropatene. During his reign of Media Atropatene, Artavasdes also served as a Roman Client King of Armenia Major.

The gens Aelia, occasionally written Ailia, was a plebeian family in Rome, which flourished from the fifth century BC until at least the third century AD, a period of nearly eight hundred years. The archaic spelling Ailia is found on coins, but must not be confused with Allia, which is a distinct gens. The first member of the family to obtain the consulship was Publius Aelius Paetus in 337 BC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wars of Augustus</span> Military campaigns undertaken by the Romans during the rule of emperor Augustus

The wars of Augustus are the military campaigns undertaken by the Roman government during the sole rule of the founder-emperor Augustus. This was a period of 45 years when almost every year saw major campaigning, in some cases on a scale comparable to the Second Punic War, when Roman manpower resources were stretched to the limit. This period also saw expansion through diplomacy and annexation, without the direct use of military force. The result was a major expansion of the empire that Augustus inherited from the Roman Republic, although the attempted conquest of Germania ended in defeat despite the enormous deployment of resources involved. As a result of these campaigns, the Roman Empire assumed the borders it would hold, with a few modifications, for its entire history.

The gens Arria was a plebeian family of ancient Rome, first recorded in the final century of the Republic, and prestigious during imperial times. The first of the gens to achieve prominence was Quintus Arrius, praetor in 72 BC.

The gens Asinia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome, which rose to prominence during the first century BC. The first member of this gens mentioned in history is Herius Asinius, commander of the Marrucini during the Social War. The Asinii probably obtained Roman citizenship in the aftermath of this conflict, as they are mentioned at Rome within a generation, and Gaius Asinius Pollio obtained the consulship in 40 BC.

The Roman presence in the Arabian Peninsula had its foundations in the expansion of the empire under Augustus, and continued until the Arab conquests of Eastern Roman territory from the 620s onward.

Hermann von Wissmann was a German-Austrian explorer of Arabia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nonia gens</span> Ancient Roman family

The gens Nonia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Its members first appear in history toward the end of the Republic. The first of the Nonii to obtain the consulship was Lucius Nonius Asprenas in 36 BC. From then until the end of the fourth century, they regularly held the highest offices of the Roman state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Munatia gens</span>

The gens Munatia was a plebeian family at Rome. Members of this gens are first mentioned during the second century BC, but they did not obtain any of the higher offices of the Roman state until imperial times.

The gens Neratia or Naeratia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome, some of whom subsequently became patricians. The first of the gens to appear in history occur in the time of Augustus, but they did not rise to prominence until the time of Vespasian, when Marcus Neratius Pansa became the first to obtain the consulship. The Neratii married into the Roman imperial family in the fourth century.

Nashan is the name of an ancient South Arabian city in the northern al-Jawf region of present day Yemen, in the territory of the ancient Kingdom of Ma'in. The city was called Nestum in the Natural History book that was written by Pliny the Elder.

The gens Rubria was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens are first mentioned in the time of the Gracchi, but they did not rise to prominence until imperial times. The first of the Rubrii to obtain the consulship was Rubrius Gallus, some time before AD 68.

Nashaq is the name of an ancient South Arabian city in the northern al-Jawf region of present-day Yemen, in the territory of the ancient Kingdom of Ma'in.

References

PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain :  Smith, William, ed. (1870). "Gallus, Aelius". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology .

Citations

  1. ↑ Galen, vol. ii, p. 455, ed. Basil.
  2. ↑ Strabo, xvi. p. 780-783.
  3. ↑ Cassius Dio LIII, 29
  4. ↑ Pliny the Elder, Nat. Hist. vi. 32.
  5. ↑ See also Charles Merivale, History of the Romans under the Empire, ch. 4; H. Krüger, Der Feidzug des Aelius Gallus nach dem glucklichen Arabien unter Kaiser Augustus, 1862.
  6. ↑ Strabo, xvi. p. 780–782; xvii. pp. 806, 816, 819.
  7. ↑ Dio Cassius, liii. 29.
  8. ↑ Strabo, ii. p. 118.
  9. ↑ Pliny, Natural History, vi. 32; vii. 28.
  10. ↑ Charles Merivale, History of the Romans under the Empire, ch. 34, 1864.
  11. ↑ Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, xv. 9. §3.
  12. 1 2 3 4 Strabo's Geography, Book xvi, chapter 4.
  13. ↑ Lord Belhaven. The Eagle and the Sun London: John Murray, 1951

Bibliography

  • (ge) F. Bartenstein, Bis ans Ende der bewohnten Welt. Die römische Grenz- und Expansionspolitik in der augusteischen Zeit, München 2014, pp. 11–70.
  • (ge) K. Buschmann, "Motiv und Ziel des Aelius-Gallus-Zuges", Die Welt Des Orients , 22 (1991), pp. 85-93.
  • S. Jameson, "Chronology of the campaigns of Aelius Gallus and Gaius Petronius", Journal of Roman Studies , 58 (1968), pp. 71-84.
  • (ge) Heinrich Krueger, Der Feldzug des Aelius Gallus nach dem glucklichen Arabien unter Kaiser Augustus, 1862
  • (fr) A. G. Loudine, "H von Wissmann, Die Geschichte des Sabäerreichs und des Feldzug des Aelius Gallus", (book review) in Bibliotheca orientalis, 37 (1980), pp. 363-365.
  • (ge) C. Marek, "Die Expedition des Aelius Gallus nach Arabien im Jahre 25 v.Chr.", Chiron , 23 (1993), pp. 121-156.
  • P. Mayerson, "Aelius Gallus at Cleopatris (Suez) and on the Red Sea", Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies , 36 (1995), pp. 17-24.
  • (fr) J. Pirenne, "L'expédition d'Aelius Gallus en Arabie heureuse", in Le royaume sud-arabe de Qatabān et sa datation, London, 1961.
  • (ge) M.-Th. Raepsaet-Charlier, Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt, Geschichte und Kultur Roms im Spiegel der neueren Forschung. II. Principat. 9, 2 (book review), l'Antiquité Classique, 49 (1980), p. 521-522.
  • S. E. Sidebotham, "Aelius Gallus and Arabia", Latomus, 45 (1986), pp. 590-602.
  • R. Simon, "Aelius Gallus’ Campaign and the Arab Trade in the Augustan Age", Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae , 55 (2002), pp. 309–318.
  • W. L. Westermann, "Aelius Gallus and the Reorganization of the irrigation system of Egypt under Augustus", Classical Philology , 12 (1917), pp. 237.
  • (ge) H. von Wissmann, "Die Geschichte des Sabäerreichs und des Feldzug des Aelius Gallus", Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt , t. 9.1, Berlin-New York City, 1976, pp. 308-544.
Political offices
Preceded by Prefect of Egypt
26 BC–24 BC		Succeeded by
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.