Battle of Aesernia

Last updated

The Battle of Aesernia took place in the year 90 BC during the Social War. [1] A force under the consul Lucius Julius Caesar, an uncle of the more famous Julius Caesar, was engaged while moving to relieve the siege of Aesernia and defeated by a rebel force under Titus Vettius Scato. [1] [2] Orosius wrote that Caesar had to entirely rebuild his army with Gallic and African troops after the battle while Appian admits only 2,000 Roman dead. [1] [2] As a result of their victory the rebels had enough spare forces to reinforce the army besieging Aesernia while another army took Venafrum. [1] It is also possible Venafrum joined the rebels. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pompey</span> Roman general and statesman (106–48 BC)

Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, known in English as Pompey or Pompey the Great, was a general and statesman of the Roman Republic. He played a significant role in the transformation of Rome from republic to empire. Early in his career, he was a partisan and protégé of the Roman general and dictator Sulla; later, he became the political ally, and finally the enemy, of Julius Caesar.

This article concerns the period 79 BC – 70 BC.

80s BC is the time period from 89 BC – 80 BC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marcus Licinius Crassus</span> Roman general and statesman (115 – 53 BC)

Marcus Licinius Crassus was a Roman general and statesman who played a key role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire. He is often called "the richest man in Rome".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sulla</span> Roman general and dictator (138–78 BC)

Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix, commonly known as Sulla, was a Roman general and statesman. He won the first large-scale civil war in Roman history and became the first man of the Republic to seize power through force.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Social War (91–87 BC)</span> War between Rome and its Italian allies

The Social War, also called the Italian War or the Marsic War, was fought largely from 91 to 88 BC between the Roman Republic and several of its autonomous allies in Italy. Some of the allies held out until 87 BC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Vercellae</span> Battle of the Cimbrian war

The Battle of Vercellae, or Battle of the Raudine Plain, was fought on 30 July 101 BC on a plain near Vercellae in Gallia Cisalpina. A Germanic-Celtic confederation under the command of the Cimbric king Boiorix was defeated by a Roman army under the joint command of the consul Gaius Marius and the proconsul Quintus Lutatius Catulus. The battle marked the end of the Germanic threat to the Roman Republic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gaius Marius (consul 82 BC)</span> Roman general and politician

Gaius Marius "the Younger" was a Roman republican general and politician who became consul in 82 BC with Gnaeus Papirius Carbo. He was the son of the Gaius Marius who was the victor of the Jugurthine and Cimbric wars. He fought in Sulla's civil war. He committed suicide that same year at Praeneste, after his defeat by Sulla and during the city's capture by Quintus Lucretius Afella.

Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius was a general and statesman of the Roman Republic. His father Metellus Numidicus was banished from Rome through the machinations of Gaius Marius. He, because of his constant and unbending attempts to have his father officially recalled from exile, was given the agnomen (nickname) Pius.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cimbrian War</span> Conflict between Rome and Germanic & Celtic tribes (113–101 BCE)

The Cimbrian or Cimbric War was fought between the Roman Republic and the Germanic and Celtic tribes of the Cimbri and the Teutons, Ambrones and Tigurini, who migrated from the Jutland peninsula into Roman-controlled territory, and clashed with Rome and her allies. The Cimbrian War was the first time since the Second Punic War that Italia and Rome itself had been seriously threatened.

Lucius Julius Caesar was a Roman statesman and general of the late 2nd and early 1st centuries BC. He was involved in the downfall of the plebeian tribune Lucius Appuleius Saturninus in 100 BC. He was consul of the Roman Republic in 90 BC during the Social War. During the war he commanded several Roman legions against the Italian Allies. He was awarded a Triumph for his victories on the Samnites at Acerrae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crisis of the Roman Republic</span> 134 – 44 BC political instability leading to the Roman transition from Republic to Empire

The crisis of the Roman Republic was an extended period of political instability and social unrest from about c. 133 BC to 44 BC that culminated in the demise of the Roman Republic and the advent of the Roman Empire.

Sulla's civil war was fought between the Roman general Lucius Cornelius Sulla and his opponents, the Cinna-Marius faction, in the years 83–82 BC. The war ended with a decisive battle just outside Rome itself. After the war the victorious Sulla made himself dictator of the Roman Republic.

The career of Julius Caesar before his consulship in 59 BC was characterized by military adventurism and political persecution. Julius Caesar was born on 12 July 100 BC into a patrician family, the gens Julia, which claimed descent from Iulus, son of the legendary Trojan prince Aeneas, supposedly the son of the goddess Venus. His father died when he was just 16, leaving Caesar as the head of the household. His family status put him at odds with the Dictator Lucius Cornelius Sulla, who almost had him executed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Military campaigns of Julius Caesar</span> Caesars military campaigns of 58–50 and 49–45 BC

The military campaigns of Julius Caesar were a series of wars that reshaped the political landscape of the Roman Republic, expanded its territories, and ultimately paved the way for the transition from republic to empire. The wars constituted both the Gallic Wars and Caesar's civil war.

Titus Vettius Scato was an Italian rebel commander, a general of the Marsi during the Social War. At the Battle of the Tolenus River, Scato and the Marsi ambushed the Roman consul, Publius Rutilius Lupus after the Romans crossed the River Tolenus. Unfortunately for Scato, Rutilius's senior legate, Gaius Marius, and his division were operating separately from Rutilis and crossed the river downstream of the battle, captured the Marsi camp, and then attacked the Marsi while they were still fighting Rutilius's army, routing them with heavy losses. He defeated Lucius Julius Caesar in battle before marching on and capturing Aesernia. When he encountered an army under Pompey Strabo, instead of fighting, the two met, their armies treating each other without hatred. According to Seneca, he was captured by the Romans but was stabbed to death by his slave rather than face the ignominy of defeat.

The Battle of Acerrae was fought during the Social War between Roman forces under Lucius Julius Caesar, not to be confused with the triumvir, and rebel forces under Gaius Papius Mutilus.

The Battle of Taenum was fought in 90 BC during the Social War. In the battle, Roman forces under the command of Lucius Julius Caesar were defeated by Italian rebel forces commanded by Marius Egnatius.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of the Tolenus River</span>

The Battle of the Tolenus River was fought on 11 June 90 BC between the Roman Republic, led by the consul Publius Rutilius Lupus, and an army of Marsian Rebels commanded by Titus Vettius Scato. The battle was part of the Social War and resulted in a major defeat for the Romans.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Sampson, Gareth C. (2013). The collapse of Rome : Marius, Sulla and the first Civil War, 91-70 BC. Barnsley, South Yorkshire. ISBN   9781473826854. OCLC   893910287.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  2. 1 2 3 Beesly, Augustus Henry (1889). The Gracchi, Marius, and Sulla. Epochs of Ancient History. London: Longmans, Green, and Co.