Battle of Pedum (358 BC)

Last updated
Battle of Pedum
Part of Roman-Gaulish Wars
Date358 BC
Location
Result Roman victory
Belligerents
Roman Republic Gauls
Commanders and leaders
Gaius Sulpicius Peticus
Marcus Valerius Poplicola
Unknown
Strength
2 consular armies; about 40,000 [1] Unknown

The Battle of Pedum was fought in 358 BC, near Pedum between the Roman Republic and a group of Gauls who had entered Latium. The Romans, led by dictator Gaius Sulpicius Peticus and his magister equitum, Marcus Valerius Poplicola, defeated the Gauls at their encampment near Pedum after a prolonged standoff. [2] [3]

Contents

Background

News of Gallic tribes in Latium had been common towards the end of 359 BC. Upon hearing news of a force of Gauls entering Latium and encamping near Pedum, the Romans resolved to appoint Gaius Sulpicius Peticus as dictator, who, along with his magister equitum, Marcus Valerius Poplicola, quickly set off for Pedum in anticipation of an easy victory. [1]

Upon reaching Pedum, Peticus, to the displeasure of his men, ordered that no soldier be permitted to attack without his command. Peticus's men soon began publicly voicing their distaste for the dictator's orders. The opposition culminated when Sextus Tullius, one of Peticus's senior centurions, delivered a speech to his men, denouncing Peticus's choice and effectively convincing Peticius to engage with the Gauls. [4] [5]

Battle

Skirmishing began between Romans and Gauls shortly after Tullius's address, prompting Peticus to formulate a strategy. Peticus decided to send a mix of muleteers and cavalry atop a nearby mountain, and lined up the rest of his forces along the plains near base of the mountain. [6] The Gauls were quick to attack after they spotted the Romans descending the mountain, but the move ultimately resulted in disorder, and the Romans were able to rout both the right and left flanks of the Gaulish forces, driving them to retreat. At this, Peticus ordered his cavalry and muleteers to intercept the fleeing Gallic army. [7] [5]

Aftermath

Peticus, Poplicola, and the Roman force returned to Rome with a considerable amount of gold taken from the Gallic camps. The spoils were brought to the Capitoline Hill and consecrated. [7] [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samnite Wars</span> Three wars between the Roman Republic and the Samnites in Central Italy, 343–290 BC

The First, Second, and Third Samnite Wars were fought between the Roman Republic and the Samnites, who lived on a stretch of the Apennine Mountains south of Rome and north of the Lucanian tribe.

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

The gens Valeria was a patrician family at ancient Rome, prominent from the very beginning of the Republic to the latest period of the Empire. Publius Valerius Poplicola was one of the consuls in 509 BC, the year that saw the overthrow of the Tarquins, and the members of his family were among the most celebrated statesmen and generals at the beginning of the Republic. Over the next ten centuries, few gentes produced as many distinguished men, and at every period the name of Valerius was constantly to be found in the lists of annual magistrates, and held in the highest honour. Several of the emperors claimed descent from the Valerii, whose name they bore as part of their official nomenclature.

The gens Sulpicia was one of the most ancient patrician families at ancient Rome, and produced a succession of distinguished men, from the foundation of the Republic to the imperial period. The first member of the gens who obtained the consulship was Servius Sulpicius Camerinus Cornutus, in 500 BC, only nine years after the expulsion of the Tarquins, and the last of the name who appears on the consular list was Sextus Sulpicius Tertullus in AD 158. Although originally patrician, the family also possessed plebeian members, some of whom may have been descended from freedmen of the gens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Lake Regillus</span> Legendary Roman victory over the Latin League and as part of a wider Latin War (c. 496 BC)

The Battle of Lake Regillus was a legendary Roman victory over the Latin League shortly after the establishment of the Roman Republic and as part of a wider Latin War. The Latins were led by an elderly Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, the seventh and last King of Rome, who had been expelled in 509 BC, and his son-in-law, Octavius Mamilius, the dictator of Tusculum. The battle marked the final attempt of the Tarquins to reclaim their throne. According to legend, Castor and Pollux fought on the side of the Romans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gaius Flaminius (consul 223 BC)</span> 3rd century BC Roman politician and general

Gaius Flaminius was a leading Roman politician in the third century BC. Flaminius served as consul twice, in 223 and 217. He is notable for the Lex Flaminia, a land reform passed in 232, the construction of the Circus Flaminius in 221, the construction of the Via Flaminia, and his death at the hands of Hannibal's army at the Battle of Lake Trasimene in 217, during the Second Punic War. Flaminius is celebrated by ancient sources as being a skilled orator and a man possessed of great piety, strength, and determination. He is, however, simultaneously criticised by ancient writers such as Cicero and Livy for his popular policies and disregard of Roman traditions, particularly during the terms of his tribunate and second consulship.

<i>Magister equitum</i> Roman magistrate

The magister equitum, in English Master of the Horse or Master of the Cavalry, was a Roman magistrate appointed as lieutenant to a dictator. His nominal function was to serve as commander of the Roman cavalry in time of war, but just as a dictator could be nominated to respond to other crises, so the magister equitum could operate independently of the cavalry; like the dictator, the appointment of a magister equitum served both military and political purposes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Mount Algidus</span> Battle between the Roman Republic and the Aequi (458 BC)

The Battle of Mount Algidus was fought in 458 BC, between the Roman Republic and the Aequi, near Mount Algidus in Latium. The Roman dictator Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus turned an expected Roman defeat into an important victory.

The Roman–Latin wars were a series of wars fought between ancient Rome and the Latins, from the earliest stages of the history of Rome until the final subjugation of the Latins to Rome in the aftermath of the Latin War.

The Roman conquest of the Hernici, an ancient Italic people, took place during the 4th century BC. For most of the 5th century BC, the Roman Republic had been allied with the other Latin states and the Hernici to successfully fend off the Aequi and the Volsci. In the early 4th century BC, this alliance fell apart. A war fought between Rome and the Hernici in the years 366–358 BC ended in Roman victory and the submission of the Hernici. Rome also defeated a rebellion by some Hernician cities in 307–306 BC. The rebellious Hernici were incorporated directly into the Roman Republic, while those who had stayed loyal retained their autonomy and nominal independence. In the course of the following century, the Hernici became indistinguishable from their Latin and Roman neighbours and disappeared as a separate people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman–Gallic wars</span> Wars between the Roman Republic and Celtic tribes

Over the course of nearly four centuries, the Roman Republic fought a series of wars against various Celtic tribes, whom they collectively described as Galli, or Gauls. Among the principal Gallic peoples described as antagonists by Greek and Roman writers were the Senones, Insubres, Boii, and Gaesatae.

Pedum was an ancient town of Latium in central Italy, located between Tibur and Praeneste, near modern Gallicano nel Lazio. The town was a member of the Latin League.

Gaius Sulpicius Peticus was a prominent 4th-century BC Roman politician and general who served as consul five times and as dictator once. Sulpicius was a member of the gens Sulpicia, a prominent patrician family which had attained the consular dignity a great number of times following the foundation of the republic. However, the familial relationship between Sulpicius and other known contemporary members of the gens is unknown, with the only information about his heritage being that his father was named Marcus and his grandfather was named Quintus.

Gaius Julius Iulus was a member of the Roman gens Julia, and was nominated dictator in 352 BC.

Servius Cornelius Maluginensis was a politician and general of the Roman Republic. He was elected consular tribune seven times in 386, 384, 382, 380, 376, 370, and 368 BC. Despite having one of the most successful careers of the Republic, Servius' life is little known.

Marcus Valerius Poplicola was a politician of the Roman Republic who served as magister equitum under the dictator Gaius Sulpicius Peticus in 358 and as consul in 355 and 353 BC.

Lucius Valerius Potitus was a five time consular tribune, in 414, 406, 403, 401 and 398 BC, and two times consul, in 393 and 392 BC, of the Roman Republic.

Aulus Cornelius Cossus Arvina was a Roman statesman and general who served as both consul and Magister Equitum twice, and Dictator in 322 BC.

Publius Valerius Poplicola was a Roman politician and general in the mid 4th century BC who served as Roman Consul, Praetor, Dictator, and Magister Equitum during his career.

Lucius Aemilius Mamercinus was a Roman politician and general who, in the early 4th century BC, held the office of consular tribune an extraordinary six times in his distinguished, yet mostly unknown, career.

Gaius Licinius Calvus was a Roman politician from the plebeian Licinia gens in the fourth century BC.

References

  1. 1 2 Livy, Ab urbe condita 7.12
  2. PD-icon.svg Bunbury, Edward (1857). "Pedum". In Smith, William (ed.). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography . Vol. 2. London: John Murray.
  3. 1 2 Forsythe, Gary (2005). A Critical History of Early Rome: From Prehistory to the First Punic War (1st ed.). Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 277. ISBN   978-0-520-94029-1. OCLC   70728478.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  4. Livy 7.13
  5. 1 2 Montagu, John Drogo (2000). Battles of the Greek and Roman Worlds: A Chronological Compendium of 667 Battles to 31 B.C., from the Historians of the Ancient World. London: Greenhill Books. pp. 159–160. ISBN   1-85367-389-7. OCLC   42699582.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  6. Livy 7.14
  7. 1 2 Livy 7.15