Battle of Pometia | |||||||
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Part of the Roman–Latin wars | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Roman Republic | Pometia Cora | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Agrippa Menenius Publius Postumius | Unknown | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
60,000 infantry 2,300 cavalry | 30,000 infantry 10,000 cavalry | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
2,750 killed and wounded | 35,000 killed Only 3,000 escaped |
The Battle of Pometia took place in 502 BC, a year after a revolt by two Latin towns, Pometia and Cora, against Rome. A Roman army led by the consuls Agrippa Menenius Lanatus and Publius Postumius Tubertus was eventually successful in forcing the Pometians to surrender.
In 503 BC, two Latin towns, Pometia and Cora, said by Livy to be colonies of Rome, revolted against Rome. They had the assistance of the southern Aurunci tribe. [1]
Livy says that a Roman army led by the consuls Agrippa Menenius Lanatus and Publius Postumius Tubertus met the enemy on the frontiers and was victorious, after which the war was confined to Pometia. Livy says many enemy prisoners were slaughtered by each side. [2] [3] Livy also says that the consuls celebrated a triumph, however the Fasti Triumphales record that an ovation was celebrated by Postumius and a triumph by Menenius, both over the Sabines.
In the following year the consuls were Opiter Virginius and Spurius Cassius. Livy says that they attempted to take Pometia by storm, but then resorted to siege engines. However the Aurunci launched a successful sally, destroying the siege engines, wounding many, and nearly killing one of the consuls. The Romans retreated to Rome, recruited additional troops, and returned to Pometia. They rebuilt the siege engines and when they were about to take the town, the Pometians surrendered. The Aurunci leaders were beheaded, the Pometians sold into slavery, the town razed and the land sold. Livy says the consuls celebrated a triumph as a result of the victory. [4] The Fasti Triumphales record only one triumph, by Cassius (possibly over the Sabines although the inscription is unclear).
During the 290s BC, Hellenistic civilization begins its emergence throughout the successor states of the former Argead Macedonian Empire of Alexander the Great, resulting in the diffusion of Greek culture throughout the Levant and advances in science, mathematics, philosophy, etc. Meanwhile, the Roman Republic is embroiled in war against the Samnites, the Mauryan Empire continues to thrive in Ancient India, and the Kingdom of Qin in Ancient China, the one which in the future will conquer its adversaries and unite China, begins to emerge as a significant power during the Warring States period.
The year 503 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. In the Roman Empire it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Lanatus and Tubertus. The denomination 503 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 naming years.
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Publius Valerius Poplicola or Publicola was one of four Roman aristocrats who led the overthrow of the monarchy, and became a Roman consul, the colleague of Lucius Junius Brutus in 509 BC, traditionally considered the first year of the Roman Republic.
Agrippa Menenius Lanatus was a consul of the Roman Republic in 503 BC, with Publius Postumius Tubertus. He was victorious over the Sabines and was awarded a triumph which he celebrated on 4 April, 503 BC. According to Livy, he also led Roman troops against the Latin town of Pometia. In some traditions he and his colleague also completed a census during their consulship.
Lucius Minucius Esquilinus Augurinus was a Roman politician in the 5th century BC, consul in 458 BC, and decemvir in 450 BC.
Appius Claudius Sabinus Regillensis or Inregillensis was the legendary founder of the Roman gens Claudia, and consul in 495 BC. He was the leading figure of the aristocratic party in the early Roman Republic.
The Roman–Etruscan Wars, also known as the Etruscan Wars or the Etruscan–Roman Wars, were a series of wars fought between ancient Rome and the Etruscans. Information about many of the wars is limited, particularly those in the early parts of Rome's history, and in large part is known from ancient texts alone. The conquest of Etruria was completed in 265–264 BC.
The gens Postumia was a noble patrician family at ancient Rome. Throughout the history of the Republic, the Postumii frequently occupied the chief magistracies of the Roman state, beginning with Publius Postumius Tubertus, consul in 505 BC, the fifth year of the Republic. Although like much of the old Roman aristocracy, the Postumii faded for a time into obscurity under the Empire, individuals bearing the name of Postumius again filled a number of important offices from the second century AD to the end of the Western Empire.
Publius Postumius Tubertus, the son of Quintus, was the first of the patrician gens Postumia to obtain the consulship, which he held in 505 BC, and again in 503. Ten years later, he was one of the envoys sent by the Roman Senate to negotiate with the plebeians during the first secessio plebis. The outcome of those negotiations reunited the Roman people, and established the tribunes of the plebs, one of the most important institutions of the Roman Republic.
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Titus Menenius Lanatus was a Roman patrician of the fifth century BC. He was elected consul for the year 477. He unsuccessfully fought the Veiientes, and was later prosecuted by the tribunes of the plebs for his failure to prevent the disaster of the Cremera.
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Titus Menenius Lanatus was a Roman senator during the 5th century BC. He served as consul in 452 BC.
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