Gaius Aquillius Florus was one of the two consuls of the Roman Republic in the year 259 BCE. His consular colleague was Lucius Cornelius Scipio. Together they fought in the ongoing First Punic War.
Aquillius Florus fought the Carthaginian general Hamilcar on Sicily while his consular collegae attacked the Carthaginian fleet based in Corsica. [1] In 258 BCE, Florus' command was prorogued and he continued his campaign as proconsul. [2]
The Battle of Cannae was a key engagement of the Second Punic War between the Roman Republic and Carthage, fought on 2 August 216 BC near the ancient village of Cannae in Apulia, southeast Italy. The Carthaginians and their allies, led by Hannibal, surrounded and practically annihilated a larger Roman and Italian army under the consuls Lucius Aemilius Paullus and Gaius Terentius Varro. It is regarded as one of the greatest tactical feats in military history and one of the worst defeats in Roman history, and it cemented Hannibal's reputation as one of antiquity's greatest tacticians.
From its origin as a city-state on the peninsula of Italy in the 8th century BC, to its rise as an empire covering much of Southern Europe, Western Europe, Near East and North Africa to its fall in the 5th century AD, the political history of Ancient Rome was closely entwined with its military history. The core of the campaign history of the Roman military is an aggregate of different accounts of the Roman military's land battles, from its initial defense against and subsequent conquest of the city's hilltop neighbors on the Italian peninsula, to the ultimate struggle of the Western Roman Empire for its existence against invading Huns, Vandals and Germanic tribes. These accounts were written by various authors throughout and after the history of the Empire. Following the First Punic War, naval battles were less significant than land battles to the military history of Rome due to its encompassment of lands of the periphery and its unchallenged dominance of the Mediterranean Sea.
Aulus Atilius Caiatinus was a Roman general and statesman who achieved prominence for his military activities during the First Punic War against Carthage. As consul in 258 BC, he enjoyed several successes in Sicily, for which he later celebrated a triumph. He undertook further campaigning in Sicily both at sea and on land during a second consulship and then as dictator, becoming the first Roman dictator to lead an army outside mainland Italy.
The Third Servile War, also called the Gladiator War and the War of Spartacus by Plutarch, was the last in a series of slave rebellions against the Roman Republic known as the Servile Wars. This third rebellion was the only one that directly threatened the Roman heartland of Italy. It was particularly alarming to Rome because its military seemed powerless to suppress it.
The Mithridatic Wars were three conflicts fought by the Roman Republic against the Kingdom of Pontus and its allies between 88 and 63 BC. They are named after Mithridates VI, the King of Pontus during the course of the wars, who initiated the hostilities with Rome. Mithridates led the Pontic forces in every war. The Romans were led by various generals and consuls throughout the wars, namely Lucius Cornelius Sulla, Lucius Licinius Lucullus, and Gnaeus Pompey Magnus.
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.
The gens Aquillia or Aquilia was a plebeian family of great antiquity at ancient Rome. Two of the Aquillii are mentioned among the Roman nobles who conspired to bring back the Tarquins, and a member of the house, Gaius Aquillius Tuscus, was consul in 487 BC.
The Battle of the Silarus was fought in 212 BC between Hannibal's army and a Roman force led by centurion Marcus Centenius Penula. The Carthaginians were victorious, destroying the entire Roman army and killing 15,000 Roman soldiers in the process.
Manius Aquillius was a Roman senator who served as consul in 129 BC. He put an end to the war which had been carried on against Aristonicus, the son of Eumenes II, king of Pergamon, and which had been almost terminated by his predecessor, Marcus Perperna. On his return to Rome, he was accused by Publius Lentulus of maladministration in his province, Asia, but was acquitted by bribing the judges. He obtained a triumph on account of his successes in Asia, but not until 126 BC.
Manius Aquillius was a Roman politician and general during the late Roman Republic. He was a member of the ancient Roman gens Aquillia, probably a son of Manius Aquillius, consul in 129 BC. Aquillius served as Consul of Rome with Gaius Marius in 101 BC. Before his consulship, during the Cimbrian War, he had served as a legate under Marius in Gaul. He played a pivotal role during the Battle of Aquae Sextiae where he surprised the Teutones by attacking them from behind. As consul he crushed a slave revolt in Sicily by defeating Athenion of Cilicia in single combat, a victory that was commemorated by Aquillius's family by coinage issued decades later. At the start of the First Mithridatic War he was defeated and captured by Mithridates VI of Pontus who had him executed by pouring molten gold down his throat.
Marcus Atilius Regulus was a Roman statesman and general who was a consul of the Roman Republic in 267 BC and 256 BC. Much of his career was spent fighting the Carthaginians during the first Punic War. In 256 BC, he and Lucius Manlius Vulso Longus defeated the Carthaginians at the naval battle off Cape Ecnomus; afterwards he led the Roman expedition to Africa but was defeated at the Bagradas River in spring of 255 BC. He was captured and then probably died of natural causes, with the story of his death later being much embellished.
A feigned retreat is a military tactic, a type of feint, whereby a military force pretends to withdraw or to have been routed, in order to lure an enemy into a position of vulnerability.
Spartacus was a Thracian gladiator (Thraex) who was one of the escaped slave leaders in the Third Servile War, a major slave uprising against the Roman Republic.
Lucius Valerius Flaccus was a Roman statesman and general during the middle era of the Roman Republic. He was one of the two consuls of 261 BCE, serving with Titus Otacilius Crassus. Together they fought in the ongoing First Punic War; they campaigned in Sicily. Before sailing to Sicily they strengthened the coastal defences of Italy against attacks by Hannibal Gisco, a Carthaginian admiral sent to raid the Tyrrhenian coast. The consuls besieged Mytistraton, but were eventually driven off by Hamilcar, the new commander of Carthage's Sicilian army, who inflicted a defeat on them at Thermae near Palermo. They returned to Italy were they started building a fleet. This fleet was the first Roman fleet of war ships ever and created after Carthaginian example. In 260, this fleet was ready.
Lucius Junius Pullus was a politician and general of the Roman Republic. He was consul in 249 BCE together with Publius Claudius Pulcher. He and his consular colleague fought in the ongoing First Punic War.
Titus Otacilius Crassus was a Roman statesman and general during the middle era of the Roman Republic. He was one of the two consuls of 261 BCE, serving with Lucius Valerius Flaccus. During his consulship, he and his consular colleague Flaccus fought against the Carthaginians on Sicily as part of the ongoing First Punic War. Before sailing to Sicily they strengthened the coastal defences of Italy against attacks by Hannibal Gisco, a Carthaginian admiral sent to raid the Tyrrhenian coast. The consuls besieged Mytistraton, but were eventually driven off by Hamilcar, the new commander of Carthage's Sicilian army, who defeated them at Thermae near Palermo. They returned to Italy were they started building Rome's first warfleet, created after Carthaginian example. In 260, the fleet was ready and would be used by Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Asina, one of the two consuls of that year.
Quintus Fabius Vibulanus was a consul of the Roman Republic in 423 BC and a consular tribune in 416 and 414 BC.
Servius Fulvius Paetinius Nobilior was a Roman statesman and general during the middle era of the Roman Republic. He was one of the two consuls of 255 BCE, serving with Marcus Aemilius Paullus. He was consul during the First Punic War against Carthage. Paetinus and his consular colleague led a Roman fleet of 350 warships to Africa to rescue the remnants of the army of proconsul Marcus Atilius Regelus, who had been defeated at the Battle of the Bagradas River during their consulship. En route they defeated a Carthaginian fleet of 200 warships in the Battle of Cape Hermaeum.
Athenion was a man of ancient Cilicia who was a major figure in the Second Servile War in Sicily, and had a career similar to that of the Cilician Cleon.