Gaius Papius Mutilus was a Samnite noble who is best known for being the leader of the southern rebels who fought against the army of Rome in the Social War of 91-87 BC (also known as the Italian War); was member of the clan Variani/Varriano. [2] His father was Gaius Papius Mutilus, who held the highest Samnite magistracy in Bovianum a number of times in the second half of the 2nd century BC [3]
The Samnite army, consisting of southern rebels, was very similar to that of the Romans. Two men were elected consuls while another twelve were granted the position of praetor. The consuls were the leaders of their respective armies and are referred to as “commanders in chief". Papius became the consul for the southern rebel forces, known as the Samnites, in 90 BC. His fellow consul was Quintus Poppaedius Silo; the leader of a centrally located army, staffed mainly by members of the Italian tribe of the Marsi. Both of these men held the position of consul into the year 89 BC due to their success during the campaigning season of the following year. [4]
Papius achieved great success as the leader of the Samnite army during his advance into Roman territory. One of the more famous battles fought by the southern rebels occurred at the city of Nola. The Samnite army captured the city with 2,000 Roman soldiers remaining inside. The soldiers did not accept Papius' offer to serve under him and were therefore starved to death.
Following his victory at Nola, Papius took the cities of Stabiae, Minervium, and Salernum while conquering the country around Nuceria. The citizens of these cities and those surrounding feared the wrath of Papius. He gathered the prisoners and slaves from each city while also being given infantry and cavalry out of fear (these troops amounted to over 10,000 infantry and 1,000 cavalry). [5] Papius continued to destroy the Romans while continuing to have success in the city of Campania and the regions surrounding it. During his leadership of the Samnite army, Papius only lost two notable battles. These were to consul Lucius Julius Caesar in 90 BC and to Lucius Cornelius Sulla in 89 BC. Following his loss to Sulla, Papius is said to have been granted Roman citizenship. Papius Mutilus was not prominent during the ensuing civil wars. [6] Shortly after, he was proscribed and committed suicide [2] in 80 BC. [6]
80s BC is the time period from 89 BC – 80 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.
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.
The Social War, also called the Italian War or the Marsic War, was fought largely from 91 to 87 BC between the Roman Republic and several of its autonomous allies in Italy. Some of the allies held out until 87 BC.
Samnium is a Latin exonym for a region of Southern Italy anciently inhabited by the Samnites. Their own endonyms were Safinim for the country and Safineis for the people. The language of these endonyms and of the population was the Oscan language. However, not all the Samnites spoke Oscan, and not all the Oscan-speakers lived in Samnium.
The Samnites were an ancient Italic people who lived in Samnium, which is located in modern inland Abruzzo, Molise, and Campania in south-central Italy.
The Battle of the Colline Gate, fought on 1 November 82 BC, was the decisive battle of the civil war between Lucius Cornelius Sulla and the Marians, Samnites and Lucanians. Sulla won the battle on the north-east of Rome, near the Colline Gate, and secured control of Italy. Appian is the only source who provides details about the battle.
The Battle of Sentinum was the decisive battle of the Third Samnite War, fought in 295 BC near Sentinum, in which the Romans overcame a formidable coalition of Samnites, Etruscans, and Umbrians and Senone Gauls. The Romans won a decisive victory that broke up the tribal coalition and paved the way for the Romans' complete victory over the Samnites. The Romans involved in the battle of Sentinum were commanded by consuls Publius Decius Mus and Quintus Fabius Maximus Rullianus.
The Pyrrhic War was largely fought between the Roman Republic and Pyrrhus, the king of Epirus, who had been asked by the people of the Greek city of Tarentum in southern Italy to help them in their war against the Romans.
Gaius Flavius Fimbria was a Roman general. Born to a recently distinguished senatorial family, he became one of the most violent and bloodthirsty partisans of the consul Cornelius Cinna and his ally, Gaius Marius, in the civil war of 87 BC. During the conflict, Fimbria served them as both cavalry commander and negotiator, and took a leading part in the political purges that followed their capture of Rome, putting a number of prominent aristocrats to death.
Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius was a general and statesman of the Roman Republic. Like the other members of the influential Caecilii Metelli family, he was a leader of the conservative faction, the Optimates, who opposed the popular faction, the Populares, during the last century of the Roman Republic.
Lucius Papirius Cursor was a celebrated politician and general of the early Roman Republic, who was five times consul, three times magister equitum, and twice dictator. He was the most important Roman commander during the Second Samnite War, during which he received three triumphs.
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.
Quintus Poppaedius Silo was a leader of the Italian tribe of the Marsi and one of the leaders of the Italian rebels during the Social War against Rome. Poppaedius was called the 'heart and soul' of the rebellion. He was a friend of Marcus Livius Drusus the Younger.
Gaius Junius Bubulcus Brutus was a Roman general and statesman, he was elected consul of the Roman Republic thrice, he was also appointed dictator or magister equitum thrice, and censor in 307 BC. In 311, he made a vow to the goddess Salus that he went on to fulfill, becoming the first plebeian to build a temple. The temple was one of the first dedicated to an abstract deity, and Junius was one of the first generals to vow a temple and then oversee its establishment through the construction and dedication process.
The gens Papia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens are first mentioned at the time of the Samnite Wars, but do not appear at Rome until the final century of the Republic. Marcus Papius Mutilus was the only member of the family to attain the consulship, which he held in AD 9.
Pontius Telesinus was the last independent leader of the Italic Samnites before their annexation by the Roman Republic. A fierce patriot, he was one of the rebel commanders in the Social War against Rome, leading the last remnants of the rebellion in southern Italy after the main uprising had already been suppressed. He intervened in the Roman civil wars of the 80s BC in an attempt to improve his and his people's position, but picked the losing side and was killed in 82 BC following the Battle of the Colline Gate against the Roman general Sulla.
Aulus Cornelius Cossus Arvina was a Roman politician and general who served as both consul and Magister Equitum twice, and Dictator once in the mid 4th century BC.
The Bellum Octavianum was a Roman republican civil war fought in 87 BC between the two consuls of that year, Gnaeus Octavius and Lucius Cornelius Cinna. Cinna was victorious by late 87 BC.