Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus | |
---|---|
Roman consul | |
Preceded by | Q. Caecilius Metellus with Ti. Quinctius Flaminius |
Succeeded by | Lucius Opimius with Q. Fabius Maximus |
Personal details | |
Children | Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus (consul 96 BC) Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus (consul 94 BC) |
Occupation | Politician,general |
Military service | |
Allegiance | Roman Empire |
Commands | Governor of Transalpine Gaul |
Battles/wars | Battle of Vindalium |
Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus (d. ca. 104 BC) was a Roman general and senator who served as consul in 122 BC. He led a campaign to conquer southern Gaul against the Allobroges together with his successor Quintus Fabius Maximus Allobrogicus. Domitius was active in the early development of southern Roman Gaul,establishing the first Roman colony at Colonia Narbon Martius,and sponsored projects such as the Via Domitia connecting Italy to Spain through southern Gaul. He was probably also the sponsor of the Altar of Domitius Ahenobarbus in the Temple of Neptune in Rome. [1] Ahenobarbus was censor in 115 BC and became pontifex at an unknown date before dying c. 104 BC.
He was a member of the prestigious Domitii Ahenobarbi,a plebeian family. His father was Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus,who served as consul suffect in 162 BC. His grandfather Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus was consul in 192 BC. [2]
He was survived by two sons,Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus (consul in 96 BC) and Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus (consul in 94 BC). He was the grandfather of Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus (consul in 54 BC). It is from this line Domitius is an ancestor of the last Julio-Claudian emperor Nero (AD 54 - 68),born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus. [2]
In the 120s BC Rome had become increasingly active in Mediterranean Gaul,launching three separate campaigns into the region in the years immediately before Ahenobarbus' consulship:in 125 to protect Rome's ally Massalia from the Salluvii,in 124 BC Rome seized the capital of the Salluvii (the city of the Gauls near the oppidum of Entremont,near modern Aix-en-Provence),and in 123 BC again defeating the Salluvii and establishing a permanent garrison for Roman troops at a nearby place hence called Aquae Sextiae (modern Aix-en-Provence). [3]
The following year,122 BC,begins the consulship of Domitius in which he led the campaign against the Allobroges. The Allobroges did harm to the pro-Roman Aedui tribe and harbored a leader of the Salluvii,King Teutomalius,who escaped the destruction of his city and enslavement by the Romans from the previous year. Along his way to the Allobroges,Domitius met with an ambassador of King Bituitus of the powerful Arverni. The discussions did not go in Rome's favor,however,and the Arverni joined the Allobroges against Rome in 121 BC. [3]
Domitius was no longer consul,but led his army anyway as proconsul. At the conflux of the Rhône and Sulga he defeated the Allobroges at the Battle of Vindalium. At the same time,consul Quintus Fabius Maximus Allobrogicus led another force to the north near modern Valence at the convergence of the Rhône and Isère rivers where they achieved a resounding victory over a significantly larger force of Celts,suffering minimal casualties. Rome's victory was complete enough;there wouldn't be another campaign in the area for two decades afterward. [3]
Domitius took Bituitus and sent him off to a prison in Rome out of jealousy of Fabius as to prevent the slain enemy commander from being paraded in Rome for Fabius' triumph. For his victory at Vindalium he was awarded a triumph and the title imperator ,as is Maximus for the victory at Isère. There are two facts about the Senate's reaction to their victories that stands out. Firstly,Fabius was awarded a triumphal agnomen "Allobrogicus" for his victory,whereas Domitius was not. Secondly,Fabius conducted his triumphal procession first. This is unusual considering Domitius was the senior of the two and would normally go first in such a procession. The triumph in 120 BC marks the end of his three-year command over Transalpine Gaul. [4]
Having completed the conquests of what is now in western Languedoc,Domitius established the first Roman colony in Gaul called Colonia Narbo Martius (Narbonne) in 118 BC. It is also around this time he constructed the Via Domitia,a road connecting Italy to Rome provinces in Spain. The road is named after himself. It was built along an ancient trading road,crossing the Alps by one of the easiest passages,the Col de Montgenèvre. [5] [6]
As censor in 115 BC,he expelled thirty-two senators from the senate. [7] [8] [9]
Domitius was made pontifex at an uncertain date and later died around 104 BC. [10] [11]
This article concerns the period 19 BC –10 BC.
The Via Domitia was the first Roman road built in Gaul,to link Italy and Hispania through Gallia Narbonensis,across what is now Southern France. The route that the Romans regularised and paved was ancient when they set out to survey it,and traces the mythic route travelled by Heracles.
The gens Fabia was one of the most ancient patrician families at ancient Rome. The gens played a prominent part in history soon after the establishment of the Republic,and three brothers were invested with seven successive consulships,from 485 to 479 BC,thereby cementing the high repute of the family. Overall,the Fabii received 45 consulships during the Republic. The house derived its greatest lustre from the patriotic courage and tragic fate of the 306 Fabii in the Battle of the Cremera,477 BC. But the Fabii were not distinguished as warriors alone;several members of the gens were also important in the history of Roman literature and the arts.
The Arverni were a Gallic people dwelling in the modern Auvergne region during the Iron Age and the Roman period. They were one of the most powerful tribes of ancient Gaul,contesting primacy over the region with the neighbouring Aedui.
The Allobroges were a Gallic people dwelling in a large territory between the Rhône river and the Alps during the Iron Age and the Roman period.
Gallia Narbonensis was a Roman province located in what is now Occitania and Provence,in Southern France. It was also known as Provincia Nostra,because it was the first Roman province north of the Alps,and as Gallia Transalpina,distinguishing it from Cisalpine Gaul in Northern Italy. It became a Roman province in the late 2nd century BC. Gallia Narbonensis was bordered by the Pyrenees Mountains on the west,the Cévennes to the north,the Alps on the east,and the Gulf of Lion on the south;the province included the majority of the Rhone catchment. The western region of Gallia Narbonensis was known as Septimania. The province was a valuable part of the Roman Empire,owing to the Greek colony of Massalia,its location between the Spanish provinces and Rome,and its financial output.
The Via Aquitania was a Roman road created in 118 BC in the Roman province of Gaul. It started at Narbonne,where it connected to the Via Domitia. It then went toward the Atlantic Ocean,via Toulouse and Bordeaux,covering approximately 400 kilometres (250 mi).
The gens Aurelia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome,which flourished from the third century BC to the latest period of the Empire. The first of the Aurelian gens to obtain the consulship was Gaius Aurelius Cotta in 252 BC. From then to the end of the Republic,the Aurelii supplied many distinguished statesmen,before entering a period of relative obscurity under the early emperors. In the latter part of the first century,a family of the Aurelii rose to prominence,obtaining patrician status,and eventually the throne itself. A series of emperors belonged to this family,through birth or adoption,including Marcus Aurelius and the members of the Severan dynasty.
Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus was a member of the imperial Julio-Claudian dynasty of Ancient Rome. Domitius was the son of Antonia Major. He married Agrippina the Younger and became the father of the emperor Nero.
Lucius Licinius Crassus was a Roman orator and statesman who was a Roman consul and censor and who is also one of the main speakers in Cicero's dramatic dialogue on the art of oratory De Oratore,set just before Crassus' death in 91 BC. He was considered the greatest orator of his day by his pupil Cicero.
Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus was tribune of the people in 104 BC. He was the son of Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus,and brother of Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus. The College of Pontiffs elected him pontifex maximus in 103.
Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus,consul in 54 BC,was an enemy of Julius Caesar and a strong supporter of the aristocratic party in the late Roman Republic.
Quintus Fabius Maximus Allobrogicus,was a Roman statesman and general who was elected consul in 121 BC. During his consulship he fought against the Arverni and the Allobroges whom he defeated in 120 BC. He was awarded a triumph and the agnomen Allobrogicus for his victory over the Gauls.
Bituitus was a king of the Arverni,a Gaulish tribe living in what is now the Auvergne region of France. The Arverni were a powerful opponent of the Roman Republic during the 3rd and 2nd centuries under the leadership of Luernius,the father of Bituitus. In 121 BCE,Bituitus was defeated by the Roman general Fabius Maximus,ending the power of the Arverni in Mediterranean Gaul,or present-day southern France. The defeat of the Arverni resulted in the establishment of the Roman province of Gallia Narbonensis.
Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus was a politician in ancient Rome during the late 2nd and early 1st century BC. He served as praetor in Sicily,probably in 96 BC,shortly after the Second Servile War,when slaves had been forbidden to carry arms. He ordered a slave to be crucified for killing a wild boar with a hunting spear. He was consul in 94 BC. In the civil war between Gaius Marius and Sulla,he took the side of the latter,and was murdered at Rome by the praetor Damasippus on the orders of Gaius Marius the Younger.
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.
The gens Domitia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. The first of the gens to achieve prominence was Gnaeus Domitius Calvinus,consul in 332 BC. His son,Gnaeus Domitius Calvinus Maximus,was consul in 283,and the first plebeian censor. The family produced several distinguished generals,and towards the end of the Republic,the Domitii were looked upon as one of the most illustrious gentes.
The Battle of Vindalium took place near Vindalium,a Cavarian settlement probably corresponding to modern day Mourre-de-Sève in Sorgues,near the confluence of the Rhône and Durance rivers in Southern France. The battle opposed the Allobroges,a Gallic tribe dwelling further north between the Rhône and the Alps,to the Roman forces of proconsul Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus.
The Battle of the Isère River took place near the modern day French town of Valence at the confluence of the Isère and Rhône rivers. A first confrontation had been won by Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus at the Battle of Vindalium,further south in the Rhône Valley,before Ahenobarbus and Quintus Fabius Maximus Allobrogicus joined their forces,defeating a confederation of Allobroges,Arverni and some Salluvii warriors at the Isère River.