Lucius Mummius Achaicus | |
---|---|
Born | 200–190 BC |
Nationality | Roman |
Known for | Destruction of Corinth |
Office | Consul (146 BC) |
Military career | |
Battles/wars | Battle of Ocile Siege of Corinth |
Awards | Roman triumph |
Lucius Mummius (2nd century BC) was a Roman statesman and general. He was consul in the year 146 BC along with Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus.
Mummius was the first of his family to rise to the rank of consul thereby making him a novus homo. He received the agnomen Achaicus for his victories over the Achaean League destroying the famous ancient city of Corinth, at that time a leading city of the League, as part of his campaign. Mummius' victory over the Achaean League and the sack of Corinth placed Rome firmly in control of all Greece from a political standpoint - something Rome had avoided doing even though their involvement in the Greek East dated back as far as 226 BC when they confronted Illyrian piracy. The destruction of Corinth marked the end of free Greece. [1]
Almost nothing is known about Lucius Mummius' early career. He won one of the praetorships (for 154 BC) during the elections of 155 BC.
In 154 BC the Senate assigned Mummius the task of restoring order in Hispania Ulterior (Further Spain), which was reeling from a revolt by native Lusitanian (the Lusitanian Rebellion of 155–150 BC). The rebellion was led by the Lusitanian chieftains Punicus and Caesarus. In the initial phases of his campaign he experienced several reverses, but he regrouped and at Ocile he led his army of 9,000 foot and 500 horse in a victorious battle against a numerically superior force of Lusitanians, killing about 15,000 rebels and lifting the siege; his successor, Marcus Atilius, went on to take Oxthracae, the largest city in Lusitania. Mummius was awarded a triumph for his victory over the Lusitanians. [2]
Mummius was elected consul for 146 BC. He was appointed to take command of the Achaean War, inheriting the command from Metellus Macedonicus. Having obtained an easy victory over the incapable Achaean leader Diaeus, Mummius entered Corinth after a victory over the defending forces. All the men of Corinth were put to the sword, the women and children were sold into slavery, and the statues, paintings and works of art were seized and shipped to Rome. Corinth was then reduced to ashes. However, at least two ancient authors give accounts that suggest Corinth was not completely destroyed. [3] The apparently needless cruelty of Mummius in Corinth is explained by Mommsen as due to the instructions of the senate, prompted by the mercantile party, which was eager to dispel a dangerous commercial rival. According to Polybius, Mummius was unable to resist the pressure of those around him. [4] [5]
In the subsequent settlement of affairs, Mummius exhibited considerable administrative powers and a high degree of justice and integrity, which gained him the respect of the inhabitants. He especially abstained from offending their religious sensibilities. On his return to Rome he was honored with a triumph, [4] and was the first novus homo to receive an agnomen for military services. [6]
In 142 BC he was censor with Scipio Aemilianus Africanus, whose severity frequently brought him into collision with his more lenient colleague. [4]
His indifference to works of art and ignorance of their value is shown by his well-known remark to those who contracted for the shipment of the treasures of Corinth to Rome, that "if they lost or damaged them, they would have to replace them." [4] He was, in other words, unaware that a "new-for-old-deal" was inappropriate for such valuable antiques. [7] Mummius plundered Corinth and sent home ship loads of its priceless art and rich furniture to Rome. [1] For the theatrical pageants exhibited by him he erected a theatre with improved acoustical conditions and seats after the Greek model, thus marking a distinct advance in the construction of places of entertainment. [4]
The 2nd century BC started the first day of 200 BC and ended the last day of 101 BC. It is considered part of the Classical era, although depending on the region being studied, other terms may be more suitable. It is also considered to be the end of the Axial Age. In the context of the Eastern Mediterranean, it is the mid-point of the Hellenistic period.
Year 146 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Lentulus and Achaicus. The denomination 146 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.
This article concerns the period 149 BC – 140 BC.
This article concerns the period 159 BC – 150 BC.
The Fourth Macedonian War was fought between Macedon, led by the pretender Andriscus, and the Roman Republic. It was the last of the Macedonian Wars, and was the last war to seriously threaten Roman control of Greece until the First Mithridatic War sixty years later.
Lucius Licinius Lucullus was a Roman politician who became consul in 151 BC.
The Achaean League was a Hellenistic-era confederation of Greek city-states on the northern and central Peloponnese. The league was named after the region of Achaea in the northwestern Peloponnese, which formed its original core. The first league was formed in the fifth century BC. The second Achaean League was established in 280 BC. As a rival of Antigonid Macedon and an ally of the Roman Republic, the league played a major role in the expansion of Rome into Greece. This process eventually led to the League's conquest and dissolution by the Romans in 146 BC.
Hellenistic Greece is the historical period of Ancient Greece following Classical Greece and between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the annexation of the classical Greek Achaean League heartlands by the Roman Republic. This culminated at the Battle of Corinth in 146 BC, a crushing Roman victory in the Peloponnese that led to the destruction of Corinth and ushered in the period of Roman Greece. Hellenistic Greece's definitive end was with the Battle of Actium in 31 BC, when the future emperor Augustus defeated Greek Ptolemaic queen Cleopatra VII and Mark Antony, the next year taking over Alexandria, the last great center of Hellenistic Greece.
Novus homo or homo novus was the term in ancient Rome for a man who was the first in his family to serve in the Roman Senate or, more specifically, to be elected as consul. When a man entered public life on an unprecedented scale for a high communal office, then the term used was novus civis or "new citizen".
Quintus Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus was a statesman and general of the Roman Republic during the second century BC. He was praetor in 148 BC, consul in 143 BC, the Proconsul of Hispania Citerior in 142 BC and censor in 131 BC. He got his agnomen, Macedonicus, for his victory over the Macedonians in the Fourth Macedonian War.
The Battle of Corinth of 146 BC, also known as the Battle of Leucapetra or the Battle of Lefkopetra, was a decisive engagement fought between the Roman Republic and the Greek city-state of Corinth and its allies in the Achaean League. The battle marked the end of the Achaean War and the beginning of the period of Roman domination in Greek history, and is also notable for the complete and total destruction of Corinth by the Romans in its aftermath.
Lucius Quinctius Flamininus was a Roman politician and general who served as consul in 192 BC alongside Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus. He was eventually expelled from the Senate by Cato the Elder.
The Lusitanian War, called Pyrinos Polemos in Greek, was a war of resistance fought by the Lusitanian tribes of Hispania Ulterior against the advancing legions of the Roman Republic from 155 to 139 BC. The Lusitanians revolted in 155 BC, and again in 146 BC and were pacified. In 154 BC, a long war in Hispania Citerior, known as the Numantine War, was begun by the Celtiberians. It lasted until 133 and is an important event in the integration of what would become Portugal into the Roman and Latin-speaking world.
Diaeus of Megalopolis was the last strategos of the Achaian League in Ancient Greece before the League was disbanded by the Romans. He served as the League's general from 150 to 149 BC and from 148 BC until his death.
The Achaean War of 146 BC was fought between the Roman Republic and the Greek Achaean League, an alliance of Achaean and other Peloponnesian states in ancient Greece. It was the final stage of Rome's conquest of mainland Greece, taking place just after the Fourth Macedonian War.
The Terentii Varrones were a branch of the gens Terentia in ancient Rome.
The 'Battle of Scarpheia took place in 146 BC between forces of the Roman Republic, led by the praetor Quintus Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus, and an Achaean League force led by Critolaos of Megalopolis. The battle was a resounding Roman victory, surprising and destroying the main Achaean force at the outbreak of war and allowing the Romans to bring the conflict to a swift end not long after.
The gens Mummia was a plebeian family at Rome. Members of this gens are first mentioned after the Second Punic War, and within a generation, Lucius Mummius Achaicus became the first of the family to obtain the consulship. Although they were never numerous, Mummii continued to fill the highest offices of the state through the third century AD.
The gens Publilia, sometimes written Poblilia, was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens are first mentioned in the early decades of the Republic. The lex Publilia passed by Volero Publilius, tribune of the plebs in 471 BC, was an important milestone in the struggle between the patrician and plebeian orders. Although the Publilii appear throughout the history of the Republic, the family faded into obscurity around the time of the Samnite Wars, and never again achieved positions of prominence in the Roman state.
Marcus Popilius Laenas was a Roman politician in the second century BC.