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Lucius Papirius Crassus was a Roman politician. He was appointed dictator in 340 BC, and consul in 336 BC and 330 BC. Lucius Papirius was from the Papiria gens (family) in Rome. [1]
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Lucius Papirius Crassus was a Roman politician. He was appointed dictator in 340 BC, and consul in 336 BC and 330 BC. Lucius Papirius was from the Papiria gens (family) in Rome. [1]
Lucius Papirius Crassus was appointed dictator in 340 BC by Titus Manlius Torquatus after the death of Publius Decius Mus in the Battle of Vesuvius and the failing health of Titus Manlius Torquatus. Following his appointment as dictator, Lucius Papirius Crassus appointed his relative Lucius Papirius Cursor as his Master of Horse. [2] The people of Antium soon began conducting raids against the farmlands of Ostia, Ardea, and Solonium but no significant advantages were gained by Lucius Papirius against these people. [3]
Four years after serving as dictator, Lucius Papirius was elected consul along with Caecilius Duilius in 336 BC. This year is noted mostly for a war between Rome and the Ausones. The Ausones, a people inhabiting the city of Cales, had joined forces with their allies and neighbors the Sidicini to oppose the Romans. The Romans defeated the Ausones and the Sidicini in a battle of little importance and forced them into flight.
After achieving victory against the Ausones and Sidicini in the field, Lucius Papirius and Caecilius Duilius decided to not actively pursue their defeated foes back to their cities and destroy them. The Senate, however, having an extreme distaste for the Sidicini people for constantly pursuing hostilities against Rome in the past, were slighted by the decision of their consuls to allow the Sidicini to retreat. Therefore, the next year the Senate elected Marcus Valerius Corvus, a renowned military commander, to deal with the Sidicini in a way that the previous consuls had not. [4]
In 330 BC Lucius Papirius was elected to a second consulship with Lucius Plautius Vennox. At the beginning of the consuls' term Volscian envoys arrived in Rome from Fabreteria and Lucania. These envoys sought Roman protection from Samnite incursions and declared that if Rome helped to protect them, they would submit to Roman rule. Lucius Papirius and Lucius Plautius accepted these requests for protection and warned the Samnites to cease incursions against the Volscians. The Samnites, not being prepared for a war, ceased their incursions at once.
During 330 BC, a war began with Privernum and their allies, the people of Fundi. The commander of the Privernates, Vitruvius Vaccus, was a citizen of Fundi and well known in his own land as well as in Rome. He even had a house in Rome on the Palatine Hill, which was torn down and renamed Vaccus' Meadows. While Vitruvius was conducting widespread raiding expeditions in the lands of Setia, Norba, and Cora, Lucius Papirius set out to oppose him and dug in near Vitruvius' camp. Vitruvius did not defend himself with a rampart against a stronger opponent and, without any plan or commitment, had deployed his battle lines. His men constantly looked behind as if to see a possibility of flight rather than thinking of engaging the enemy. Lucius Papirius defeated Vitruvius decisively and with little effort but Vitruvius took few casualties. This was due in part to the confined space of the battleground and Vitruvius' camp being nearby. As darkness fell Vitruvius' forces made their way back to Privernum in a column formation. Lucius Plautius Vennox at this time was travelling from Privernum to the territory of Fundi where he laid waste to the farmland there. The senate of Fundi moved to meet Lucius Plautius to plead for peace and a pardon for Vitruvius. In exchange for peace Fundi would submit to Roman authority. These terms were accepted by Lucius Plautius and Fundi became a Roman province with Roman citizenship being given to all citizens inhabiting the territory. The Senate of Rome, however, believed that the people of Fundi would not remain loyal and did not ratify the terms of the peace. Yet the people of Fundi had no future quarrel with the Romans and were absorbed into Roman territory. While Privernum was under siege from both of the consular armies, one of the consuls was recalled to Rome to hold consular elections. [5]
In the year prior to Lucius Papirius' consulship, Alexander I of Epirus had led an expedition in southern Italy. During this expedition Alexander of Epirus was killed in Pandosia. [6]
Not much is known about Lucius Papirius Crassus' late life but it is known that in 325 BC he was appointed as Master of Horse by Lucius Papirius Cursor. Lucius Papirius Crassus was also given command of the city of Rome which infuriated the former Master of Horse, Quintus Fabius. [7]
Year 46 BC was the last year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Caesar and Lepidus. The denomination 46 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.
The Osci, were an Italic people of Campania and Latium adiectum during Roman times. They spoke the Oscan language, also spoken by the Samnites of Southern Italy. Although the language of the Samnites was called Oscan, the Samnites were never referred to as Osci, nor were the Osci called Samnites.
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 Lucanians.
Marcus Valerius Corvus was an important military commander and politician from the early-to-middle period of the Roman Republic. In a distinguished career, he was elected Roman consul six times, his first at the unusual age of 23. He was also appointed Dictator two times, and led the armies of the Republic in the First Samnite War. He occupied the curule chair a total of twenty-one times throughout his career, and according to tradition he lived to be one hundred.
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The gens Papiria was a patrician family at ancient Rome. According to tradition, the Papirii had already achieved prominence in the time of the kings, and the first Rex Sacrorum and Pontifex Maximus of the Republic were members of this gens. Lucius Papirius Mugillanus was the first of the Papirii to obtain the consulship in 444 BC. The patrician members of the family regularly occupied the highest offices of the Roman state down to the time of the Punic Wars. Their most famous member was Lucius Papirius Cursor, five times consul between 326 and 313 BC, who earned three triumphs during the Samnite Wars. Most of the Papirii who held office under the later Republic belonged to various plebeian branches of the family. Although the most illustrious Papirii flourished in the time of the Republic, a number of the family continued to hold high office during the first two centuries of the Empire.
Titus Manlius Torquatus was a politician of the Roman Republic. He had a long and distinguished career, being consul in 235 BC and 224 BC, censor in 231 BC, and dictator in 208 BC. He was an ally of Fabius Maximus "Cunctator".
Titus Manlius Imperiosus Torquatus was a famous politician and general of the Roman Republic. He had an outstanding career, being consul three times in 347, 344, and 340 BC, and dictator three times 353, 349, and 320 BC. He was one of the early heroes of the Republic, alongside Cincinnatus, Cornelius Cossus, Furius Camillus, or Valerius Corvus. As a young military tribune, he defeated a giant Gaul in single combat in one of the most famous duels of the Republic, which earned him the cognomen Torquatus after the torque he took from the Gaul's body. He was also known for his moral virtues, especially his severity as he had his own son executed after he had disobeyed his orders in a battle. His life was seen as a model for his descendants, who tried to emulate his heroic deeds, even centuries after his death.
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The gens Pomponia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Its members appear throughout the history of the Roman Republic, and into imperial times. The first of the gens to achieve prominence was Marcus Pomponius, tribune of the plebs in 449 BC; the first who obtained the consulship was Manius Pomponius Matho in 233 BC.
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Gaius Plautius Venox was a Roman statesman and general who served as consul in 347 and 341 BC. Plautius was a member of the family of the Plautii, a relatively undistinguished plebeian gens who had only achieved their first consulship in 358 BC. Plautius' father and grandfather were both named Lucius and may have had a son named Gaius, who was the father of Gaius Plautius Venox, Censor in 312 BC.
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Gaius Sulpicius Peticus was a prominent fourth century Roman politician and general who served as consul five times and as dictator once. Sulpicius was a member of the gens Sulpicia, a prominent patrician family which had attained the consular dignity a great number of times since the foundation of the republic. The familial relationship between Sulpicius and other known contemporary members of the gens is unknown however, with the only things known about his heritage being that his father was named Marcus and his grandfather was named Quintus.
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