Lucius Scribonius Libo (consul 34 BC)

Last updated

Lucius Scribonius Libo was a Roman politician and military commander who was consul in 34 BC and brother-in-law to the future emperor Augustus. Libo rose to prominence through his connections with Pompey. When Julius Caesar rebelled against the Roman Senate in 49 BC, Libo sided with Pompey. He carried out a variety of military, diplomatic and naval roles, with mixed success.

Contents

After Pompey's death in 48 BC, Libo attached himself to Pompey's son, Sextus Pompey, Libo's son-in-law due to his marriage to Libo's daughter Scribonia. Libo was involved in a variety of negotiations with Octavian. In 35 BC Libo abandoned Sextus and was rewarded by being appointed consul in 34 BC.

Early career and the Civil War

The Roman Republic, shown in dark green, in 40 BC Roman Republic in 40bC.svg
The Roman Republic, shown in dark green, in 40 BC

Libo's father of the same name was the praetor, or chief judicial officer, in 80 BC.

Libo was a member of the Scribonia family, which was plebeian, not a member of the ruling elite. He was closely connected to the family of Pompey through his grandmother Pompeia Magna. Ties were strengthened in 55 BC after Pompey's son, Sextus Pompey, married Libo's daughter, Scribonia. [1] It is assumed Libo reached the office of praetor by 50 BC. [2]

In 50 BC the Senate, led by Pompey, ordered populist politician and general Julius Caesar to disband his army and return to Rome because his term as governor had ended. [3] Caesar thought he would be prosecuted if he entered Rome without the immunity enjoyed by a magistrate. On 10 January 49 BC Caesar crossed the Rubicon river, and ignited Caesar's Civil War. He marched rapidly on Rome and captured it. Pompey and most of the Senate fled to Greece. Libo was appointed one of Pompey's legates, a high-ranking military position, and was given command of Etruria. [4]

After Libo was driven from Etruria by Mark Antony, he took over command of the new recruits in Campania from Ampius Balbus. [5] He then accompanied Pompey during his withdrawal to Brundisium, and there he acted as Pompey's intermediary with Gaius Caninius Rebilus, a close personal friend, who had been given the task by Julius Caesar of negotiating with Pompey. [6] Rebilus advised Libo that if he could convince Pompey to reach an agreement with Caesar, Caesar would give credit to Libo for halting the civil war before it began in earnest. Although Libo reported Caesar's proposals, Pompey told Libo he could not agree to anything without the consuls being present. [7]

Following Pompey to Macedonia, Libo was placed in charge of part of Pompey's fleet alongside Marcus Octavius, with instructions to prevent Caesar's forces crossing if possible. [8] Off the Dalmatian coast they defeated a fleet under the command of Publius Cornelius Dolabella. They followed this up by defeating Gaius Antonius, who had attempted to assist Dolabella, and who was forced to flee to Corcyra Nigra. Short of supplies, he soon surrendered to Libo who took him and his troops to Pompey. [9] By the time Caesar landed in Epirus and had taken Oricum, Pompey had sent Libo to join Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus, who was in charge of Pompey's fleet and was blockading Caesar at Oricum, but who was ill and unable to get fresh supplies. [10] In order to break the stalemate, Bibulus and Libo sailed towards Oricum and requested a truce in order to negotiate with Caesar. Caesar agreed and Libo attempted to deceive Caesar into thinking that they were acting on Pompey's instructions. [11] When Caesar was unable to make Libo agree to give safe conduct to Caesar's envoys, Caesar concluded that the negotiations were a sham designed to allow Bibulus to resupply his ships, and so refused to extend the truce and broke off negotiations. [12]

With Bibulus's death in early 48 BC, Libo was given command of the Pompeian fleet, comprising some fifty galleys. [13] He continued blockading Oricum, but came to the conclusion that, if he could close off Brundisium from the sea, he could cut Caesar off from reinforcements, and could redeploy the fleet elsewhere. Moving off to Brundisium, he caught the local commander, Mark Antony, unprepared. Libo burnt a number of storage ships, captured one full of grain, and landed troops on the island that commanded the entrance to the harbour, expelling a squad of Antony's troops in the process. Confident of success, he sent a letter to Pompey, advising him that he had secured the harbour and that the rest of the fleet should be repaired and rested. [14] Antony, however, managed to trick Libo into pursuing some decoy ships, causing Libo's squadron to be attacked. Most of Libo's fleet managed to escape, but the troops he landed on the island were trapped and captured. [15]

Later career

Roman senators Roman Senators by A Yakovlev 1911.jpg
Roman senators

With the defeat and death of Pompey in 48 BC, Libo attached himself to Pompey's son, Sextus Pompey. Sextus was Libo's son-in-law due to his marriage to Libo's daughter Scribonia. [16] In 40 BC, Sextus sent him as an unofficial envoy to Mark Antony in Greece, seeking an alliance against Octavian (later known as Augustus), who had just defeated Antony's partisans in the Perusine War, and was instrumental in forming an alliance between the two. [17] Octavian attempted to drive a wedge between Sextus Pompey and Mark Antony by marrying Libo's sister, Scribonia. [18] In the subsequent Pact of Misenum, Libo acted as an important negotiator; in return for his support, Sextus managed to extract from Octavian the promise of a future consulate for Libo. [19]

After Octavian renewed the war against Sextus Pompey in 36 BC, Libo initially supported him. By 35 BC Libo felt his son-in-law's cause was lost; he abandoned Sextus and joined Mark Antony. [20] As a reward, Antony ensured that Libo was elected consul in 34 BC alongside himself. [21] He left office on 1 July, and was replaced by Gaius Memmius. [22] By the time he became a consul he had been appointed as one of the seven Septemviri epulones , the religious body responsible for organising feasts and public banquets for festivals and games in Rome. It is believed that he died shortly after stepping down from his consulship. [23]

Family

Libo was the maternal uncle to consul Publius Cornelius Scipio, Cornelia Scipio and Julia the Elder. The name of his wife is not known, but she was a member of the gens Sulpicia, the family from which Roman emperor Galba would claim descent on his paternal side.[ dubious discuss ] [24] [25] Libo and wife had three children: two sons, Lucius Scribonius Libo, consul in 16; Marcus Scribonius Libo Drusus; and a daughter, Scribonia, who married Sextus Pompey.

References and sources

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Antony</span> Roman politician and general (83–30 BC)

Marcus Antonius, commonly known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and general who played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic from a constitutional republic into the autocratic Roman Empire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">40s BC</span>

This article concerns the period 49 BC – 40 BC.

Year 40 BC was either a common year starting on Thursday, Friday or Saturday or a leap year starting on Thursday or Friday of the Julian calendar and a common year starting on Friday of the Proleptic Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Calvinus and Pollio. The denomination 40 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sextus Pompey</span> Roman politician and general (c. 67–35 BC)

Sextus Pompeius Magnus Pius, also known in English as Sextus Pompey, was a Roman military leader who, throughout his life, upheld the cause of his father, Pompey the Great, against Julius Caesar and his supporters during the last civil wars of the Roman Republic.

Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus was a Roman general and politician of the late republican period and one of the leading instigators of Julius Caesar's assassination. He had previously been an important supporter of Caesar in the Gallic Wars and in the civil war against Pompey. Decimus Brutus is often confused with his distant cousin and fellow conspirator, Marcus Junius Brutus.

Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus was a politician of the Roman Republic. He was a conservative and upholder of the established social order who served in several magisterial positions alongside Julius Caesar and conceived a lifelong enmity towards him. In 59 BC, he was consul alongside Julius Caesar. Their partnership was contentious to the extent that Caesar's supporters assaulted Bibulus in Rome's main forum on the eve of an important vote. Bibulus withdrew from public politics for the rest of his term.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scribonia (wife of Octavian)</span> Roman noblewoman, second wife of Augustus and mother of Julia the Elder

Scribonia was the second wife of Octavian, later the Roman Emperor Augustus, and the mother of his only biological child, Julia the Elder. Through this daughter, she was the mother-in-law of the Emperor Tiberius, great-grandmother of the Emperor Caligula and Empress Agrippina the Younger, and great-great-grandmother of the Emperor Nero.

Gaius Trebonius was a military commander and politician of the late Roman Republic, who became suffect consul in 45 BC. He was an associate of Julius Caesar, having served as his legate and having fought on his side during the civil war, and was among the tyrannicides who killed the dictator.

The gens Scribonia was a plebeian family of ancient Rome. Members of this gens first appear in history at the time of the Second Punic War, but the first of the Scribonii to obtain the consulship was Gaius Scribonius Curio in 76 BC.

Several men of plebeian status were named Lucius Scribonius Libo during the Roman Republic and Roman Empire; they were members of the gens Scribonia.

Gaius Vibius Pansa Caetronianus was consul of the Roman Republic in 43 BC. Although supporting Gaius Julius Caesar during the Civil War, he pushed for the restoration of the Republic upon Caesar’s death. He died of injuries sustained at the Battle of Forum Gallorum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Clodianus</span> Roman general and politician

Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Clodianus was a Roman politician and general who was one of two Consuls of the Republic in 72 BC along with Lucius Gellius. Closely linked to the family of Pompey, he is noted for being one of the consular generals who led Roman legions against the slave armies of Spartacus in the Third Servile War.

Lucius Gellius was a Roman politician and general who was one of two Consuls of the Republic in 72 BC along with Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Clodianus. A supporter of Pompey, he is noted for being one of the consular generals who led Roman legions against the slave armies of Spartacus in the Third Servile War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Utica (49 BC)</span> 49 BC battle, part of Caesars civil war

The Battle of Utica in Caesar's Civil War was fought between Julius Caesar's general Gaius Scribonius Curio and Pompeian legionaries commanded by Publius Attius Varus supported by Numidian cavalry and foot soldiers sent by King Juba I of Numidia. Curio defeated the Pompeians and Numidians and drove Varus back into the town of Utica.

Gaius Caninius Rebilus was a Roman general and politician. As a reward for devoted service, Julius Caesar appointed him consul suffectus on the last day of December 45 BC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucius Sempronius Atratinus (consul 34 BC)</span> 1st century BC Roman consul, legate and governor

Lucius Sempronius Atratinus was a Roman politician who was elected suffect consul in 34 BC. He is mentioned in Pro Caelio, a famous speech in defense of Marcus Caelius Rufus by Marcus Tullius Cicero.

Marcus Junius D. f. M. n. Silanus was a Roman senator and consul in 25 BC as the colleague of Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, the emperor Augustus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucius Manlius Torquatus (praetor 49 BC)</span> Roman general and consul (died 46 BC)

Lucius Manlius Torquatus was a Roman politician and military commander. He was active during the Crisis of the Roman Republic and Caesar's Civil War. He commanded troops at the battles of Oricum, Dyrrhachium and Thapsus. The last of these ended the war, in a defeat for the faction Torquatus supported; he escaped the field, but was captured and killed shortly after. He is portrayed by Cicero in De Finibus as a spokesman advocating Epicurean ethics.

Appius Claudius Pulcher was a Roman politician. An early supporter of Augustus, he was elected consul in 38 BC.

References

  1. Syme, pg. 228
  2. Broughton, pg. 247
  3. Suetonius, Julius 28 Archived 2012-05-30 at archive.today
  4. Anthon & Smith, pg. 439
  5. Broughton, pg. 268
  6. Holmes, pg. 31; Broughton, pg. 266
  7. Holmes, pg. 31
  8. Broughton, pg. 267; Holmes, pg. 110
  9. Holmes, pg. 110; Broughton, pg. 268
  10. Broughton, pg. 281; Holmes, pg. 124
  11. Holmes, pgs. 124-125
  12. Holmes, pg. 125
  13. Broughton, pg. 281; Holmes, pg. 127
  14. Holmes, pgs 127-128
  15. Holmes, pg. 128; Broughton, pg. 281
  16. Syme, pg. 45
  17. Syme, pgs. 215-216; Broughton, pg. 383
  18. Syme, pg. 213
  19. Syme, pg. 221
  20. Syme, pg. 232; Anthon & Smith, pg. 439
  21. Syme, pgs. 232 & 269; Broughton, pg. 409
  22. Broughton, pg. 409
  23. "A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, Labda, Libo, Q. Ma'rcius, Libo, Scribo'nius". www.perseus.tufts.edu. Retrieved 2018-12-24.
  24. Scheid, J. Scribonia Caesaris et les Julio-Claudiens: Problèmes de vocabulaire de parenté. Mémoires de l'École francaise de Rome et Athènes. 87: 349-71.
  25. Fantham 2006, p. 17.

Sources

Political offices
Preceded by Roman consul
34 BC
with Mark Antony
Succeeded by
Succeeded by