Quintus Didius

Last updated

Quintus Didius was a Roman governor of the province Syria (31 BC to 29 BC).

Octavian, the later Emperor Augustus, won the decisive Battle of Actium against Mark Antony and Cleopatra VII. Then – at the end of 31 BC – he sent Didius as governor to Syria. If Octavian conquered Egypt, Cleopatra wanted to escape to India with a fleet, which she had pulled through a silty canal into the Red Sea, but Didius induced Malchos, the king of the Nabataeans, to stop her plan by setting her ships on fire. [1]

The Jewish king Herod the Great, meanwhile, changed sides from Antony to Octavian. Now Herodes supported Didius militarily when the governor of Syria blocked Antony's gladiators on their way from Cyzicus in northwest Asia Minor to their leader in Egypt. Didius forced the gladiators to surrender and settle themselves in Daphne, a suburb of the town of Antioch. [2]

Notes

  1. Cassius Dio, Roman History 51.7.1 in connection with Plutarch, Antony 69.3–5.
  2. Cassius Dio, Roman History 51.7.2–4; Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 15.195; The Wars of the Jews 1.392.

Related Research Articles

Battle of Actium Decisive confrontation of the Final War of the Roman Republic

The Battle of Actium was a naval battle fought between a maritime fleet led by Octavian and the combined fleets of both Mark Antony and Cleopatra VII Philopator. The battle took place on 2 September 31 BC in the Ionian Sea, near the former Roman colony of Actium, Greece, and was the climax of over a decade of rivalry between Octavian and Antony.

Mark Antony Roman politician and general

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.

This article concerns the period 39 BC – 30 BC.

40s BC

This article concerns the period 49 BC – 40 BC.

Cleopatra Last active pharaoh of Ptolemaic Egypt

Cleopatra VII Philopator was queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt from 51 to 30 BC, and its last active ruler. A member of the Ptolemaic dynasty, she was a descendant of its founder Ptolemy I Soter, a Macedonian Greek general and companion of Alexander the Great. After the death of Cleopatra, Egypt became a province of the Roman Empire, marking the end of the second to last Hellenistic state and the age that had lasted since the reign of Alexander. Her native language was Koine Greek, and she was the only Ptolemaic ruler to learn the Egyptian language.

Second Triumvirate Roman political alliance

The Second Triumvirate was a political alliance formed after the Roman dictator Julius Caesar's assassination, comprising Caesar's adopted son Octavian and the dictator's two most important supporters, Mark Antony and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus. The triumvirate for organizing the republic, as it was formally known, ruled the Roman Republic essentially as a military dictatorship, with each of the triumvirs assuming charge of an individual set of provinces. Unlike the earlier First Triumvirate, the Second was an official, legally established institution, whose overwhelming power in the Roman state was given full legal sanction and whose authority outranked that of all other magistrates, including the consuls.

Alexander Helios Prince of Ptolemaic Egypt

Alexander Helios was a Ptolemaic prince and was a son of Pharaoh Cleopatra VII of the Ptolemaic dynasty and Roman triumvir Mark Antony. Alexander's fraternal twin sister was Cleopatra Selene II. Cleopatra named her son after Alexander the Great. His second name in Ancient Greek means "Sun"; this was the counterpart of his twin sister's second name Selene (Σελήνη), meaning "Moon".

Ptolemy XVI Philadelphus Antonius was a Ptolemaic prince and was the youngest and fourth child of Greek Ptolemaic Queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt, and her third with Roman Triumvir Mark Antony.

Fulvia Roman noblewoman

Fulvia was an aristocratic Roman woman who lived during the Late Roman Republic. Fulvia's birth into an important political dynasty facilitated her relationships and, later on, marriages to Publius Clodius Pulcher, Gaius Scribonius Curio, and Mark Antony. It is important to note that all of these men would go on to lead increasingly promising political careers as populares, tribunes, and supporters of Julius Caesar.

Donations of Alexandria Land distribution by Mark Antony in 34 BC

The Donations of Alexandria were a political act by Cleopatra VII and Mark Antony in which they distributed lands held by Rome and Parthia amongst Cleopatra's children, and granted them many titles, especially for Caesarion, son of Julius Caesar. These were the second of two such donations; a similar donations ceremony was held two years earlier in Antioch in 36 BC, at which time the donations enjoyed Octavian's full approval of the Antonian strategy to rule the East making use of Cleopatra's unique royal Seleucid lineage in the regions donated. Ultimately, the Donations caused a fatal breach in Antony's relations with Rome and were amongst the causes of the Final War of the Roman Republic.

Artavasdes II of Armenia King of Kings

Artavasdes II was king of Armenia from 55 BC to 34 BC. A member of the Artaxiad Dynasty, he was the son and successor of Tigranes the Great. His mother was Cleopatra of Pontus, thus making his maternal grandfather the prominent Pontus king Mithridates VI Eupator. Like his father, Artavasdes continued using the title of King of Kings, as seen from his coins.

Lucius Pinarius Scarpus was a Roman who lived during the late Republic and the early Empire. He served as the Roman governor of Cyrene, Libya during the Final War of the Roman Republic. He was originally loyal to Mark Antony, but eventually switched sides and joined Octavian following the latter's victory at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC.

Cleopatra Selene II Queen consort of Numidia

Cleopatra Selene II was a Ptolemaic princess and Queen of Numidia and Mauretania. She was an important royal woman in the early Augustan age.

Quintus Labienus 1st-century BCE Roman general

Quintus Labienus Parthicus was a Roman general in the Late Republic period. The son of Titus Labienus, he made an alliance with Parthia and invaded the Roman provinces in the eastern Mediterranean which were under the control of Mark Antony. He occupied the Roman province of Syria together with the Parthians in 40 BC. He then pushed into southern Anatolia, still with Parthian support. The main Parthian force took charge of Syria and invaded Judea. Both Labienus and the Parthians were defeated by Publius Ventidius Bassus, who recovered these provinces for Mark Antony.

Gaius Sosius Roman general and politician

Gaius Sosius was a Roman general and politician who featured in the wars of the late Republic as a staunch supporter of Mark Antony. He held several important state offices and military commands in Antony's service, and led the military expedition to install Rome's client, Herod, as king of Judea. Sosius became consul in the critical year 32 BC, when the Second Triumvirate lapsed and open conflict erupted between the triumvirs, Antony and Octavian. As consul, Sosius warmly espoused the cause of Antony and vigorously opposed Octavian in the Senate, for which he was forced to flee Rome.

Quintus Dellius was a Roman commander and politician in the second half of the 1st century BC. His family was of equestrian rank in the Roman social system of status.

Marcus Titius was a Roman politician and commander at the end of the Roman Republic.

Epaphroditus was a freedman of Octavian, the later Emperor Augustus.

Iotapa was a princess of Media Atropatene, daughter of King Artavasdes I of Media Atropatene. She was Queen consort of King Mithridates III of Commagene.

Reign of Cleopatra Article on the reign of Cleopatra VII

The reign of Cleopatra VII of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt began with the death of her father, the ruling pharaoh Ptolemy XII Auletes, by March 51 BC. It ended with her death on 10 or 12 August 30 BC. Following the reign of Cleopatra, the country of Egypt was transformed into a province of the Roman Empire and the Hellenistic period came to an end. During her reign she ruled Egypt and other territories as an absolute monarch, in the tradition of the Ptolemaic dynasty's founder Ptolemy I Soter as well as Alexander the Great of Macedon, who captured Egypt from the Achaemenid Persian Empire.

References