253:, set up a tribunal and began the process of interviewing slaves claiming to be Italians and determining whether in fact they were telling the truth or not. By presenting themselves at the tribunal in this way, in a few days, eight hundred Italians had obtained their freedom. However, several wealthy landowners, most of whom depended on a large slave workforce to farm their extensive estates, soon became agitated and demanded that the Governor desist from his work immediately. Giving into pressure, Nerva closed the tribunals. The slaves waiting to present themselves were outraged at being denied their freedom and soon slaves began to rise up against their masters, landowners were murdered in their villas and the escaped slaves began to gather, rapidly growing in numbers until rebel slave armies were roaming the Sicilian countryside looting and pillaging as they went. Nerva, after defeating one band of rebels, found others springing up wherever he turned and, with only a small militia at his disposal, quickly lost control of the situation. An Italian slave named
191:, had been permitted to take her. However, when the time within which it had been agreed that payment would be made expired, Vettius was unable to fulfil his promise. A further extension of his credit was agreed but, when this again ran out, Vettius panicked. Kidnapping and murdering all his creditors, as well as the girl's owner, he then armed his slaves and declared himself the King of Campania, proclaiming that all slaves who deserted their masters to join him would be free. Soon an army of seven-hundred escaped slaves were terrorising the Campanian countryside, killing all those who refused to join them.
199:
men had taken up positions on a nearby hill which they had hastily fortified, and waited. Lucullus' first assault against the rebels was repulsed, given their advantage of the higher ground. So
Lucullus tried a different strategy. Making contact with Apollonius, Vettius's general, Lucullus promised him that he would receive no punishment for his part in the
325:
and prepared to resist the inevitable siege. Lucullus, however, was slow to follow up his victory at
Scirthaea and it was not until nine days after the battle that he finally arrived outside the walls of the rebel stronghold and placed it under siege. Several times Lucullus attempted to take the city
97:
in 202 BC, and his descendants were to play a relatively obscure part in history until
Lucullus' father became the first member of the family to be elected to the consulship in 151 BC, thereby officially ennobling his family. While consul, the elder Lucullus was sent to continue the war against the
300:
After much skirmishing, the main battle began as the two armies closed the gap separating them from their enemies and came together. At first it seemed as if the rebels would drive the Romans back, with
Athenion and his cavalry inflicting heavy losses upon Lucullus. However, just as it seemed that
203:
if he were to co-operate with Rome and turn all he could against
Vettius. Apollonius accepted the offer and, with the rebels now fighting amongst themselves, Lucullus was able to easily defeat them and put an end to the revolt. Vettius himself, seeing that all was lost, committed suicide before he
198:
of the revolt, the Senate appointed
Lucullus, then praetor, 'to apprehend the fugitives.' Diodorus records that upon his arrival at Capua, Lucullus had 4,000 infantry and 400 cavalry under his command and that Vettius had a force of about 3,500. Upon learning of Lucullus' approach, Vettius and his
352:
and disbanding completely. By ordering his army to disband, he intended, by ensuring the failure of his successor, he would prove his own innocence from any alleged incompetence. His successor, Servilius, with no army or fortifications, did indeed fail in his attempt to defeat the rebels and was
119:, and with the sole aim of plundering their towns and lands for his own enrichment. Upon his return to Rome the elder Lucullus had succeeded in making himself and his family wealthy, and therefore influential, and was never prosecuted for his illegal conduct.
390:. The destruction of his camp and equipment, as well as the disbanding of his army, also supported the charge that he had abused his position and the public resources entrusted to him. To avenge the disgrace done by Lucullus to the
110:
made peace and ended the war before his arrival, thereby depriving him of the opportunity for obtaining booty, through which he had hoped to make his family fortune. He therefore proceeded to make war on the neighbouring
373:
Naturally, upon return to Rome in 102 BC, after disbanding his army and destroying all of his own fortifications, he was immediately brought up on charges and exiled. He was further charged with abuse of his command in
292:
and instead face the Romans in open battle. Marching to meet
Lucullus, the rebels encamped at Scirthaea, twelve miles distant from the Roman camp and, the next day, the two sides prepared for battle. According to
301:
the slaves might be victorious, Athenion was wounded and cut down from his horse. He was forced to feign death in order to save himself. The rebels, believing their brave general to be dead, lost heart and fled.
353:
unable to effectively contain the revolt for his entire year. Servilius was ultimately defeated by
Athenion, who had succeeded Tyrphon as leader upon the latter's death. Servilius was replaced in 101 BC by
348:, Lucullus, when he heard that his replacement had crossed the straits and landed in Sicily, ordered his army to burn their camp and destroy all their supplies and siege equipment before withdrawing from
257:
then emerged, calling himself "King of Sicily" and the rebels began to unite behind him. In Rome, the crisis meant a disruption of the essential
Sicilian grain supply, and so swift action was needed.
156:, born around 118/117 BC and 116 BC. However, despite being politically beneficial the match was an unhappy one, with Metella engaging in numerous scandalous affairs which led to an eventual divorce.
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had decreed that any
Italian citizen being held in slavery was to be released immediately and that henceforth it was to be illegal for an Italian to be a slave. This was in response to the
447:, whom they charged with misusing public funds. However, despite the best efforts of the brothers, the trial descended into chaos and Servilius was acquitted.
337:, frustratingly unable to take the city and end the rebellion. In Rome, seeing his failure to take Triocala as evidence of some indolence or incompetence, the
172:, the magistrate responsible for hearing appeals and judicial cases in Italy outside of the city of Rome. During his praetorship a young Roman knight (Eques),
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turned to Lucullus again to take over from his hapless relative, Nerva. At the head of a new Roman and allied army numbering around 17,000 men according to
107:
20:
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by assault, however all his assaults were repulsed with heavy losses for the Romans. This emboldened the defenders, so Lucullus settled for a long
38:
802:
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of 151 BC. He, however, did not achieve the political success of his father and failed to hold the consulship, reaching only the position of
406:
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was captured. All the rebels who were taken prisoner were executed, save Apollonius who, true to his word, Lucullus pardoned and set free.
131:
127:
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His son, also Lucius Licinius Lucullus, was born around 144 BC and, sometime around 119 BC, married Caecilia Metella, the daughter of
365:. Aquillius succeeded in defeated the rebel slaves, captured their strongholds and finally putting an end to the revolt in 100 BC.
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did not prorogue his command in Sicily and instead appointed Gaius Servilius to take his place when his term expired in 102 BC.
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309:. Later that night, under cover of darkness, the wounded Athenion also escaped. With thousands of slaves cut down in the rout,
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unless such a decree was issued and the practice of selling Italian citizens into slavery for non-payment of debts outlawed.
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estimates that, as night fell, around 20,000 rebels lay dead, half of Tryphon's army destroyed and Lucullus victorious.
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Lucullus was found guilty of peculation and banished from the city in 102 BC. He spent the remainder of his life in
782:
187:
Vettius had fallen in love with a beautiful young slave girl and, promising to pay her owner the huge sum of seven
280:
Salvius, now calling himself Tryphon, planned to respond to Lucullus' arrival by withdrawing into his fortress of
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74:
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From his defeat at Scirthaea, Tryphon, along with the remnants of his army, shut himself behind the gates of
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in 104 BC. During his praetorship he first successfully put down the Vettian Revolt, a minor slave revolt in
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reached their majority, they immediately sought revenge by impeaching their father's accuser, Servilius the
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82:
409:, for support against his accusers, Numidicus refused to speak for him. This may have been because the
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family which would help their own rise to prominence. From this marriage Lucullus had two sons,
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305:, seeing his army vanishing before him, turned and joined them in flight back to his refuge in
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In 104 BC, while Lucullus was suppressing the revolt of Titus Vettius, a second more serious
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The first recorded Lucullus is a L. Licinius Lucullus who held the junior magistracy of
65:. Being convicted, he was banished from the city and lived the remainder of his life in
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This article is about the praetor of 104 BC. For other Romans with the same name, see
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through his treatment of Gaius Servilius, it was a Servilius, known as Servilius the
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and accused of seeking to prolong the war merely as a pretext to plunder the
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and there hold out against the Roman siege. However, his general
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Lucullus was elected as one of the praetors for 104 BC, probably
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By the end of 103 BC, Lucullus remained outside the walls of
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refers to her as having "the bad name of a dissolute woman".
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Having just successfully put down one slave rebellion, the
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refusing to supply levies to fight the invading Germanic
53:, before being sent to take command in Sicily during the
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tribe, without any pretext or authorisation from the
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140:of their day. This political marriage brought the
405:Lucullus turned to his powerful brother-in-law,
413:, too, had family connections with the Metelli—
33:144 BC) was a politician and a general of the
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69:. He is the father of the more famous
778:Sources for Three Roman Slave Revolts
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227:broke out on Sicily. In that year,
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417:being married to the daughter of
208:The Second Sicilian Slave Revolt
432:, and died at an unknown date.
386:had done during his command in
382:for his own profit just as his
245:As a consequence of this, the
1:
803:2nd-century BC Roman praetors
798:2nd-century BC Roman generals
783:Plutarch's 'Life of Lucullus'
126:. She was also the sister of
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709:Florus, Epitome, Book II, 7
37:. He was the eldest son of
16:Roman general and statesman
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640:The Storm Before the Storm
369:Prosecution and Banishment
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398:, who prosecuted him for
330:to starve the enemy out.
164:The Vettian Slave Revolt
71:Lucius Licinius Lucullus
39:Lucius Licinius Lucullus
27:Lucius Licinius Lucullus
21:Lucius Licinius Lucullus
591:Encyclopædia Britannica
276:The Battle of Scirthaea
251:Publius Licinius Nerva
219:Outbreak of the Revolt
823:1st-century BC deaths
638:Duncan, Mike (2017).
317:The Siege of Triocala
268:, Lucullus landed in
134:, two of the leading
83:Third Mithridatic War
813:Ancient Roman exiles
731:De Viris Illustribus
419:Metellus Macedonicus
435:When his two sons,
132:Metellus Dalmaticus
61:upon his recall to
686:Library of History
684:Diodorus Siculus,
626:Library of History
624:Diodorus Siculus,
606:Library of History
604:Diodorus Siculus,
579:Library of History
577:Diodorus Siculus,
407:Metellus Numidicus
247:Governor of Sicily
214:Second Servile War
194:When news reached
170:Praetor Peregrinus
128:Metellus Numidicus
55:Second Servile War
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272:in 103 BC.
108:predecessor
75:Mithridates
792:Categories
757:Pro Archia
557:Plutarch,
542:Plutarch,
451:References
744:In Verrem
494:, Book 30
467:1992, pg3
225:rebellion
201:rebellion
137:optimates
755:Cicero,
742:Cicero,
559:Lucullus
506:Appian,
430:Heraclea
411:Servilii
392:Servilii
380:province
350:Triocala
335:Triocala
323:Triocala
311:Diodorus
307:Triocala
295:Diodorus
290:Triocala
286:Athenion
282:Triocala
266:Diodorus
182:Campania
158:Plutarch
104:Hispania
79:Tigranes
51:Campania
303:Tryphon
255:Salvius
142:Luculli
113:Vaccaei
81:in the
47:praetor
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528:, 1992
510:Book 6
437:Lucius
384:father
376:Sicily
346:Senate
339:Senate
270:Sicily
262:Senate
240:Cimbri
229:consul
154:Marcus
150:Lucius
117:Senate
89:Family
43:consul
41:, the
29:(born
445:Augur
426:exile
396:Augur
388:Spain
328:siege
178:Capua
67:exile
644:ISBN
439:and
363:Gaul
196:Rome
152:and
130:and
77:and
63:Rome
759:, 6
561:, 1
361:in
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