Curiosities of ancient Rome (Events)

The common history of Rome and Egypt is associated primarily with the period of the late Republic, when Cleopatra became involved with the life of Caesar, then Mark Antony. The moment when Egypt is incorporated into the structures of the Roman administration is also discussed quite often. However, the first contact between Rome and Egypt is rarely mentioned. It is hard to trust the sources that were written for many years after establishing an official, closer relationship between Rome and the Ptolemy ruling in Egypt.

Publius Clodius Pulcher was a people’s tribune in Rome and at the same time the leader of plebeian movements supporting the Popular party. His greatest rival was Titus Annius Milo. He murdered Clodius in 52 BCE. This marked the beginning of strong unrest in Rome itself.

In 73 CE anti-Roman riots prevailed in Judea, which general Flavius ​​Silva was supposed to quell. The Romans surrounded Masada – a Jewish fortress on the Dead Sea and erected a series of ramparts and fortifications to cut fortress defenders from food and drinking water supplies. This tactic, however, did not bring any results because the Jews had large reserves.

Land ownership is a very important aspect of the decline of the republic in ancient Rome. First of all, because of the peasant masses that sought a new division of the land, but also because of the soldiers, who were often given land after numerous conquests.

In 83 BCE Lucius Cornelius Sulla returned to Rome after the war with Mithridates VI – King of Pontu. At that time, the city was governed by Populists previously associated with Gaius Marius – his political opponent – who died a few years earlier (86 BCE). Sulla, at the head of his supporters, captured Rome and crushed the army of those who opposed him. In 82 BCE he became a dictator. Almost immediately after taking power, he decided to carry out numerous reforms that were to change the system in the Roman Republic.

In 9 CE, after the Roman forces were destroyed in the Teutoburg Forest, Arminius managed to destroy all the Roman clusters on the eastern side of the Rhine. The only fort that managed to resist the Germans was fort Aliso, whose crew was commanded by prefect Lucius Ceditius, to whom managed come the survivers from the slaughter before the Germans.

In 43 BCE Cicero was on the list of proscribed (outlaws), arranged by triumvirs: Antony, Octavian and Lepidus. The greatest supporter of the death of the speaker was Antony, who hated him. On December 7, 43 BCE Cicero died in his villa in Formianum. The murder of Cicero caused a great stir.

In 62 BCE Publius Sulla was accused together with his brother Servius by Lucius Torquatus – son of his rival for the office of consul in 65 BCE – for participation in the Catilinarian conspiracy. The defence of the accused was taken by two of the best lawyers in Rome – Cicero and Hortensius.

Lucius Appuleius Saturninus was a well-known supporter of Gaius Marius and the tribune of the people in 100 BCE. In the same year, he began to apply for re-election and his associate and friend who at that time was the praetor and applied for the consul’s election.

At the beginning of May and December in Rome, an unusual mysterious feast in honour of Bona Dea (“Good Goddess”) was celebrated – an agrarian god, daughter of Faunus. The feast was worshipped only by women, due to the character of Bona Dea – a goddess who is a virgin and responsible for the fertility of women.