Quint Ligarius

Quintus Ligarius was a native of the Sabinsky Territory and one of three brothers - along with Titus Ligarius and another brother (possibly wearing the prefix Guy ^[1] or Publius ^[2] ). All three joined the upper class, becoming "new senators" ^[2] . However, they did not have good connections and influence; the researchers draw such a conclusion from the fact that Quint's friends, listed in a speech in his defense by Mark Tullius Cicero ( Lucius Marcius , Gaius Tsesecius , Lucius Corfidius ^[3] ), are not mentioned anywhere else. Perhaps the brothers are the only known history bearers of the nomenclature Ligarius ^{[1] [4]} . Their father does not appear in the sources ^[5] , their mother was the sister of a certain Titus Broch ^[6] .

The first mention of the Quintus of Ligaria in the surviving sources dates back to 50 BC. e., when he was a legate under the governor of Africa, Gai Considia Long ^[7] . In this capacity, Quint proved to be the best, so Long, leaving home at the end of the year, left the province to him until the arrival of a successor. According to Cicero, Ligarius long abandoned this mission, but was forced to obey ^[8] . In January, 49 BC e. civil war broke out between Guy Julius Caesar and Gnei Pompey the Great ; a supporter of the latter, Publius Attius Var , the predecessor of Long as the prophetor of Africa, came to this province and took power into his own hands, and Ligarius became a legate under him. When the new governor appointed by the Senate approached Utica , Lucius Elii Tuberon , Quint did not allow him to land on the shore and did not even allow to replenish the supplies of drinking water ^[9] . He was not mitigated by the fact that the son of Tuberon was sick. According to Mark Tullius Cicero , Elyos was treated “in the most offensive way” ^[10] , so they had to leave for the Balkans, to Pompey ^[11] . The latter tacitly endorsed the actions of Ligarius and Var ^[12] .

In the following years, Quintus was in Africa, where all the leaders of the Pompeans gradually gathered. He joined the same “party”, and did not play a prominent role in it and did not take an active part in hostilities ^[13] : according to Cicero, he was only “caught in the war” ^[14] . In April, 46 BC e. Caesar defeated the Pompeians under Thaps . Ligarius, who commanded with Guy Considius Pete the garrison of Hadrumet , immediately surrendered this city to the winner without a fight. Caesar saved his life ^[15] , but did not allow him to return to Rome ^[16] : he did not want to immediately give complete forgiveness to those enemies who continued the struggle after the battle of Farsalus ^[17] . Quintus had to remain in exile. Meanwhile, in Rome, brothers and Mark Tullius Cicero ^{[13] [18] were} actively trying for him. The latter wrote to Quintus in September 46 BC. e.: “Know, all the labor, all the efforts, cares and zeal I spend for your restoration of rights ... When your brothers and loved ones were lying at his feet, and I set out everything that your business demanded, ... not only from words Caesar, quite benevolent, but also in the expression of his face ... I concluded that there can be no doubt about your restoration of rights ” ^[19] .

When Caesar was already ready to allow Ligaria to return, a new obstacle arose. The father and son of Tuberon, Lucius and Quintus , remained the enemies of Ligaria; they had reconciled with Caesar immediately after Farsalus, and now decided to avenge past grievances. Tuberon, Jr., in absentia charged Ligari with treason - an alliance with the king of Numidia Yuba , an open enemy of Rome. Caesar himself ruled as a dictator , and it was apparently about Quintus’s life. At the same time, the judge considered the matter settled in advance: according to Plutarch , Gaius Julius openly called Ligaria the scoundrel and his enemy ^{[20] [21]} . But the defense attorney, Mark Tullius Cicero, made a heartfelt speech in which he stated that the prosecutor had also fought in the ranks of the Pompeans, accused Tuberon of excessive cruelty, and called the defendant a victim of circumstances against his will involved in a civil war. The speaker did not say almost anything about the alliance with Yuba, limiting himself to hints that the higher ranking Pompeyans should be guilty - already dead by that time. Caesar was very excited about this speech. “Broken, he was forced to forgive Ligaria for his guilt” ^{[20] [22]} (in October 46 BC ^[21] ).

Cicero's speech “In Defense of Ligaria” was soon published and was a huge success. Thanks to this, Quint became famous for the first time in his life. Soon after the trial, he returned to Rome, and already at the beginning of 44 BC. e. became a member of a conspiracy whose goal was to kill Caesar; Ligaria Appian is among the conspirators ^[23] . Allegedly ^[24], it is Quinta who Plutarch is referring to when he talks about Gaius Ligaria , who readily responded to the proposal of Mark Junius Brutus to join the plot, although he was ill ^[25] .

It is not known when and under what circumstances Quint's life ended. Friedrich Münzer suggested that Ligari died along with a number of other Caesar's killers in the East at the end of 42 BC. e., at the battle of Philippi or immediately after it ^[24] . Russian anti-critic Alexei Egorov believes that Quintus is one of the two Ligariev brothers mentioned by Appian ^[2] : in 43 BC. e. these brothers were included in the proclamation lists , hiding under the stove, but were betrayed by their own slaves and killed ^[26] .

Sources

1. Appian of Alexandria . Roman history. - M .: Ladomir, 2002 .-- 878 p. - ISBN 5-86218-174-1 .
2. Pseudo-Caesar. African war // Guy Julius Caesar. Notes on the Gallic War. Notes on the Civil War .. - SPb. : AST, 2001 .-- S. 369-416. - ISBN 5-17-005087-9 .
3. Mark Tullius Cicero . Letters from Mark Tullius Cicero to Attica, relatives, brother Quintus, M. Brutus. - SPb. : Nauka, 2010 .-- V. 3 .-- 832 p. - ISBN 978-5-02-025247-9 , 978-5-02-025244-8.
4. Mark Tullius Cicero. Speech in defense of Quintus Ligaria (neopr.) . Site "History of Ancient Rome". Date of treatment January 13, 2019.
5. Guy Julius Caesar . Notes on the Gallic War. Civil War Notes. - SPb. : AST, 2001 .-- 752 s. - ISBN 5-17-005087-9 .

Literature

1. Grimal P. Cicero. - M .: Young Guard, 1991 .-- 544 p. - ISBN 5-235-01060-4 .
2. Egorov A. Julius Caesar. Political biography. - SPb. : Nestor-Istoriya, 2014 .-- 548 p. - ISBN 978-5-4469-0389-4 .
3. Broughton R. Magistrates of the Roman Republic. - New York, 1952. - Vol. II. - P. 558.
4. Johnson, J. The Dilemma of Cicero's Speech for Ligarius. // Cicero. The Advocate. / Ed. by J. Powell and J. Paterson. - Oxford Univ. Press 2004, p. 371-399.
5. Münzer F. Ligarius // Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft . - 1926. - Bd. XIII, 1. - Kol. 518-519.
6. Münzer F. Ligarius 1 // Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft . - 1926. - Bd. XIII, 1. - Kol. 519.
7. Münzer F. Ligarius 4 // Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft . - 1926. - Bd. XIII, 1. - Kol. 519-522.

• Quintus Ligarius (English) . - in Smith 's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.