Mark Terentius Varro Lucull

Mark Terence belonged by birth to the family of Lukullov - a branch of the plebeian clan Liciniev , whose representatives were members of the very first panel of tribunes of the people and reached the consulate as early as 364 BC. e., but over the next century and a half were not mentioned in the sources ^[1] .

Licinia Lukully , as well as representatives of several other branches of this genus, began to occupy kurulnye positions in the last years of the III century BC. er ^[2] The first was Lucius Licinius Lucull , edulis of Curule in 202 BC. er ^[3] , but genealogical connections are reliably traced only starting from the consul 151 BC. er the same name . The latter, according to one version, was the son of Edyla ^[4] , according to another - his grandson and son of Mark Licinius Lucullus , Praetor of 186 BC. er ^[5] , according to the third - the son or grandson of Guy Licinius Lucullus ^[6] , the tribune of the people in 196 BC. er ^[7] In any case, starting with the consul of 151, Lukullah were part of the Roman highest aristocracy. Lucius Licinius had a son of the same name , who advanced in his career only to pretury (in 104 BC) and who fought the Second Sicilian Uprising as a pro-prophet . This nobile became the father of Mark Terentius Varro Lucullus, consul 73 BC. er ^[eight]

Mark's mother was Metella Calva , who belonged to the plebeian Cecilia Metell family - the most influential family of Rome in the 110s - 100s BC. er His representatives at this time more often than anyone else, held consular posts. Mark's female grandfather was Lucius Caecilius Metell Calw , consul 142 BC. er and the brother of Quint Cecilia Metella of Macedon ; great-grandfather - Quint Caecilius Metellus , 206 consul. Accordingly, Varro Lukull was the nephew of Quint Cecilius Metellus of Numidia and cousin of Quint Cecilius Metellus Pius . In a somewhat more distant relationship, he consisted of numerous other Metellas, with the Scipions of Nazicas and Claudius Pulchras ^[9] .

Young Lukull passed on adoption to the plebeian family of Terentsiev , which was part of the senatorial class from the III century BC. e., and accordingly received the name Mark Terentius Varro Lucull . His foster father bore the name of Mark Terentius Varro , and nothing more is known about him. Since Licinia was more eminent and influential than Terence, Mark Jr. often referred to himself in abbreviated form - Mark Lucull , without advertising his formal transition to another family ^[10] .

Mark's brother was Lucius Licinius Lucullus , consul 74 BC. er The brothers maintained excellent relationships throughout their lives ^[10] .

Early years and early career

It is known that Varro Lucull was not much younger than his brother Lucius ^[11] , so that his birth date presumably to 116 BC. er ^[10] There is no consensus about what premeno he received at birth: some historians believe that it was the name Mark ^[12] , others insist on the Publius variant ^[5] .

The father of the Lukullov brothers in 101 BC er was forced to go into exile by a court sentence. A year later, Lucius and Mark, who had barely reached the age of majority, were brought to trial in the “official abuse” case of his prosecutor Guy Servilia . According to Plutarch , “such an act seemed wonderful to the Romans, and this court was on everyone’s lips, they saw in it a manifestation of high valor” ^[13] ; during the process, it came to open clashes with human victims, but in the end Guy Servilius was acquitted. In 99 BC. er The Lukulla brothers were among the representatives of the aristocracy who implored the public tribune of Publius Fury not to impede the return of Quint Caecilius Metella of Numidia from exile (to Lucius and Mark he was his uncle), and again failed ^[10] .

In the house Lukullov in the 90s BC. er the poet Aulus Licinius the Archy was acquired . Shortly before the Allied War, Mark Terentius in his company made a trip to Sicily and drove into Herakleia on the way back to Lucania ^[14] ; his father supposedly lived in exile there ^[15] . In general, little is known about the life of Mark Terence during these years. His elder brother participated as a prosecutor in the First Mithridates War under the command of Lucius Cornelius Sulla , and there is an assumption that Mark was next to him. In particular, Varro Lukull could lead the minting of coins from the treasures confiscated in Greece, while Lucius was collecting a fleet to wage war at sea. In this case, he was a legate in the Sullan army and temporarily obtained questor powers ^[16] . Plutarch reports that Mark Terence was the quaestor "under Sulla" ^[17] , but does not provide any details; perhaps he is referring to this particular episode ^[18] .

The next mention of Varroon Lukulla dates back to the civil war of 83-82 BC. er All the same Plutarch names him among the “commanders of Sulla” who acted against the Marians in Tsizalpiyskaya Gaul ^[19] . Robert Broughton concludes from this that Mark Terence is a legate ^[20] ; there are hypotheses that he had the authority of the proquestor or propretor ^[10] . Mark won the battle of Fidentia, where his fifty-six cohorts were opposed by fifty enemy ^[19] ; sources estimate enemy losses at ten ^[21] or even at eighteen thousand people killed ^[19] .

Judging by the inscription found in the city of Prenest in Campania , in the early post-war years Varro Lucull was on the commission that organized the local colony of veterans ^[22] . In 79 BC er he held the position of curule Edila , and his colleague was a brother who, for this purpose, postponed the nomination of his candidacy ^[23] . The games organized by the Lukullahs were later recognized by Mark Tullius Cicero as magnificent ^[24] . In 76, Mark Terence became the praetor for foreigners ( praetor peregrinus ) ^[25] , and in this capacity he had to lead the process of a Greek lawsuit against Guy Anthony Hybrids ^[22] . The prosecutor was then starting his career, Gaius Julius Caesar ; the sentence was acquittal. ^[26]

Consulate and Proconsult

During the consulate of his brother (in 74 BC), Mark Terence was chosen as consul for the following year. His colleague was another plebeian, Guy Cassius Longin ^[27] . Together, the magistrates adopted another law on state procurement of bread and its sale to low-income citizens at a lower price ( Lex Terentia et Cassia ), and at the end of the year they divided the provinces: Longin received Tsizalpiyskaya Gaul, Lukulla - Macedonia . Mark Terence went to the Balkans immediately after the consulate and remained there for two years. At this time, Rome waged another war with Mithridates , whose ally was the Thracians who lived on the northern borders of Macedonia. To destroy the influence of Pontus on the west coast of the Black Sea and to save Rome from the raids, Varro Lukull began the conquest of Thrace and Moesia . First, he invaded the lands of the Bessov , defeated this tribe in a big battle and took its capital Uksudam ; Then he crossed the mountains and occupied the land of the Meuse to the Danube. Finally, in 71 BC. er Proconsul went to the Black Sea coast and subordinated to Rome the local Greek cities - Apollonia , Odessa , Kallatis , Istropol , Toma , Mesembria , Dionisopol ^{[28] [29] [30]} .

In Italy, Varro Lukull returned in 71 BC. er Plutarch reports that Mark Licinius Crassus , who commanded the Spartacus war , being convinced of the seriousness of the threat hanging over Rome, at some point asked the senate to call Mark Terence from Thrace for help ^[31] . The date of this request and the general credibility of this episode are the subject of scientific debate ^[32] . According to Appian , Mark Terentius landed in Brundisia when Spartak moved to this city, and his appearance in Italy caused the rebels to change their plans ^[33] . Soon Crassus and Gnea Pompey the Great won a complete victory over the rebels. Varro Lucullus celebrated a triumph , and among the many works of art captured in Greek cities, a huge statue of Apollo from Kalamis , later installed on the Capitol ^{[34] [35], was} carried through the streets of Rome.

Late years

After the triumph, Mark Terence was prominent in the Roman senate. In 67 BC. er on the commission of ten, he went to the East to organize a new province on the site of the Pontic kingdom together with Lucius Lucull, but the situation in the theater of operations suddenly changed, so that the fulfillment of this mission had to be postponed. In 66 or 65, Guy Memmius brought Mark Terence to trial for his activities during the civil war (“for what he had to do on the orders of Sulla, fulfilling the position of questor” ^[36] ); This process ended with the acquittal of the defendant. In 65, Varro Lukull witnessed the prosecution of Guy Cornelius, accused of insulting the majesty, and in 62, the main witness for the defense in the process of Aulus Licinius Archia, accused of illegally obtaining Roman citizenship. In 63, Mark Terence supported Mark Tullius of Cicero in his fight against the conspiracy of Catiline ^[37] .

The political union linked Varro Lucullus with Cicero in the following years. In 58 BC er Marc Terentius asked Gnée Pompey the Great and the consuls - Lucius Calpurnius Peason Zesonin and Aulus Gabinius - to help Cicero, who was threatened with trial and exile. Later, at the Pontiff College, he strongly supported the right of Mark Tullius to restore his house on the Palatine , removing the statue of Liberty from this place. At that time, in the absence of the Supreme Pontiff Gaius Julius Caesar, Mark Terence was the oldest and most authoritative of the representatives of this priestly college ^[38] .

Lucius Licinius Lucullus in the 50s BC. er fell ill with mental illness, and Mark Terentius took charge of his brother ^[39] . After the death of Lucius in the year 56, when people demanded to bury him on the Field of Mars , near Sulla, Mark insisted on burial in the family estate near Tuskul ^[11] . He himself briefly outlived his brother, dying at the age of about 60 years ^[38] .

Mark Terence was married, but the name of his spouse is unknown ^[38] . In 60 BC er it turned out that this matron was cheating on her husband with Guy Memmy; Varro Lukull, having learned about it, initiated a divorce. Cicero, in one of his letters, commented on these events in the following way: “The shepherd from Ida insulted only Menelaus , and this Paris of ours did not spare either Menelaus or Agamemnon ” ^[40] .

Plutarch writes that with his fame Mark Terence "did not lag far behind" his brother ^[11] . Cicero, in a speech delivered during the life of Varro Lucullus, calls him “the luminary and decoration of the state” ^[41] , and in his treatise Brutus, or On Famous Orators , written about ten years after Mark’s death, he ranks as “worthy defenders of the republic " ^[42] .

Sources

1. Sextus Aurelius Victor . About famous people // Roman historians of the IV century. - M .: Rosspan, 1997. - p. 179-224. - ISBN 5-86004-072-5 .
2. Appian of Alexandria . Roman history. - M .: Ladomir, 2002. - 880 p. - ISBN 5-86218-174-1 .
3. Flavius ​​Eutropius . Breviary of Roman history. - SPb. : Aletheia, 2001. - 305 p. - ISBN 5-89329-345-2 .
4. Pavel Orozy . The story against the pagans. - SPb. : Publisher Oleg Abyshko, 2004. - 544 p. - ISBN 5-7435-0214-5 .
5. Pliny the Elder . Natural History (Neopr.) . The date of circulation is July 9, 2017.
6. Plutarch . Comparative biographies. - M .: Science, 1994. - T. 3. - 672 p. - ISBN 5-306-00240-4 .
7. Mark Tullius Cicero . About duties // About old age. About friendship. About duties. - M .: Science, 1974. - P. 58-158.
8. Mark Tullius Cicero. Letters of Mark Tullius Cicero to Atticus, relatives, brother Quint, M. Brut. - SPb. : Science, 2010. - Vol. 3. - 832 p. - ISBN 978-5-02-025247-9 , 978-5-02-025244-8.
9. Mark Tullius Cicero. Speech - M .: Science, 1994. - ISBN 5-02-011168-6 .

Literature

1. Egorov A. Julius Caesar. Political biography. - SPb. : Nestor History, 2014. - 548 p. - ISBN 978-5-4469-0389-4 .
2. Lyubimova O. The letter of Crassus about the challenge of Pompey and M. Lukulla against Spartacus: time and circumstances of writing // Bulletin of the Humanities University. - 2013. - № 2 . - pp . 73-84 .
3. Broughton R. Magistrates of the Roman Republic. - New York, 1952. - Vol. Ii. - P. 109.
4. Keaveney A. Who were the Sullani? // Klio. - 1984. - T. 66 . - pp . 114-150 .
5. Mühlberghuber M. Untersuchungen zu Leben, Karriere und Persönlichkeit des Q. Caecilius Metellus Pius (cos. 80 v. Chr.). Seine Rolle im Sertoriuskrieg (80-71 v. Chr.) . - Wien, 2015. - 119 p.
6. Münzer F. Licinii Luculli // Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft . - 1926. - Bd. XIII, 1. - Kol. 372.
7. Münzer F. Licinius // Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft . - 1926. - Bd. XIII, 1. - Kol. 214-215.
8. Münzer F. Licinius 99 // Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft . - 1926. - Bd. XIII, 1. - Kol. 372.
9. Münzer F. Licinius 101 // Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft . - 1926. - Bd. XIII, 1. - Kol. 373.
10. Münzer F. Licinius 102 // Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft . - 1926. - Bd. XIII, 1. - Kol. 373-375.
11. Münzer F. Licinius 103 // Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft . - 1926. - Bd. XIII, 1. - Kol. 375-376.
12. Münzer F. Licinius 109 // Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft . - 1926. - Bd. XIII, 1. - Kol. 414–418.

• Mark Terentius Varro Lucull (Eng.) . - in Smith 's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.