Guy Fundanii Fundul

Guy Fundaniy belonged to the ancient plebeian family, mentioned in the sources from the beginning of the VI century BC. er ^[1] According to the Capitoline Fasta , his father and grandfather had prenomenes Guy and Quint, respectively ^[2] .

The first mention of Guy Fundania in the preserved sources refer to 248 BC. Oe., when he was the people's tribune ^[3] . At this time there was the first war of Rome with Carthage . Together with his colleague Pollio, Fundul brought to trial Publius Claudius Pulcher , the consul of the previous year, who suffered a crushing defeat from the Carthaginians in a naval battle. The first consideration of the case in the national assembly was prevented by a downpour, and upon reconsideration another tribune imposed its veto ^[4] . In the end, Pulkhra was still imposed a large fine of 120 thousand aces - a thousand coins for each ship lost in battle ^[5] .

In 246 BC. er Guy Fundaniy was a plebeian edil ^[6] . That year, sister Pulkhra (by that time already deceased) Claudia Quint , having fallen into a crush on one of the Roman streets, publicly said: , unfortunate! ”Fundul and his colleague Tiberius Sempronius Grakh brought Claudius to court for these words, accusing her of insulting the Roman people, and sentenced him to a large fine of 25 thousand coins in bars ^{[7] [8]} . With this money, construction of the Temple of Libert on the Aventine Hill in Rome was started ^[9]

The pinnacle of Guy Fundania's career was the consulate of 243 BC. e., a colleague for which became the patrician Guy Sulpcius Gall ^[10] . The consuls jointly waged a positional war in Sicily , in the region of Panorama , against the Carthaginian commander Hamilcar Barca . Minor skirmishes occurred almost daily, but a large-scale battle that would decide the outcome of the war was impossible ^[11] . It was a war of attrition, ultimately more successful for the Romans ^[12] .

Sources tell only about one episode of the campaign of 243 BC. er According to Diodorus of Sicily , after one skirmish, in which the Carthaginians suffered particularly heavy losses, Hamilcar asked Fundula to hand over the bodies for burial. But he "told the ambassadors that if they are reasonable people, then they need to ask for a truce for the return not of the dead, but of the living." During the next clash, more Romans died, “so much that the consul’s bragging met with due retribution from the gods”; this time, Guy Fundania had to send envoys to Hamilcar, and he agreed to hand over the bodies of the Roman soldiers, saying that he was fighting only with the living, but not with the dead ^[13] .

Sources

1. Valery Maxim. Memorable deeds and sayings. - SPb. , 1772. - T. 2. - 520 s.
2. Avl Gelliy . Attic nights. Books 1 - 10. - SPb. : Publishing center "Humanitarian academy", 2007. - 480 p. - ISBN 978-5-93762-027-9 .
3. Diodorus Sicilian. Historical Library (Neopr.) . Site "Symposy". The appeal date is March 8, 2017.
4. Titus Livius. History of Rome from the founding of the city. - M .: Science, 1994. - T. 3. - 768 p. - ISBN 5-02-008959-1 .
5. Polybius General history. - M .: AST, 2004. - T. 2. - 765 p. - ISBN 5-17-024957-8 .
6. Guy Suetonius Tranquill. Life of the Twelve Caesars // Suetonius. Lords of Rome. - M .: Ladomir, 1999. - P. 12-281. - ISBN 5-86218-365-5 .
7. Fasti Capitolini (Unsolved) . The site "History of Ancient Rome." The appeal date is December 26, 2016.

Literature

1. Rodionov E. Punic Wars. - SPb. : SPSU, 2005. - 626 p. - ISBN 5-288-03650-0 .
2. Broughton R. Magistrates of the Roman Republic. - New York, 1951. - Vol. I. - P. 600.
3. Münzer F. Fundanius // Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft . - 1910. - Bd. VII, 1. - Kol. 291.
4. Münzer F. Fundanius 5 // Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft . - 1910. - Bd. VII, 1. - Kol. 292-293.