The Gaesatae or Gaesati ( Greek Γαισάται) were a group of Gallic mercenary warriors who lived in the Alps near the river Rhône and fought against the Roman Republic at the Battle of Telamon in 225 BC.
94-815: According to some scholars, the Gaesatae may be identified with the Allobroges , who first appeared in the same region only a few years later in connection with Hannibal's crossing of the Alps in 218 BC. The Gaulish name Gaisatai literally means '(armed) with javelins ' or 'spearmen', and derives from the Celtic noun *gaisos , meaning 'spear, javelin'. It is cognate with the Old Irish gaiscedach ('armed person, warrior, champion'), from gaisced ('weapons, arms'), itself from gáe ('spear, javelin'). The stem gaisat - can also be found in
188-664: A civil war and Caesar's assassination in March 44. Although the Helvetii thought that they could persuade the Allobroges to let them go through their territory in 58 BC because of their antipathy to Rome, the Gallic tribe, presumably led at that time by Adbucillus, remained loyal to Caesar during all the Gallic Wars (58–50 BC). The Roman general used Vienna in particular as a strategic outpost during
282-682: A Celtic-Germanic correspondence of the term. A mountain in the Mont Blanc massif is still called Pointe Allobrogia , which could be the remnant of an ancient territorial claim made by the Gallic people. The territory of the Allobroges, which is known as Allobrogia , stretched between the Isère and the Rhône rivers, the Lacus Lemannus (Lake Geneva) and the Alps . By the mid-1st century BC, they also possessed
376-463: A cause of the republic's collapse has him paint an ahistorical portrait of Catiline that elides details in favour of his larger narrative. J. T. Ramsey, in a commentary on the monograph, writes: S. [Sallust] fails to allow for a gradual shift in Catiline's strategy and aims as his hopes of reaching the consulship faded, because S. prefers to present Catiline as a through-going villain, the product of
470-646: A coup to seize by force the consulship which had been denied to him. He enlisted into his circle a number of disreputable senators: Publius Cornelius Lentulus Sura , a former consul ejected from the senate for immorality in 70 BC; Gaius Cornelius Cethegus , a Sertorian sympathiser with few prospects for promotion; Publius Autronius Paetus , a winning consular candidate in the elections of 66 BC who had his victory annulled and senate seat stripped after conviction on bribery charges; and two other senators expelled for immorality and corruption. Other malcontents who had expected but had been denied advancement joined
564-498: A decentralized system of governance. Aimé Bocquet has proposed to identify those hypothetical tribal territories with five natural sub-regions: Chablais and Faucigny [ fr ] , the Genevois , Savoie , Grésivaudan , and Isle-Crémieu [ fr ] . During the Roman period, the Allobroges cultivated wheat and exported wine. Copper and silver deposits were numerous in
658-477: A joint candidacy with him in 65 BC. While some of the ancient sources claim Catiline was involved in a First Catilinarian conspiracy to overthrow the consuls of that year, modern scholars believe this first conspiracy is fictitious. Catiline had stood for the consulship three times by 63 BC and was rejected every time by the voters. Only after his defeat at the consular comitia in 63 – for consular terms starting in 62 BC – did Catiline start planning
752-433: A minor and meaningless episode. Motives of the leader may have been personal and less than admirable. But the movement itself called to notice a number of authentic social ills which had previously lacked effective expression... The shape of the social structure remained basically unaffected... but the grievances had been brought to public attention... prominent leaders recognised the utility of responding to needs exposed in
846-447: A monograph on the conspiracy, and Cicero's Catilinarian orations. As a whole, the sources – in ancient times – almost always took anti-Catilinarian perspectives. The negative view of Catiline in the sources found its way into Roman imperial culture. Cicero's narrative is obviously one-sided and it is well established that he exaggerated the danger of Catiline's threat in his orations for political advantage. He also recounted his side of
940-771: A piece of land north of the Rhône river, between modern Lyon and Geneva , whose later status remains uncertain. During the Roman period, the civitas Viennensium covered an area of around 13,000 km , one of the largest in Gaul. The Allobroges lived east of the Segusiavi and the Vellavi , south of the Ambarri and Sequani , north of the Segovellauni , Vertamocorii , Vocontii , Tricorii , Ucennii , Graioceli and Ceutrones , and southwest of
1034-445: A plot from a woman named Fulvia in the autumn in 63 BC. The first concrete evidence was provided by Marcus Licinius Crassus , who handed over letters on 18 or 19 October which described plans to massacre prominent citizens. Crassus' letters were corroborated by reports of armed men gathering in support of the conspiracy. In response, the senate passed a decree declaring a tumultus (a state of emergency) and, after receipt of
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#17328475862201128-445: A prosecution a public enemy. In the coming years, Cicero's enemies reorganised. Publius Clodius Pulcher , tribune in 58 BC, enacted a law banishing anyone who had executed a citizen without trial. Cicero promptly fled the city for Greece. His exile was eventually lifted and he was recalled to Rome the next year at Pompey's behest. Views on Cicero's success in defending the republic are mixed: while Cicero argued that he had saved
1222-463: A social revolution, but a coup to place himself and his allies in charge of the republic. The defeat of the Rullan land reform bill early in 63 BC also must have stoked resentment: the bill would have confirmed Sullan settlers on their land, and allowed them to sell it to the state. It would have distributed new lands to poor dispossessed citizens. The failure of the relief bill at Rome contributed to
1316-476: Is a Latinized form of the Gaulish * Allobrogis ( sing. Allobrox ), which literally means 'those from another country' or 'those from the other frontier', that is to say the 'foreigners' or the 'exiled'. The personal names Allo-brogicus and Allo-broxus are related; they all stem from the Celtic root allo - ('other, second') attached to brogi- ('territory, region, march '). This may give further evidence of
1410-607: The Helvetii and Veragri . Until its destruction by the Romans in 61 BC, the main settlement of the Allobroges was known as Solonion, possibly corresponding to the modern village of Salagnon , near Bourgoin-Jallieu , or else to Montmiral , near Saint-Marcellin . The site of Vienna (modern Vienne , France), situated at the confluence of the Gère and Rhône rivers, was occupied by the Celts since
1504-684: The Roman Republic and, in particular, the power of the aristocratic Senate . Seeing an opportunity to enlist their help to the Catiline conspiracy , Lentulus sent the businessman Umbrenus persuade the Gallic envoys to invade Italy in support of Catiline. Although initially favourable to this overture, the Allobroges thought that their fate would be better if they take the Senate's side. They contacted their patron Q. Fabius Sanga , and Cicero convinced them to provide him with more evidence by feigning to join
1598-474: The Segovellauni , Brancus may actually be Segovellaunian. In his account, however, Livy specifically states that the two chieftains were Allobroges. From the 2nd century BC onward, a climate change known as the Roman Warm Period led to a reduction in migrations from Central and Northern Europe. As a result, the adoption rate of a sedentary lifestyle among the former roving tribes of the region, including
1692-399: The Allobroges began to strengthen the border along the Rhône river, possibly fearing attacks coming from the other bank. Vercingetorix tried to bribe their leaders to fight on the side of the Gallic coalition against Caesar, but the Allobroges rejected the offer. Two sons of Adbucillus, Aegus and Roscillus , provided assistance to Caesar in all of his Gallic campaigns. He assigned to them
1786-415: The Allobroges revealed Lentulus' plans. Cicero, using the Allobroges' envoys as double agents, sought their cooperation in identifying as many members of the conspiracy in the city as possible. With evidence provided by their help, on 2 or 3 December, five men were arrested: Lentulus, Cethegus, Statilius, Gabinius, and Caeparius . After the Gallic envoys divulged all they knew with promises of immunity before
1880-477: The Allobroges, probably increased during the late 2nd and 1st century BC. Greek geographer Strabo later wrote in the early 1st century AD, "formerly the Allobroges kept up warfare with many myriads of men, whereas now they till the plains and the glens that are in the Alps." Between 125 and 122 BC, the Romans crossed the Alps and fought the Salluvii and Vocontii . During the conflict, the Allobroges gave shelter to
1974-558: The Allobrogian territory was divided and administered from the three main cities: Vienna, Geneva and Cularo (later renamed Gratianopolis). From the "Palace of Mirrors" baths at Saint-Romain-en-Gal comes a statue of Vienna's tutelary goddess. Aix-les-Bains was a major centre of the cult of the healing god Borvo . The cult of Cybele was introduced to Vienna by traders from the Ancient Orient . A prominent temple likely dedicated to
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#17328475862202068-917: The Alps in 218 BC. Their territory was subsequently annexed to Rome in 121 BC by Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and Quintus Fabius Maximus Allobrogicus . An attempted revolt was crushed by Gaius Pomptinus in 61 BC. However, they had rejected the second Catilinarian conspiracy in 63 BC. During the Gallic Wars , the Allobroges did not side with Vercingetorix at the Battle of Alesia in 52 BC. They are mentioned as A̓llobrígōn (Ἀλλοβρίγων) by Polybius (2nd c. BC) and Strabo (early 1st c. AD), Allobroges by Caesar (mid-1st c. BC) and Livy (late 1st c. BC), A̓llóbriges ( Ἀλλόβριγες), Allóbrigas (Ἀλλόβριγας) and Allobrígōn (Ἀλλοβρίγων) by Appian (2nd c. AD), A̓llóbriges (Ἀλλόβριγες; var. Ἀλλόβρυγες, Ἀλλόβρογες) by Ptolemy (2nd c. AD), and as Allobrogas by Orosius (early 5th c. AD). The ethnonym Allobroges
2162-455: The Carthaginian army, but, as it was, it was discovered, and though they inflicted a good deal of damage on Hannibal, they did as much injury to themselves ... In Livy 's version, the Gallic chieftain who provided assistance to Hannibal is named Brancus ('the claw', var. Braneus ). According to some scholars, since the 'Island' mentioned by ancient authors corresponds to the territory of
2256-569: The Catilinarian affair. The grain bill sponsored by Cato in 62 obviously belongs in this context... Two major bills in 59 and another in 55 went a long way toward relief. Some older historiography has viewed the conspiracy in terms of a party-political conflict between the so-called optimates and populares . This view is criticised as uncritically accepting confusing and empty ancient political slogans while ignoring Catiline's Sullan bona fides. While sources sometimes put popularis speeches into
2350-414: The Gaesatae fought at the front, and unlike their Gallic allies who fought in trousers and light cloaks, they went into battle naked , both because of their great confidence and their desire not to get their clothes caught in the brambles. Diodorus Siculus also reports that some Gauls fought naked, trusting in the protection of nature. The appearance and the gestures of the naked warriors in front, 8 all in
2444-524: The Gaulish proper nouns Gaesatus , Gesatus , Gesatius , or Gesatia , as well as in the compound Gesato-rix , meaning 'king-spear', or 'king-javelin'. The Greek historian Polybius interpreted Gaisatai as meaning 'mercenaries'. According to Polybius' account, the Boii and Insubres of Cisalpine Gaul paid the Gaesatae, under their leaders Concolitanus and Aneroëstes , large sums of money to fight against
2538-539: The Rhone and the Arar, at their confluence. Under Octavian , sometime between 40 and 27 BC, Vienna became known as Colonia Iulia Viennensium , then was made into a colonia Romana known as Colonia Iulia Augusta Florentia Vienna (or Viennensium) , either under Augustus (ca. 15 BC) or Caligula (ca. 40 AD). In 35 AD, the Allobrogian citizen Valerius Asiaticus became the first Gallic man to be elected as Roman consul . Vienna
2632-527: The Romans, in response to the Roman colonisation of the former Gallic territory of Picenum . The Gauls overran and defeated a Roman army on the approach to Rome, but when the consul Lucius Aemilius Papus arrived with his troops, the Gauls followed Aneroëstes' advice to withdraw with their booty. Papus pursued them, and the other consul Gaius Atilius Regulus cut them off at Telamon in Etruria . Polybius describes how
2726-500: The Salluvian leaders, including their king Toutomotoulos , and refused to hand them over, which, added to the fact that the Allobroges had raided the Aedui , a recent ally of Rome, led the latter to declare war against them. They were defeated by the Romans forces of Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus at the Battle of Vindalium in 121 BC, which occurred in modern Mourre-de-Sève ( Sorgues ), at
2820-610: The Western Alps. The First French Republic , in line with its common practice of reviving names and concepts from Roman times, gave the name " Légion des Allobroges " to a unit of the French Revolutionary Army that consisted mainly of volunteers from Switzerland, Piedmont and Savoy - very roughly corresponding to what had been the lands of the Allobroges. Second Catilinarian conspiracy The Catilinarian conspiracy , sometimes Second Catilinarian conspiracy ,
2914-460: The affair was not meaningless and that it jolted the republic into action. Erich Gruen, in Last generation of the Roman republic , writes: It is evident, in retrospect, that the event did not shake the foundations of the state. The government was in no real danger of toppling; the conspiracy, in fact, strengthened awareness of a common interest in order and stability. It is not, however, to be dismissed as
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3008-476: The chaos, others were members of declining aristocratic families like Catiline. What allowed them to raise a meaningful threat to the state was their mobilisation of men displaced by Sulla's civil war. Joining those dispossessed in the Sullan proscriptions were landed Sullan veterans who expected monetary rewards and had fallen into debt after poor harvests. The ancient sources generally credit their involvement in
3102-477: The commonwealth and many scholars have accepted his defence of necessary exigency, Harriet Flower, a classicist, writes he did so "by circumventing due process and the civil rights of citizens" while also revealing "the consul's complete lack of confidence in the court system on which the New Republic of Sulla was supposed to be based". The main sources for us on the conspiracy are Sallust's Bellum Catilinae ,
3196-472: The conflict against the Gauls. After the failed migration of the Helvetii , who were repelled by the Romans towards their homeland, the Allobroges were asked by Caesar to provide them with wheat. In the autumn of 57, the legate Galba spent winter in the Allobrogian territory after an unsuccessful campaign in Vallis Poenina (modern Valais ). Following the Roman defeat at the Battle of Gergovia (52 BC),
3290-457: The confluence of the Rhône and Sorgue rivers in Cavarian territory. The Allobrogian cavalry reportedly feared the Roman war elephants , and Orosius writes that they lost 20,000 men while 3,000 of them were captured. In August of the same year, the Roman army, strengthened by the troops of Quintus Fabius Maximus , inflicted a decisive defeat on a massive combined force of Allobroges, Arveni and
3384-445: The conspiracy and its clean-up as being a minor affair that did not present a serious threat to the republic. For example, Louis E. Lord in the introduction to the 1937 Loeb Classical Library translation of Cicero's Catilinarian orations calls it "one of the best known and least significant episodes in Roman history". Scholars have also criticised over-estimation of the importance of Catiline's insurrection, but others also stress that
3478-400: The conspiracy with large debts that Catiline's putsch were supposedly to erase. But scholars reject this as a sole cause and consider the shame of unmet political ambitions indispensable. None of the ancient sources, except Dio, mention any connection between Catiline and land reform. It is likely Dio is wrong, if Catiline had advocated for land reform, Cicero would have alluded to it. Three of
3572-448: The conspiracy, had been complicit in the Sullan regime. While his family had not reached the consulship since the fifth century BC, he had strong connections to the aristocracy and was both a nobilis and a patrician . He had been prosecuted in 65 and 64 BC, but he was acquitted after several former consuls spoke in his defence. His influence even during his prosecutions was considerable. For example, Cicero had considered
3666-466: The conspiracy, such as Lucius Cassius Longinus , who had been praetor in 66 and defeated in consular elections in 63 BC, Lucius Calpurnius Bestia , and two Sullae. Non-senatorial men also filled the ranks. The classicist Erich Gruen describes these men as "mixed", adding, "single-minded purpose cannot readily be ascribed" to them. Some were frustrated candidates for municipal elections, some may have been motivated by debts, others sought profit in
3760-764: The conspiracy. Catiline attempted to speak in his defence – attacking Cicero's ancestry – but was shouted down and promptly left the city to join Manlius' men in Etruria. Writing a letter, likely preserved in Sallust, he committed his wife to the protection of a friend and left the city, justifying his actions in terms of honours unjustly denied to him and denying any alleged indebtedness. When Catiline arrived in Manlius' camp, he assumed consular regalia. The senate responded immediately by declaring both Catiline and Manlius hostes (public enemies). Cassius Dio 's history adds that Catiline
3854-740: The conspirators and Sallust's reports that no prisoners were taken at Pistoria as Cicero cutting loose ends. Robin Seager argued in 1973 that Catiline's involvement in a plot against the state postdates Cicero's First Catilinarian and that when he left Rome in November, he had not yet fully committed to any rebellion. He also argues that Manlius, whom Cicero cast as Catiline's military attaché, acted independently of Catiline for separate reasons. Only in Etruria, on Catiline's way to Massilia , did he join with Manlius after concluding that rebellion would protect his dignitas more than exile. Seager also rejects
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3948-466: The conspirators had been repulsed at the consular elections. Another three had been ejected from the senate. Others found themselves unable to attain the same offices as their ancestors. The conspiracy was for Roman citizens only. It was not one for slaves. Although Cicero and others stoked fears of another servile rebellion – the last servile rebellion had been suppressed in 71 BC – the evidence leans against their involvement. Catiline planned not
4042-413: The conspirators plotted to engulf Rome in flames and destroy the city. Sallust reports this allegation allowed Cicero to turn the urban plebs against Catiline, but modern scholars do not believe that Catiline credibly wanted to destroy the city. After the attempts on Cicero's life failed on 7 November 63 BC, he assembled the senate and delivered his first oration against Catiline, publicly denouncing
4136-531: The conspirators without trial, Cicero had the sentences carried out, proclaiming at their conclusion, vixerunt ( lit. ' they have lived ' ). He was then hailed by his fellow senators as pater patriae ("father of the fatherland"). After the five prisoners were killed, support fell away from Catiline and his army. Some in Rome, such as the then-tribune Metellus Nepos , proposed transferring command from Antonius to Pompey, calling upon Pompey to save
4230-415: The conspirators would have been implausibly incompetent. He argues that Catiline was forced to depart Rome under a cloud of false allegations to Etruria, where he made common cause with a pre-existing group of rebels to fight against Cicero's political dominance. Waters dismisses the Gallic evidence as setups by the consul meant to provide the senate with evidence of a plot and views the execution in Rome of
4324-477: The conspirators. Sallust's version has Cato rail against moral decline in the state and has him criticising the senators for failing to be strict and harsh like their ancestors. With the appeal that swift execution would cause defections among the Catilinarians and exaggerated claims that Catiline was to be upon them imminently, Cato's speech carried the day. With the senate ratifying Cicero's proposal to execute
4418-429: The conspirators. The supporters of Catiline then revealed all their plan to the Gauls, who demanded sealed letters from some leading conspirators, which the Allobroges eventually leaked to Cicero. Faced with a series of legal defeats, the Allobroges decided to take the arms against Rome in 62 BC. Led by their chief Catugnatus , they managed to resist against the Roman armies during nearly two years. The new governor of
4512-513: The consulships of 63 and 62 BC, their support did not extend to the conspiracy. Some older scholarship conceived of Catiline as being a puppet of Julius Caesar or Marcus Crassus ; this position "has long been discredited". The most critical historians have alleged that the entire conspiracy was invented or incited by Cicero for his own advantage. Reevaluations and defences of Catiline started with Edward Spencer Beesly 's 1878 book Catiline, Clodius, and Tiberius , though this initial defence
4606-551: The corrupt age, who was bent on the destruction of the state from the very beginning... And more problematically, Sallust's reliance on Cicero's one-sided narrative leads him to accept Cicero's invective uncritically, exacerbating the portrait's hostility. Both ancient and modern accounts have focused on the ways that Cicero turned the affair to his political advantage. The Pseudo-Sallustian Invective against Cicero , for example, alleges Cicero cynically transformed civil strife for his own political benefit. Many scholars also dismiss
4700-449: The dominant tribe of Gallia Transalpina at that time, for Indutiomarus is presented as the "leader of the Allobroges and all the Gauls" by Cicero. According to scholar A. L. F. Rivet , they were probably feared as "the one tribe in Gaul that really could mount war against the Roman people". Later on, an Allobrogian insurrection was suppressed by Calpurnius Piso , who administered Gallia Narbonensis as proconsul until 65 BC. For this, he
4794-631: The early 4th century BC. It served as a small river port protected by two oppida , one on the Pipet hill, and one on the Sainte-Blandine hill, and perhaps surrounded by a wall. Although it remained a village until the 1st century BC, Vienna held a central position at a trading crossroad between northern Gaul, the Italian Peninsula and the Mediterranean Sea , before it was eventually outshined by
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#17328475862204888-486: The expulsion of the settlers to the Allobrogian revolt of 62–62, and contend that Vienna was made into a colony only later at the time of Octavian. And to prevent [Lepidus and Lucius Plancus'] suspecting anything and consequently causing trouble, [the senators] ordered them to establish in a colony in Gallia Narbonensis the men who had once been driven by the Allobroges out of Vienna and afterwards established between
4982-524: The fates of four other conspirators who had escaped – for the following day. The debate on the fate of the prisoners occurred in the Temple of Concord . Cicero, as consul, had been empowered by the previously passed senatus consultum ultimum to take whatever steps he thought necessary to safeguard the state, but such decrees, while lending moral support for consular action, did not grant any kind of formal immunity. Cicero's goal in requesting senatorial advice
5076-451: The first part of the 3rd century BC, and who eventually settled between the Rhône and the Alps in search for new opportunities during the later decades of the century. In the mid-2nd century BC, the Greek historian Polybius first mentioned the Allobroges in his account of Hannibal's crossing of the Alps in 218 BC. The Allobroges of the plain helped the Carthaginian conqueror, whereas those of
5170-469: The goddess was built in the early 1st century AD, and a sacred theatre of Mysteries is dated to the 1st century AD. Outside of Vienna, however, evidence of the cult of Cybele, although not totally absent, are scattered and become rare when approaching the Alps. Allobrogia was geographically divided between the plains of the Dauphiné and the mountains of Savoy , which influenced the political organization of
5264-455: The heavy taxes imposed by Marcus Fonteius , the Roman governor of Gallia Transalpina . Already in 104 BC, the tribune Domitius Ahenobarbus , son of the Roman conqueror of the Allobroges, had accused Silanus of injustice ( iniurias ) against the Allobrogian chief Aegritomarus. Fonteius chose Cicero as his lawyer, and although the verdict of the trial remains unknown, the Roman governor was probably acquitted. The Allobroges appear to have been
5358-401: The highest magistracies among their own people, and granted them both money and conquered territory in Gaul. Regrettably, Caesar records that these privileges caused the two brothers to become "carried away by a foolish native pride" and to "treat their men with contempt, cheating the cavalry of its pay and diverting all of the booty to themselves". Their own armies came to Caesar to complain, and
5452-631: The invasions of the Cimbri and Teutoni during the Cimbrian War in 107–102 BC. The Allobrogian territory – Vienna in particular as it was located in the middle of the Rhône Valley – represented the northern frontier that separated Rome from the ' barbarian ' world, and was thus exposed to the attacks of potentially hostile Gallic and Germanic tribes. In 69 BC, the Allobroges sent a delegation to Rome led by their chief Indutiomarus in order to protest against
5546-498: The late 3rd century BC, in connection with Hannibal 's crossing of the Alps in 218 BC. According to some scholars, they may be identified with the Gaesatae , a group of mercenary warriors first mentioned a few years earlier in the region and who fought against the Roman Republic in the Battle of Telamon (225 BC). The Allobroges may thus be the descendants of mobile groups of Gallic mercenaries who were active across central Europe in
5640-680: The medieval Irish fianna , who were mythical small war-bands of landless young men operating independently of any kingdom. Allobroges The Allobroges ( Gaulish : * Allobrogis , 'foreigner, exiled'; Ancient Greek : Ἀλλοβρίγων, Ἀλλόβριγες ) were a Gallic people dwelling in a large territory between the Rhône river and the Alps during the Iron Age and the Roman period . The Allobroges came relatively late to Gaul compared to most other tribes of Gallia Narbonensis ; they first appear in historical records in connection with Hannibal's crossing of
5734-478: The mountains tried in vain to block his passage. ... [Hannibal] reached a place called the 'Island', a populous district producing abundance of corn and deriving its name from its situation; for the Rhone and Isère running along each side of it meet at its point ... On arriving there he found two brothers disputing the crown and posted over against each other with their armies, and on the elder one making overtures to him and begging him to assist in establishing him on
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#17328475862205828-567: The mouths of Catiline and others, the dyadic nature of the Roman constitution forced justification of anti-senatorial policies by appeal to popular sovereignty. Neither popular or senatorial advocates questioned the legitimacy of the other. Scholars also dispute whether Catiline had a following among the urban plebs at all and question whether later Ciceronean speeches connecting Clodius with Catiline are merely political invective. While scholars accept that Catiline may have received some support from Crassus and Caesar, at least during his campaigns for
5922-516: The nearby Lugdunum during the reign of Augustus (27 BC–14 AD). Until that time, Vienna was indeed the only place in the region where the Rhône could be crossed by foot. Since its creation, the port had been maintaining trade relations with the Greek colony of Massalia , on the Mediterranean coast. After the destruction of Solonion by the Romans in 61 BC, the Allobrogian chieftains decided to move their place of residence to Vienna. Around 50 BC,
6016-464: The plot. Modern views on the conspiracy vary. Uncovering the truth of the conspiracy is difficult. It is well accepted that the ancient sources were heavily biased against Catiline and demonised him in the aftermath of his defeat. The extent of the exaggeration is unclear and still debated. Most classicists agree that the conspiracy occurred as broadly described – rather than being a manipulative invention of Cicero's – but concede that its actual threat to
6110-532: The possibility of armed insurrection with permission to levy troops and orders to maintain night watches. Catiline remained in the city. While named in the anonymous letters sent to Crassus, this was insufficient evidence for incrimination. But after messages from Etruria connected him directly to the uprising, he was indicted under the lex Plautia de vi (public violence) in early November. The conspirators met, probably on 6 November, and found two volunteers to make an attempt on Cicero's life. Cicero alleged that
6204-412: The prime of life, and finely built men, and all in the leading companies richly adorned with gold torques and armlets. The sight of them indeed dismayed the Romans, but at the same time the prospect of winning such spoils made them twice as keen for the fight, but their small shields offered little protection against Roman javelins, and the Gaesatae were driven back and their allies slaughtered. Concolitanus
6298-456: The province, Gaius Pomptinus , sent his legate Manlius Lentinus to crush the revolt. In 61 BC, a battle was fought between the Gallic and Roman troops near the Segovellaunian settlement of Ventia, which was eventually taken by Lentinus. At the same time, the two other legates seized and partly destroyed the Allobrogian chief town, Solonion. The coming of Catugnatus' forces momentary saved
6392-403: The region, as documented by Polybius for the time of Hannibal's Crossing of the Alps in 218 BC. Although this is not mentioned by the written sources, the Allobroges probably federated smaller peoples or ethnic unities of the area, as did the neighbouring Cavares and Vocontii . Polybius indeed writes that the plains of Allobrogia were ruled by "various chiefs", suggesting the existence of
6486-670: The relatively recent coming of the Allobroges in the region. Their name can indeed be contrasted with that of the Nitio-broges ('indigenous'), who lived further southwest on the middle Garonne river . The Gaulish * Allobrogis is cognate with the Welsh allfro ('foreigner, exiled') – both stemming from the Celtic compound * allo-mrogis –, and with the Germanic alja-markiz ('the foreigner'), found in an inscription from Karstad, which may indicate
6580-606: The remaining Salluvii at the Battle of the Isère River . The Allobrogian territory was subsequently annexed to Rome by Domitius Ahenobarbus and Fabius Maximus, the latter earning the cognomen Allobrogicus for this feat. Between 120 and 117, those new Roman lands were progressively pacified and incorporated into a Roman province known as Gallia Transalpina by Domitius Ahenobarbus. The Allobroges had to pay heavy taxes to Rome, although they were allowed to keep their administrative autonomy and territory. They likely suffered from
6674-556: The reports of armed men gathering in Etruria , carried the senatus consultum ultimum instructing the consuls to do whatever it took to respond to the crisis. By 27 October, the senate had received reports that Gaius Manlius, a former centurion and leader of an army there, had taken up arms near Faesulae . Some modern scholars have argued that Manlius' revolt was initially independent of Catiline's plans. Berry 2020 , p. 32, however, rejects this. In response, Cicero dispatched two nearby proconsuls and two praetors to respond to
6768-422: The republic was exaggerated for Cicero's benefit and to heighten later dramatic narratives. Catiline's conspiracy was a major armed insurrection against Rome, like Sulla's civil war that preceded it (83–81 BC) and Caesar's civil war (49–45 BC) that followed it. The main sources on it are both hostile: Sallust 's monograph Bellum Catilinae and Cicero's Catilinarian orations . Catiline, before
6862-412: The senate, the prisoners confessed their guilt; Lentulus was forced to resign his magistracy and the others were committed to house arrest. An informer on 4 December attempted to incriminate Crassus in the Catilinarian plot but the informer was not believed and imprisoned. The same day, an attempt was also made to free the prisoners; the senate responded by scheduling a debate on their fate – along with
6956-503: The settlement possibly became a colonia Latina, leading to the immigration of settlers from the Italian Peninsula. According to most scholars, after their expulsion by the local Allobroges in March 44 BC during the political troubles that followed the assassination of Caesar , those Roman settlers moved further north, where Munatius Plancus founded for them the colony of Lugdunum the following year. Alternatively, some scholars date
7050-565: The state, he did not accrue all the credit, to his dismay. Cato was also hailed as having roused the senate to act against the conspirators. There were some turns against Cicero's actions in the immediate aftermath of the summary executions. At the close of the consular year, Cicero's valedictory speech was vetoed by two tribunes of the plebs . One of the tribunes, Quintus Caecilius Metellus Nepos, sought to bring Cicero up on charges for executing citizens without trial. The senate prevented him from doing so, by threatening to declare anyone who brought
7144-407: The state. Early the next year, near Pistoria , Catiline's remaining men, numbering at least three thousand, were engaged in battle by Antonius's forces. The now-proconsul claimed illness and Marcus Petreius was in actual command – and defeated, ending the crisis. Catiline was killed in the battle. Antonius was hailed as imperator . While Cicero was initially hailed for his role in saving
7238-501: The story – also an act of self-promotion – in a memoir and a three-book poem De consulatu suo . Cicero's narrative casts Catiline in terms of immorality while eliding the economic hardships of the time. The narratives also extend beyond attacks on Catiline but also into exaggerating and justifying Cicero's role and actions during the conspiracy. The orations were published, c. 60 BC , to defend Cicero from political backlash for his executions without trial. Sallust, who
7332-505: The stronghold, but further Roman troops led by Pomptinus surrounded and defeated the Gallic armies, putting an end to the rebellion. Their capital destroyed, the Allobrogian chieftains decided to move their place of residence to Vienna . Lucius Marius and Servius Galba crossed the Rhone and after ravaging the possessions of the Allobroges finally reached the city of Solonium and occupied a strong position commanding it. They conquered their opponents in battle and also set fire to portions of
7426-504: The throne, he consented, it being almost a matter of certainty that under present circumstances this would be of great service to him. Hannibal then expelled the other chieftain and was given new weapons, corn, warm clothing and footwear by his local ally. The latter protected him in the rear with him own forces through the territory of the Allobroges, until he reached the foot of the Alpine pass. ... For as long as they had been in flat country,
7520-441: The town, which was partly constructed of wood; they did not capture it, however, being prevented by the arrival of Catugnatus. Pomptinus, on learning of this, proceeded against the place with his entire army, besieged it, and got possession of the defenders, with the exception of Catugnatus. After that he more easily subjugated the remaining districts. The period saw the invasion of the remaining of Gaul by Julius Caesar , followed by
7614-418: The two brothers eventually defected to Pompey at Dyrrachium just before the Battle of Pharsalia (48 BC). Strabo reported in the early 1st century AD that all of the Allobroges lived in villages, "except that the most notable of them, inhabitants of Vienna (formerly a village, but called, nevertheless, the 'metropolis' of the tribe), have built it up into a city." At the time of the late Roman Empire,
7708-573: The uprising's support among the poor. This was coupled with a general financial and economic crisis stretching back at least to the First Mithridatic War , a quarter-century earlier. With renewed demand for capital in the aftermath of stability secured by Pompey's victory in the Third Mithridatic War , moneylenders would have called in debts and increased interest rates, driving men into bankruptcy. The consul Cicero heard rumours of
7802-554: The various chiefs of the Allobroges had left them alone, being afraid both of the cavalry and of the barbarians who were escorting them. But when the latter had set off on their return home, and Hannibal's troops began to advance into the difficult region, the Allobrogian chieftains got together a considerable force and occupied advantageous positions on the road by which the Carthaginians would be obliged to ascend. Had they only kept their project secret, they would have utterly annihilated
7896-503: The voters, dispossessed farmers, and indebted veterans of Sulla – and planned to seize the consulship from Cicero and Antonius by force. In November 63, Cicero exposed the conspiracy, causing Catiline to flee from Rome and eventually to his army in Etruria . In December, Cicero uncovered nine more conspirators organising for Catiline in the city and, on advice of the senate, had them executed without trial. In early January 62 BC, Antonius defeated Catiline in battle, putting an end to
7990-411: Was active politically before and after the conspiracy, was not present in Rome in 63 BC, likely abroad on military service. His history lies somewhat parallel to Cicero's Catilinarians , relying on extra-Ciceronean evidence, especially contemporary oral sources, but Cicero's orations and a now-lost memoir are core sources for Sallust's monograph. Sallust's overarching focus on moral decline as
8084-436: Was also made into the capital of the Allobrogian civitas , and became one of the most powerful cities of Gaul during the first century AD. In the second half of the 3rd century, the city declined and shrank to its original urban core, although it remained an important settlement during the 4th century, serving as the occasional residence of the emperors Julian and Valentinian II . Genaua ('[river] mouth'; modern Genève )
8178-969: Was an oppidum erected on the hill of Saint-Pierre next to the Rhône, the Arve and the Lake Geneva, which allowed them to control the inland navigation on the Rhône. Located near the border of the Helvetii territory, Genaua was occupied from 130 BC at the latest. Another important Allobrogian settlement was located in Cularo ('field of squash', modern Grenoble ), first mentioned by Munatius Plancus in 43 BC and later renamed to Gratianopolis. Other oppida have been excavated at Musièges , Larina ( Hières-sur-Amby ), Saint-Saturnin ( Chambéry ), Les Étroits ( Saint-Lattier ), Quatre-Têtes ( Saint-Just-de-Claix ), and Rochefort ( Varces ). The Allobroges probably settled relatively late in Southern Gaul, for they are not attested before
8272-441: Was an attempted coup d'état by Lucius Sergius Catilina (Catiline) to overthrow the Roman consuls of 63 BC – Marcus Tullius Cicero and Gaius Antonius Hybrida – and forcibly assume control of the state in their stead. The conspiracy was formed after Catiline's defeat in the consular elections for 62, held in early autumn 63. He assembled a coalition of malcontents – aristocrats who had been denied political advancement by
8366-455: Was captured. Aneroëstes escaped with a few followers and killed himself. In 222 BC the Gaesatae were hired again, but the Gallic forces were defeated by the Roman cavalry at Clastidium in the territory of the Insubres . According to Plutarch, in his Life of Marcellus , the Gaesatae numbered 30,000 as they crossed the Alps, of whom 10,000 fought at Clastidium. The Gaesatae have been compared with
8460-464: Was illegal – life sentences not being permitted without trial – and impractical. Cicero purports he then interrupted proceedings to deliver a speech urging immediate action, but the tide did not turn towards execution until Cato the Younger spoke. Plutarch's summary indicates that Cato gave a passionate and forceful speech inveighing against Caesar personally and implying that Caesar was in league with
8554-442: Was poorly received and lacked evidence. The most often-cited modern defences are Waters 1970 and Seager 1973 . In 1970, Kenneth Waters argued that the descriptions of the conspiracy were motivated mostly by Cicero's need to present himself as having achieved something during his consulship. After detailing Catiline's purported plan, Waters argues that the description given of it is prima facie unbelievable and that, if true,
8648-550: Was probably to transfer responsibility for any executions to the senate as a whole. When later charged with killing citizens without trial, he justified his actions in terms of following the senate's non-binding advice. Calling the senate in order of seniority, the consuls-elect and ex-consuls all spoke in favour of the death penalty. But when Julius Caesar , who then was praetor-elect, was called, he proposed either life imprisonment or custody pending trial. Caesar's lenient position won many senators over to his side, although it too
8742-420: Was promptly convicted on the pending charges of vis (public violence). The senate dispatched Cicero's co-consul, Gaius Antonius Hybrida , to lead troops against Catiline and put Cicero in charge of defending the city. At this time, Cicero then discovered a plot led by Publius Cornelius Lentulus Sura, one of the sitting praetors, to bring in the Allobroges , a Gallic tribe, to support the Catilinarians but
8836-476: Was unsuccessfully prosecuted by Caesar , who had interest in the region. In 63 BC, while Cicero was serving as consul, they sent another delegation to Rome, hoping to seek relief from the oppression and rapacity of the governor Lucius Murena and Roman businessmen active in the region. Their demands rejected by the Roman Senate, they were approached by supporters of Catiline , a senator who attempted to overthrow
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