The Pirate Connection: Roman Politics, Servile Wars, and the East

In 102 b.c.e., the Romans sent Marcus Antonius Orator to Cilicia with an army, opening a new theater of campaigns. The timing seems strange: in 102, Rome had a manpower shortage and Roman forces were still bogged down in Gaul, Sicily, and quite probably Africa. I argue that the beginning of Roman in...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inTransactions of the American Philological Association (1974) Vol. 146; no. 1; p. 99
Main Author Beek, Aaron L
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Baltimore Johns Hopkins University Press 01.03.2016
Subjects
Diodorus Siculus
Piracy
Politics
Sicily
Cilicia
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Summary:In 102 b.c.e., the Romans sent Marcus Antonius Orator to Cilicia with an army, opening a new theater of campaigns. The timing seems strange: in 102, Rome had a manpower shortage and Roman forces were still bogged down in Gaul, Sicily, and quite probably Africa. I argue that the beginning of Roman involvement in Cilicia was rooted in Roman reactions to the ongoing struggles in Sicily and a Roman perception (whether true or false) that the slave wars in Sicily were actually instigated by Easterners. Moreover, this perception continued to affect Rome's legislation in and control of Cilicia for years afterward.
ISSN:2575-7180
2575-7199
DOI:10.1353/apa.2016.0007