18.  Eōdem tempore Attalus, rēx Asiae frāter Eumenis, mortuus est hērēdemque populum Rōmānum relīquit. Ita imperiō Rōmānō per testāmentum Asia accessit.

19.  Mox etiam D. Iūnius Brūtus dē Callaecīs et Lūsitānīs māgnā glōriā triumphāvit et P. Scīpiō Āfricānus dē Numantīs secundum triumphum ēgit quartō decimō annō postquam priōrem dē Āfricā ēgerat.

    Ch. 18: Attalus' Kingdom is Willed to the Romans (133 BCE)

    Attalus: The kingdom of Attalus III consisted of Lydia, Phrygia, Mysia, and Caria, four states on the coast of Asia Minor (Hazzard). The ancient historian Justin preserves a grim picture of the madness of Attalus' final days (History of the World 36.4)

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    During the same period, in which the government of Syria was passing from hand to hand among its new sovereigns, King Attalus in Asia polluted a most flourishing kingdom, which he inherited from his uncle Eumenes, by murders of his friends and executions of his relatives, pretending sometimes that his old mother, and sometimes his wife Berenice, had been destroyed by their wicked contrivances. After this atrocious outburst of rage, he assumed a mean dress, let his beard and hair grow like those of persons under legal prosecution, never went abroad or showed himself to the people, held no feasts in his palace, and behaved in no respect, indeed, like a man in his senses; so that he seemed to be paying penalty for his crimes to the manes of those whom he had murdered. Abandoning the government of his kingdom, too, he employed himself in digging and sowing in his garden, mixing noxious herbs with harmless ones, and sending them all indiscriminately, moistened with poisonous juices, as special presents to his friends. From this employment he turned to that of working in brass, and amused himself with modelling in wax, and casting and hammering out brazen figures. He then proceeded to make a monument for his mother, but while he was busy about the work, he contracted a disorder from the heat of the sun, and died on the seventh day afterwards. By his will the Roman people was appointed his heir.

    frāter Eumenis: Attalus III was the son of Eumenes II and the brother of Eumenes III, who later rebelled.

    hērēdemque populum Rōmānum relīquit: According to Florus,

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    Once Hispania was conquered in the West, the Roman people went about pacifying the East. They brought this about not only with warfare, but also with an unusual and unheard-of windfall: several kingdoms came under their control, bequeathed to them in the testament of several kings. Attalus, the King of Pergamon, son of King Eumenes, our ally and comrade-in-arms, left the following in his will: "Let the Roman people be my heir of my personal property; this includes my royal estate." This territory increased the Roman state; the Roman people added a province to their lands without war or weapons, but rather through a more advantageous way: inheriting it legally through a will (Epit. 1.35.1–10; Trans. Kristin Masters).

    Ch. 19: Triumphs over Spain

    D. Iūnius Brūtus: see Decimus Junius Brutus

    dē Callaecīs: generally written Gallaecī. They were a people inhabiting the northwestern part of Spain, bordering on the Atlantic (Hazzard).

    Lūsitānīs: the Lusitanians lived a little south of the Gallaeci.

    dē Numantīs: From the capture of Numantia Scipio Aemilianus received the name Numantīnus (Hazzard). See Brev. 4.17.

    triumphum ēgit: for more information on triumphs, see triumphs

    dē Āfricā: dē Carthāgine. See Brev. 4.10–12.

    Core Vocabulary | Numbers | Dates

    Attalus, ī, m.

    Kings of Pergamon: 1. Attalus I., 241–197 B.C.; 2. Attalus Philadelphus, 159–138 B.C.; 3. Attalus Philometor, 138–133 B.C.

    Asia, ae, f.

    Asia; the Roman province of Asia Minor

    Eumenēs, is, m.

    king of Pergamus, 197–159 B.C.

    testāmentum, ī [testis, a witness], n.

    a will, testament

    hērēs, ēdis, m. an heir
    D.

    abbreviation of the praenomen Decimus

    Iūnius, ī, m.

    the name of a Roman gens

    Brūtus, ī, m.

    a family name at Rome, D. Iūnius Brūtus. He conquered the Callaeci and Lusitani, and won the name of Callaecus in consequence. Consul 138 B.C., L. Iūnius Brūtus, nephew of Tarquinius Superbus, consul with Collatinus 509 B.C., (M. Iūnius) Brūtus, one of the murderers of Caesar

    Callaecī, ōrum, pl. m.

    the inhabitants of the northern part of Spain

    Lūsitānī, ōrum, pl. m.

    the inhabitants of Lūsitānia

    triumphus, ī, m.

    a triumph, a splendid procession in which the victorious general entered the city accompanied by his soldiers and the spoil and captives he had taken. The procession passed around the Capitoline Hill into the Via Sacra, then into the Forum, and up to the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus.

    P.

    abbreviation of the praenomen or nomen Publius

    Scīpiō, ōnis, m.

    the name of one of the most illustrious families of Rome, Cornēlius Scīpiō, consul 83 B.C., Cn. Cornēlius Scīpiō, consul 222 B.C., L. (Cornēlius) Scīpiō, consul 259 B.C., P. Cornēlius Scīpiō, consul 218 B.C., P. Cornēlius Scīpiō, consul 191 B.C., P. Cornēlius Scīpiō, praetor 94 B.C., P. Cornēlius Scīpiō Āfricānus, consul 205 BC the conqueror of Hannibal in the First Punic War., P. Cornēlius Scīpiō Āfricānus (Minor), consul 147 B.C. He brought the Third Punic War to a close by capturing and destroying Carthage., L. Cornēlius Scīpiō Asiāgenēs, consul 83 B.C., P. (Cornēlius) Scīpiō Nāsīca, consul 91 B.C.

    Āfrica, ae, f.

    Africa; often the northern part of the continent, especially the part near Carthage

    Numantīnī, ōrum, pl. m.

    the inhabitants of Numantia

    triumphō, āre, āvī, ātus

    to celebrate a triumph

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