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Tullia minor grew up in ancient Rome, her father Servius Tullius the sixth king of Rome and an older sister Tullia prima. Tullia minor and sister Tullia prima married a pair of brothers in their later life (Lucius Tarquinius to Tullia Prima and Arruns Tarquinius to Tullia Minor). However Tullia minor had a greedy dark side to her personality and plotted with her brother in law Lucius Tarquinius to kill their spouses. Later Tullia minor and Lucius Tarquinius married. Tullia Minor then arranged to overthrow and murder her father, securing the throne for her husband. After her father’s death she supposably ran over her fathers dead body in a chariot. These horrible deeds made her an infamous figure in ancient Rome. Tullia minor reigned over Rome from 535BC – 509BC and was the last queen of ancient Rome.

However, the uprising led by Lucius Junius Brutus ended the roman monarchy, exiling King Tarquinius, Tullia minor and their family. As Tullia minor fled Rome the roman people for all the horrible acts she committed cursed her.

By Zoe Hanley

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Born an Egyptian Princess, Cleopatra was favoured and loved dearly by her father who was the Pharaoh Ptolemy VII, he taught her a lot about how the country was ruled by him. When her father died she ruled Egypt as co-regent first with her two brothers then her son. She was the last of Macedonians rulers founded by Ptolemy. Well-educated and smart, Cleopatra could speak several languages and served as a dominant ruler in all three of her co-regencies. Cleopatra had exotic beauty and powers of seduction. By Sophie O'Brien

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By Dan Irwin

Gaius Fabricius Luscinus was the consul of the Roman Republic in 282 and 278BC .

During his second term as consul, he defeated the Tarentine army after Pyrrhus had pulled out of sicily along with a large portion of his forces.

Gaius Fabricius Luscinus was respected by the roman citizens and he was taled to have been a man of virtue and custom, having come from borderline poverty.

After his service as consul the second term, he was elected censor of the Roman empire in

275BC, it is not known when he was born or died.

Image source; Google+ (Removed)

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrrhus_of_Epirus

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Marcus Furius Camillus (446 – 365 BC) By Charlie Williams

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Marcus Furius Camillus (446 – 365 BC) By Charlie Williams

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Marcus Furius Camillus was a Roman soldier and statesman of patrician descent. According to Livy and Plutarch, Camillus triumphed four times, was five times dictator, and was honoured with the title of Second Founder of Rome.

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Brennus (or Brennos) was a chieftain of the Senones. He defeated the Romans at the Battle of the Allia (18 July 390 BC). In 387 BC he led an army of Cisalpine Gauls in their attack on Rome and captured most of the city, holding it for several months. Brennus's sack of Rome was the only time the city was occupied by a non-Roman army before the fall of the city to the Goths in 410 AD.

By Ben

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(by Sophia)
Marcus Junius Brutus was born 85 BC in Macedonia. ... Following Caesar's self-appointment to perpetual dictator, once disagreeing with Pompey’s increasing power, Brutus joined with Pompey to assassinate Caesar on March 15, 44 BC after Caeser’s invasion. He was the only conspirator who acted for the good of Rome, yet Brutus killed himself following a loss in the battle in Philippi.

http://www.copyrighthistory.org/cam/tools/request/showPerson.php?name=Brutus,%20Marcus%20Junius

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Marcus Junius Brutus (; Latin pronunciation: [ˈmaːrkʊsjuːniʊsˈbruːtʊs]; c. 85 BC - 23 October 42 BC) was a Roman politician, orator, and the most famous of the assassins of Julius Caesar. After being adopted by a relative, he used the name Quintus Servilius Caepio Brutus, which was retained as his legal name. He is often referred to simply as Brutus.

Early in his political career, Brutus opposed Pompey, who was responsible for Brutus' father's death. He also was close to Caesar. However, Caesar's attempts to evade accountability in the law courts put him at greater odds with his opponents in the Roman elite and the senate. Brutus eventually came to oppose Caesar and sided with Pompey against Caesar's forces during the ensuing civil war (49-45 BC). Pompey was defeated at the Battle of Pharsalus in 48, after which Brutus surrendered to Caesar, who granted him amnesty.

With Caesar's increasingly monarchical and autocratic behaviour after the civil war, several senators who later called themselves liberatores (liberators), plotted to assassinate him. Brutus took a leading role in the assassination, which was carried out successfully on the Ides of March (15 March) of 44 BC. In a settlement between the liberatores and the Caesarians, an amnesty was granted to the assassins while Caesar's acts were upheld for two years.

Popular unrest forced Brutus and his brother-in-law, fellow assassin Gaius Cassius Longinus, to leave Rome in April 44. After a complex political realignment, Octavian - Caesar's adopted son - made himself consul and, with his colleague, passed a law retroactively making Brutus and the other conspirators murderers. This led to a second civil war, in which Mark Antony and Octavian fought the liberatores led by Brutus and Cassius. The Caesarians decisively defeated the outnumbered armies of Brutus and Cassius at the two battles at Philippi in October 42. After the defeat Brutus took his own life.

His name has been condemned for betrayal of Caesar, his friend and benefactor, and in this respect is perhaps rivalled only by the name of Judas Iscariot, with whom he is portrayed in Dante's . He also has been praised in various narratives, both ancient and modern, as a virtuous and committed republican who fought - however futilely - for freedom and against tyranny.

The Capitoline Brutus, supposedly depicting Brutus' ancestor Lucius Junius Brutus, who expelled the kings from Rome.

Marcus Junius Brutus belonged to the illustrious plebeian gens Junia. Its semi-legendary founder was Lucius Junius Brutus, who played a pivotal role during the overthrow of Tarquinius Superbus, the last Roman king, and was afterward one of the two first consuls of the new Roman Republic in 509 BC, taking the opportunity also to have the people swear an oath never to have another king in Rome.

Brutus' homonymous father was tribune of the plebs in 83 BC, but he was targeted by Sulla during his proscription. He later served as legate in the rebellion of Marcus Aemilius Lepidus and was killed by Pompey in 77. He had married Servilia of the Servilii Caepiones who was the half-sister of Cato the Younger, and later Julius Caesar's mistress. Some ancient sources refer to the possibility of Caesar being Brutus' real father, despite Caesar being only fifteen years old when Brutus was born. Ancient historians were sceptical of this possibility, and the theory is largely rejected by modern scholars as chronologically improbable.

As a result of his father's proscription, Brutus could not start a political career. Around 59, Brutus lifted this restriction by being posthumously adopted by one of his relatives, Quintus Servilius Caepio; he was therefore known officially as Quintus Servilius Caepio Brutus, though he hardly used his legal name. In 59, when Caesar was consul, Brutus also was implicated by Lucius Vettius in the Vettius affair as a member of a conspiracy plotting to assassinate Pompey in the forum. Vettius was detained for admitting possession of a weapon within the city, and quickly changed this story the next day, dropping Brutus' name from his accusations.

Brutus' first appearance in public life was as an assistant to Cato, when the latter was appointed by the senate acting at the bequest of Publius Clodius Pulcher, as governor of Cyprus in 58. According to Plutarch, Brutus was instrumental in assisting the administration of the province (specifically by converting treasure of the former king of the island into usable money); his role in administering the province, however, has "almost certainly been exaggerated".

Denarius minted by Brutus, 54 BC, with the portraits of Lucius Junius Brutus (obverse) and Gaius Servilius Ahala (reverse).

Denarius of Brutus, 44 BC, depicting the personification of Libertas and Lucius Junius Brutus with lictors.

In 54 BC, Brutus served as triumvir monetalis, one of the three men appointed annually for producing coins, even though only another colleague is known: Quintus Pompeius Rufus. Moneyers in Brutus' day frequently issued coins commemorating their ancestors; Pompeius Rufus thus put the portraits of his two grandfathers (the dictator Sulla and Pompeius Rufus) on his denarii. Brutus, like his colleague, designed a denarius with the portraits of his paternal ancestor Lucius Junius Brutus and maternal ancestor Gaius Servilius Ahala, both of whom were widely recognised in the late Republic as defenders of liberty (for, respectively, expelling the kings and killing Spurius Maelius). He also made a second type featuring Libertas, the goddess of liberty, and Lucius Brutus. These coins show Brutus' admiration for the tyrannicides of the early republic, already mentioned by Cicero as early as 59 BC. In addition, Brutus' denarii and their message against tyranny participated in the propaganda against Pompey and his ambitions to rule alone or become dictator.

Brutus married Appius Claudius Pulcher's daughter Claudia, likely in 54 during Pulcher's consulship. He was elected as quaestor (and automatically enrolled in the senate) in 53. Brutus then travelled with his father-in-law to Cilicia during the latter's proconsulship in the next year. While in Cilicia, he spent some time as a money-lender, which was discovered two years later when Cicero was appointed proconsul between 51 and 50 BC. Brutus asked Cicero to help collect two debts which Brutus had made: one to Ariobarzanes, the king of Cappadocia, and one to the town of Salamis. Brutus' loan to Ariobarzanes was bundled with a loan also made by Pompey and both received some repayment on the debt.

The loan to Salamis was more complex: officially, the loan was made by two of Brutus' friends, who requested repayment at 48 per cent per annum, which was far in excess of Cicero's previously imposed interest cap of 12 per cent. The loan dated back to 56, shortly after Brutus returned to Rome from Cyprus. Salamis had sent a delegation asking to borrow money, but under the lex Gabinia it was illegal for Romans to lend to provincials in the capital, but Brutus was able to find "friends" to loan this money on his behalf, which was approved under his influence in the senate. Because the lex Gabinia also invalidated such contracts, Brutus also had his contract - officially his friends' contract - confirmed by the senate. One of Brutus' friends in whose name the debt was officially issued, Marcus Scaptius, was in Cilicia during Cicero's proconsulship using force to coerce repayment, which Cicero stopped; Cicero, not seeking to endanger his friendship with Brutus, but also disappointed and angry at Brutus' mischaracterisation of the loan and the exorbitant interest rate attached, was persuaded by Scaptius to defer a decision on the loan to the next governor.

In 52, in the aftermath of the death of his uncle-in-law, Publius Clodius Pulcher (brother of his wife's father), he wrote a pamphlet, De Dictatura Pompei (On the Dictatorship of Pompey), opposing demands for Pompey to be made dictator, writing "it is better to rule no one than to be another man's slave, for one can live honourably without power but to live as a slave is impossible". He was in this episode more radical than Cato the Younger, who supported Pompey's elevation as sole consul for 52, saying "any government at all is better than no government". Soon after Pompey was made sole consul, Pompey passed the lex Pompeia de vi, which targeted Titus Annius Milo, for which Cicero would write a speech . Brutus also wrote for Milo, writing (a now lost) pro T Annio Milone, in which he connected Milo's killing of Clodius explicitly to the welfare of the state and possibly also criticising what he saw as Pompey's abuses of power. This speech or pamphlet was very well received and positively viewed by later teachers of rhetoric.

In the late 50s, Brutus was elected as a pontifex, one of the public priests in charge of supervising the calendar and maintaining Rome's peaceful relationship with the gods. It is likely that Caesar supported his election. Caesar had previously invited Brutus, after his quaestorship, to join him as a legate in Gaul, but Brutus declined, instead going with Appius Pulcher to Cilicia, possibly out of loyalty thereto. During the 50s, Brutus also was involved in some major trials, working alongside famous advocates like Cicero and Quintus Hortensius. In 50, he - with Pompey and Hortensius - played a significant role in defending Brutus' father-in-law Appius Claudius from charges of treason and electoral malpractice.

In the political crisis running up to Caesar's Civil War in 49, Brutus' views are mostly unknown. While he did oppose Pompey until 52, Brutus may have simply taken a tactical silence. Cicero's letters also indicate that Brutus may have been courted by Caesar - who is said to have spoken about avenging the death of Brutus' father - in the run-up to the civil war.

Caesar's civil war

Marble bust, so-called Brutus, at the Palazzo Massimo alle Terme in the National Museum of Rome

When Caesar's Civil War broke out in January 49 BC between Pompey and Caesar, Brutus faced a choice between one or the other. Pompey and his allies fled the city before Caesar's army arrived in March. Brutus decided to support his father's killer, Pompey; this choice may have had mostly to do with Brutus' closest allies - Appius Claudius, Cato, Cicero, etc. - also all joining Pompey. He did not, however, immediately join Pompey, instead travelling to Cilicia as legate for Publius Sestius before joining Pompey in winter 49 or spring 48.

It is not known whether Brutus fought in the ensuing battles at Dyrrhachium and Pharsalus. Plutarch says that Caesar ordered his officers to take Brutus prisoner if he gave himself up voluntarily, but to leave him alone and do him no harm if he persisted in fighting against capture. After the massive Pompeian defeat at Pharsalus on 9 August 48, Brutus fled through marshland to Larissa, where he wrote to Caesar, who welcomed him graciously into his camp. Plutarch also implies that Brutus told Caesar of Pompey's withdrawal plans to Egypt, but this is unlikely, as Brutus was not present when Pompey's decision to go to Egypt was made.

While Caesar followed Pompey to Alexandria in 48-47, Brutus worked to effect a reconciliation between various Pompeians and Caesar. He arrived back in Rome in December 47. Caesar appointed Brutus as governor (likely as legatus pro praetore) for Cisalpine Gaul while he left for Africa in pursuit of Cato and Metellus Scipio. After Cato's suicide following defeat at the battle of Thapsus on 6 April 46, Brutus was one of Cato's eulogisers writing a pamphlet entitled Cato in which he reflected positively both on Cato's life while highlighting Caesar's clementia.

After Caesar's last battle against the republican remnant in March 45, Brutus divorced his wife Claudia in June and promptly remarried his cousin Porcia, Cato's daughter, late in the same month. According to Cicero the marriage caused a semi-scandal as Brutus failed to state a valid reason for his divorce from Claudia other than he wished to marry Porcia. Brutus' reasons for marrying Porcia are unclear, he may have been in love or it could have been a politically motivated marriage to position Brutus as heir to Cato's supporters, although Brutus still had good relations with Caesar at this point. Porcia did not get along with Brutus' mother, Servilia, and Cicero stated that both were very open in their resentment for each other.

Brutus also was promised the prestigious urban praetorship for 44 BC and possibly earmarked for the consulship in 41.

Death of Caesar (1804-05) by Vincenzo Camuccini.

The Death of Caesar (1867) by Jean-Léon Gérôme.

There are various different traditions describing the way in which Brutus arrived to the decision to assassinate Caesar. Plutarch, Appian, and Cassius Dio, all writing in the imperial period, focused on peer pressure and Brutus' perceived philosophical duty to his country and his family's reputation.

Caesar deposed two plebeian tribunes in late January 44 for removing a crown from one of his statues; this attack on the tribunes undermined one of his main arguments - defending the rights of the tribunes - for going to civil war in 49. In February 44, Caesar thrice rejected a crown from Marcus Antonius to cheering crowds, but later accepted the title dictator perpetuo, which in Latin translated either to dictator for life or as dictator for an undetermined term.

Cicero also wrote letters asking Brutus to reconsider his association with Caesar. Cassius Dio claims that Brutus' wife Porcia spurred Brutus' conspiracy, but evidence is unclear as to the extent of her influence. Gaius Cassius Longinus, also one of the praetors for that year and a former legate of Caesar's, also was involved in the formation of the conspiracy. Plutarch has Brutus approach Cassius at his wife's urging, while Appian and Dio have Cassius approaching Brutus (and in Dio, Cassius does so after opposing further honours for Caesar publicly).

The extent of Caesar's control over the political system also stymied the ambitions of many aristocrats of Brutus' generation: Caesar's dictatorship precluded many of the avenues for success which Romans recognised. The reduction of the senate to a rubber stamp ended political discussion in Caesar's senate; there was no longer any room for anyone to shape policy except by convincing Caesar; political success became a grant of Caesar's rather than something won competitively from the people. The Platonian philosophical tradition, of which Brutus was an active writer and thinker, also emphasised a duty to restore justice and to overthrow tyrants.

Regardless of how the conspiracy was initially formed, Brutus and Cassius, along with Brutus' cousin and close ally of Caesar's, Decimus Junius Brutus, started to recruit to the conspiracy in late February 44. They recruited men including Gaius Trebonius, Publius Servilius Casca, Servius Sulpicius Galba, and others. There was a discussion late in the conspiracy as to whether Antony should be killed, which Brutus forcefully rejected: Plutarch says Brutus thought Antony could be turned to the tyrannicides; Appian says Brutus thought of the optics of purging the Caesarian elite rather than only removing a tyrant.

Various plans were proposed - an ambush on the , an attack at the elections, or killing at a gladiator match - eventually, however, the conspiracy settled on a senate meeting on the Ides of March. The specific date carried symbolic importance, as consuls until the mid-2nd century BC had assumed their offices on that day (instead of early January). The reasons for choosing the Ides are unclear: Nicolaus of Damascus (writing in the Augustan period) assumed that a senate meeting would isolate Caesar from support; Appian reports on the possibility of other senators coming to the assassins' aid. Both possibilities "are unlikely" due to Caesar's expansion of the senate and the low number of conspirators relative to the whole senate body. More likely is Dio's suggestion that a senate meeting would give the conspirators a tactical advantage as, by smuggling weapons, only the conspirators would be armed.

Plutarch reports that Caesar yielded to the attack after seeing Brutus' participation; Dio reported that Caesar shouted in Greek kai su teknon ("You too, child?"). Suetonius' account, however, also cites Lucius Cornelius Balbus, a friend of Caesar's, as saying that the dictator fell in silence, with the possibility that Caesar spoke kai su teknon as a postscript. As dramatic death quotes were a staple of Roman literature, the historicity of the quote is unclear. The use of kai su, however, indicates the possibility of a curse, per classicists James Russell and Jeffrey Tatum.

Immediately after Caesar's death, senators fled the chaos. None attempted to aid Caesar or to move his body. Cicero reported that Caesar fell at the foot of the statue of Pompey. His body was only moved after night fell, carried home to Caesar's wife Calpurnia. The conspirators travelled to the Capitoline hill; Caesar's deputy in the dictatorship, Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, moved a legion of troops from the Tiber Island into the city and surrounded the forum. Suetonius reports that Brutus and Cassius initially planned to seize Caesar's property and revoke his decrees, but stalled out of fear of Lepidus and Antony.

Before Lepidus' troops arrived to the forum, Brutus spoke before the people in a contio. The text of that speech is lost. Dio says the liberatores promoted their support of democracy and liberty and told the people not to expect harm; Appian says the liberatores merely congratulated each other and recommended the recall of Sextus Pompey and the tribunes Caesar had recently deposed. The support of the people was tepid, even though other speeches followed supporting the tyrannicide. Publius Cornelius Dolabella, who was to become consul in a few days on the 18th, decided immediately to assume the consulship illegally, expressed his support of Brutus and Cassius before the people, and joined the liberatores on the Capitoline.

Cicero urged the tyrannicides to call a meeting of the senate to gather its support; but instead Brutus sent a delegation to the Caesarians, asking for a negotiated settlement. This may have been due to family connections: Lepidus was married to one of Brutus' sisters; or perhaps Brutus believed that Antony could be won over. The Caesarians delayed for a day, moving troops and gathering weapons and supplies for a possible conflict.

After Caesar's death, Dio reports a series of prodigies and miraculous occurrences which are "self-evidently fantastic" and likely fictitious. Some of the supposed prodigies did in fact occur, but were actually unrelated to Caesar's death: Cicero's statue was knocked over but only in the next year, Mt Etna in Sicily did erupt but not contemporaneously, a comet was seen in the sky but only months later.

The initial plan from Brutus and Cassius seems to have been to establish a period of calm and then to work towards a general reconciliation. While the Caesarians had troops near the capital at hand, the liberatores were soon to assume control of vast provincial holdings in the east which would provide them, within the year, with large armies and resources. Seeing that the military situation was initially problematic, the liberatores decided then to ratify Caesar's decrees so that they could hold on to their magistracies and provincial assignments to protect themselves and rebuild the republican front.

Caesar's funeral occurred on 20 March, with a rousing speech by Antony mourning the dictator and energising opposition against the tyrannicides. Various ancient sources report that the crowd set the senate house on fire and started a witch-hunt for the tyrannicides, but these may have been spurious embellishments added by Livy, according to T P Wiseman. Contrary to what is reported by Plutarch, the assassins stayed in Rome for a few weeks after the funeral until April 44, indicating some support among the population for the tyrannicides. A person calling himself Marius, claiming he was a descendant of Gaius Marius, started a plan to ambush Brutus and Cassius. Brutus, as urban praetor in charge of the city's courts, was able to get a special dispensation to leave the capital for more than 10 days, and he withdrew to one of his estates in Lanuvium, 20 miles south-east of Rome. This fake Marius, for his threats to the tyrannicides (and to Antony's political base), was executed by being thrown from the Tarpeian Rock in mid- or late April. Dolabella, the other consul, acting on his own initiative, took down an altar and column dedicated to Caesar.

By early May, Brutus was considering exile. Octavian's arrival, along with the fake Marius, caused Antony to lose some of the support of his veterans, he responded by touring Campania - officially to settle Caesar's veterans - but actually to buttress military support. Dolabella at this time was on the side of the liberatores and also was the only consul at Rome; Antony's brother Lucius Antonius helped Octavian to announce publicly that he was to fulfil the conditions of Caesar's will, handing an enormous amount of wealth to the citizenry. Brutus also wrote a number of speeches disseminated to the public defending his actions, emphasising how Caesar had invaded Rome, killed prominent citizens, and suppressed the popular sovereignty of the people.

By mid-May, Antony started on designs against Decimus Brutus' governorship in Cisalpine Gaul. He bypassed the senate and took the matter to the popular assemblies in June and enacted the reassignment of the Gallic province by law. At the same time, he proposed reassigning Brutus and Cassius from their provinces to instead purchase grain in Asia and Sicily. There was a meeting at Brutus' house attended by Cicero, Brutus and Cassius (and wives), and Brutus' mother, in which Cassius announced his intention to go to Syria while Brutus wanted to return to Rome, but ended up going to Greece. His initial plan to go to Rome, however, was to put on games in early July commemorating his ancestor Lucius Junius Brutus and promoting his cause; he instead delegated the games to a friend. Octavian also held games commemorating Caesar late in the month; around this time also, the liberatores started to prepare in earnest for civil war.

Ides of March coin minted by Brutus in 43-42 BC. The daggers and pileus celebrate the assassination of Julius Caesar.

The senate assigned Brutus to Crete (and Cassius to Cyrene) in early August, both small and insignificant provinces with few troops. Later in the month, Brutus left Italy for the east. He was acclaimed in Greece by the younger Romans there and recruited many supporters from the young Roman aristocrats being educated in Athens. He discussed with the governor of Macedonia handing the province over to him; while Antony in Rome allocated the province to his brother Gaius, Brutus travelled north with an army to Macedonia, buoyed by funds collected by two outgoing quaestores at the end of the year.

In January 43, Brutus entered Macedonia with his army, and took Antony's brother Gaius captive. At the same time, the political situation in Rome turned against Antony, as Cicero was delivering his Phillipics. Over the next few months, Brutus spent his time in Greece building strength. In Italy, the senate at Cicero's urging fought against Antony at the battle of Mutina, where both consuls ( Hirtius and Pansa) were killed. During this time, the republicans enjoyed the support of the senate, which confirmed Brutus and Cassius' commands in Macedonia and Syria, respectively.

Dolabella switched sides in 43, killing Trebonius in Syria and raising an army against Cassius. Brutus decamped for Syria in early May, writing letters to Cicero criticising Cicero's policy to support Octavian against Antony; at the same time, the senate had declared Antony an enemy of the state. In late May, Lepidus (married to Brutus' half-sister) - possibly forced by his own troops - joined Antony against Cicero, Octavian, and the senate, leading Brutus to write to Cicero asking him to protect both his own and Lepidus' family. The next month, Brutus' wife Porcia died.

Cicero's policy of attempting to unify Octavian with the senate against Antony and Lepidus started to fail in May; he requested Brutus to take his forces and march to his aid in Italy in mid-June. It seems that Brutus and Cassius in the east had substantial communications delays and failed to recognise that Antony had not been defeated, contra earlier assurances after Mutina. Over the next few months from June to 19 August, Octavian marched on Rome and forced his election as consul. Shortly afterwards, Octavian and his colleague, Quintus Pedius, passed the making the murder of a dictator retroactively illegal, and convicting Brutus and the assassins in absentia. The new consuls also lifted the senate's decrees against Lepidus and Antony, clearing the way for a general Caesarian rapprochement. Under that law, Decimus was killed in the west some time in autumn, defeating the republican cause in the west; by 27 November 43, the Caesarians had fully settled their differences and passed the , forming the Second Triumvirate and instituting a series of brutal proscriptions. The proscriptions claimed many lives, including that of Cicero.

Brutus' depiction among certain authors, like Appian, suffered considerably from this eastern campaign, in which Brutus marched into cities like Xanthus enslaving their populations and plundering their wealth. Other ancient historians, including Plutarch, take a more apologetic tone, having Brutus regret with tears the violence done; this was common ancient literary device to excuse and praise morally condemnable actions, such as pillaging. The campaign continued with less sacking but more coerced payments; the ancient tradition on this turn also is divided, with Appian seeing eastern willingness to surrender emerging from stories of Xanthus' destruction contra Cassius Dio and Plutarch viewing the later portions of the campaign as emblematic of Brutus' virtues of moderation, justice, and honour.

By the end of the campaign in Asia minor, both Brutus and Cassius were tremendously rich. They reconvened at Sardis and marched into Thrace in August 42.

Brutus and his companions after the battle of Philippi

The Caesarians also marched into Greece, evading the naval patrols of Sextus Pompey, Lucius Staius Murcus, and Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus. The liberatores had positioned themselves west of Neapolis with clear lines of communication back to their supplies in the east. Octavian and Antony, leading the Caesarian forces, were not so lucky, as their supply lines were harassed by the superior republican fleets, leading the liberatores to adopt a strategy of attrition.

Octavian and Antony had some 95,000 infantry with 13,000 horsemen, while Brutus and Cassius had some 85,000 infantry and 20,000 cavalry. Flush with cash, the liberatores also had a substantial financial advantage, paying their soldiers in advance of the battle with 1,500 denarii a man and more for officers. Antony moved quickly to force an engagement immediately, building a causeway under cover of darkness into the swamps that anchored the republican left flank; Cassius, commanding the republican left, countered with a wall to cut off Antony from his men and to defend his own flank.

Following the first battle, Brutus assumed command of Cassius' army with the promise of a substantial cash reward. He also possibly promised his soldiers that he would allow them to plunder Thessalonica and Sparta after victory, as the cities had supported the triumvirs in the conflict. Fearful of defections among his troops and the possibility of Antony cutting his supply lines, Brutus joined battle after attempting for some time to continue the original strategy of starving the enemy out. The resulting second battle of Philippi was a head-to-head struggle in which the sources report few tactical manoeuvres but heavy casualties, especially among eminent republican families.

After the defeat, Brutus fled into the nearby hills with about four legions. Knowing his army had been defeated and that he would be captured, he took his own life by falling on his sword. Among his last words were, according to Plutarch, "By all means must we fly, but with our hands, not our feet". Brutus reportedly also uttered the well-known verse calling down a curse quoted from Euripides' Medea: "O Zeus, do not forget who has caused all these woes". It is, however, unclear whether Brutus was referring to Antony, as claimed by Appian, or otherwise Octavian, as Kathryn Tempest believes. Also according to Plutarch, he praised his friends for not deserting him before encouraging them to save themselves.

Some sources report that Antony, upon discovering Brutus' body, as a show of great respect, ordered it to be wrapped in Antony's most expensive purple mantle and cremated, with the ashes to be sent to Brutus' mother, Servilia. Suetonius, however, reports that Octavian had Brutus' head cut off and planned to have it displayed before a statue of Caesar until it was thrown overboard during a storm in the Adriatic.

85 BC: Brutus is born to Marcus Junius Brutus and Servilia.

58 BC: Serves as assistant to Cato, the governor of Cyprus, helping him start his political career.

54 BC: Marries Claudia, daughter of Appius Claudius Pulcher.

53 BC: Quaestorship in Cilicia, where his father-in-law is governor.

52 BC: Opposes Pompey and defends Milo after the death of Publius Clodius Pulcher.

49 BC: The Civil War begins in January. Brutus joins the Pompeian party against Caesar, serving as legate to Publius Sestius in Cilicia, then joining Pompey in Greece late in the year.

48 BC: Pompey is defeated at Pharsalus on 9 August; Brutus is pardoned by Caesar.

46 BC: Caesar appoints Brutus governor of Cisalpine Gaul, before defeating the remnants of the Pompeians at Thapsus in April.

45 BC: Caesar appoints him praetor urbanus for 44.

44 BC: Caesar takes title of dictator perpetuo. Brutus and the other liberatores assassinate Caesar on the ides of March. He leaves Italy for Athens in late August, thence travels to Macedonia.

42 BC: Brutus campaigns successfully in southern Asia minor in January. In September and October his forces are defeated by the triumvirs, and he commits suicide.

This was the noblest Roman of them all:

All the conspirators save only he

Did that they did in envy of great Caesar;

He only, in a general honest thought

And common good to all, made one of them.

His life was gentle, and the elements

So mix'd in him that Nature might stand up

And say to all the world "This was a man!"

Brutus' historical character has undergone numerous revisions and remains divisive. Dominant views of Brutus vary by time and geography.

In the ancient world, Brutus' legacy was a topic of substantial debate. Starting from his own times and shortly after his death, he was already viewed as having killed Caesar for virtuous reasons rather than envy or hatred. For example, Plutarch, in his "Life of Brutus" from Parallel Lives, mentions that Brutus' enemies respected him, recounting that Antony once said that "Brutus was the only man to have slain Caesar because he was driven by the splendour and nobility of the deed, while the rest conspired against the man because they hated and envied him".

Even when he was still alive, Brutus' literary output, especially the pamphlets of 52 BC against Pompey's dictatorship ( De dictatura Pompei) and in support of Milo ( Pro T. Annio Milone) coloured him as philosophically consistent, and motivated only by principle. Cicero, in his De Officiis, expressed that the act of the conspirators, including Brutus, was a moral duty. The main charge against him in the ancient world was that of ingratitude, viewing Brutus as ungrateful in taking Caesar's goodwill and support and then killing him. An even more negative historiographical tradition viewed Brutus and his compatriots as criminal murderers. Still, during the Augustan age, historians were said to have written about Brutus and the other conspirators respectfully. Even Augustus himself was alleged to tolerate positive views of Brutus. However, the Forum of Augustus, which included statues of various republican heroes, omitted men such as Cato the Younger, Cicero, Brutus, and Cassius.

The divisive views of Brutus in the early Principate had little changed by the reign of Tiberius; in fact, the atmosphere became more intolerant. The historian Cremutius Cordus was charged with treason for having written a history too friendly to Brutus and Cassius. Around the same time, Valerius Maximus, writing with the support of the imperial regime, believed Brutus' memory suffered from "irreversible curses". During this time, "admiration of Brutus and Cassius was more sinisterly interpreted as a cry of protest against the imperial system". The stoic, Seneca the Younger, argued that since Caesar was a good king, Brutus' fear was unfounded, and that he did not think through the consequences of Caesar's death.

But by the time that Plutarch was actually writing his Life of Brutus, "the oral and written tradition had been worked over to create a streamlined, and largely positive, narrative of Brutus' motives". Some high imperial writers also admired his rhetorical skills, especially Pliny the Younger and Tacitus, with the latter writing, "in my opinion, Brutus alone among them laid bare the convictions of his heart frankly and ingeniously, with neither ill-will nor spite".

In the 12th century, English writer John of Salisbury, who owned a copy of De Officis, emulated Cicero's beliefs by defending tyrannicide as a moral obligation. Thomas Aquinas also initially agreed with Cicero's defense of Brutus. However, he later changed his beliefs, expressing that while tyrants should be overthrown under certain circumstances, mild tyrants ought to be tolerated out of possible unintended consequences.

Dante Alighieri's notably placed Brutus in the lowest circle of Hell for his betrayal of Caesar, where he (along with Cassius and Judas Iscariot) is personally tortured by Satan. Dante's views gave a further theological bent as well: by killing Caesar, Brutus "was resisting God's 'historical design'": the development of the Roman Empire with its fusion with Christianity and the Christianised monarchies of his day.

Renaissance writers, however, tended to view him more positively, as Brutus' assassination of Caesar symbolised ancient republican ideology. Various men in the renaissance and early modern periods were called or adopted the name Brutus: In 1537, the "Florentine Brutus", Lorenzino de' Medici, killed his cousin Duke Alessandro allegedly to free Florence; the French pamphlet Vindiciae contra tyrannos (Defences against tyrants) was published in 1579 under the pseudonym Stephanus Junius Brutus; the "British Brutus" Algernon Sidney was executed in 1683 for allegedly plotting against Charles II. Brutus was also present in the arts during the early modern period, particularly in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, which depicted him "more of a troubled soul than a public symbol... [and] often sympathetic".

Views of Brutus as a symbol of republicanism have remained through the modern period. For example, the Anti-Federalist Papers in 1787 were written under the pseudonym "Brutus". Similar anti-federalist letters and pamphlets were written by other Roman republican names such as Cato and Poplicola.

Conyers Middleton and Edward Gibbon, writing in the late 18th century, had negative views. Middleton believed Brutus' vacillations in correspondence with Cicero betrayed his claims to philosophical consistency. Gibbon conceived of Brutus' actions in terms of their results: the destruction of the republic, civil war, death, and future tyranny. More teleological views of Brutus' actions are viewed sceptically by historians today: Ronald Syme, for example, pointed out "to judge Brutus because he failed is simply to judge from the results".

The influential History of Rome by Theodor Mommsen in the late 19th century "cast a damning verdict on Brutus" by ending with Caesar's reforms in 46 BC, along with advancing a view that Caesar "had some sort of solution to the problem of how to deal with Rome's growing empire" (of which there is no surviving description). Similarly, views of Brutus are also bound up with assessment of the republic: those who believe the republic was not worth saving or in an inevitable decline, views perhaps coloured by hindsight, view him more negatively.

There remains little consensus on Brutus' actions as a whole.

In Jonathan Swift's 1726 satire Gulliver's Travels, Gulliver arrives at the island of Glubbdubdrib and is invited by a sorcerer to visit with several historical figures brought back from the dead. Among them, Caesar and Brutus are evoked, and Caesar confesses that all his glory doesn't equal the glory Brutus gained by murdering him.

In the Masters of Rome novels of Colleen McCullough, Brutus is portrayed as a timid intellectual whose relationship with Caesar is deeply complex. He resents Caesar for breaking his marriage arrangement with Caesar's daughter, Julia, whom Brutus deeply loved so that she could be married instead to Pompey the Great. However, Brutus enjoys Caesar's favor after he receives a pardon for fighting with Republican forces against Caesar at the Battle of Pharsalus. In the lead-up to the Ides of March, Cassius and Trebonius use him as a figurehead because of his family connections to the founder of the Republic. He appears in Fortune's Favourites, Caesar's Women, and The October Horse.

Brutus is an occasional supporting character in Asterix comics, most notably Asterix and Son in which he is the main antagonist. The character appears in the first three live Asterix film adaptations - though briefly in the first two - Asterix and Obelix vs Caesar (played by Didier Cauchy) and Asterix at the Olympic Games. In the latter film, he is portrayed as a comical villain by Belgian actor Benoît Poelvoorde: he is a central character to the film, even though he was not depicted in the original Asterix at the Olympic Games comic book. He is implied in that film to be Julius Caesar's biological son.

In the TV series , Brutus, portrayed by Tobias Menzies, is depicted as a young man torn between what he believes is right, and his loyalty to and love of a man who has been like a father to him. In the series, his personality and motives are somewhat inaccurate, as Brutus is portrayed as an unwilling participant in politics. In the earlier episodes, he is frequently inebriated and easily ruled by emotion. Brutus' relationship to Cato is not mentioned; his three sisters and wife, Porcia, are omitted.

The Hives' song "B is for Brutus" contains titular and lyrical references to Junius Brutus.

Red Hot Chili Peppers song "Even You Brutus?" from their 2011 album makes reference to Brutus and Judas Iscariot.

The video game Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood features a small side story in the form of the "Scrolls of Romulus" written by Brutus, which reveals that Caesar was a Templar, and Brutus and the conspirators were members of the Roman Brotherhood of Assassins. At the end of the side quest, the player is able to get Brutus' armour and dagger. Later at Assassin's Creed Origins, Brutus and Cassius make an appearance as Aya's earliest recruits and is the one who give the killing blow to Caesar, though his armour from Brotherhood does not make an appearance here.

1. ^ Cicero, , 324 says he was born ten years after the debut of Hortensius, in 95 BC, but Velleius Paterculus has Brutus aged 36 at death. Velleius's date would make Brutus too young to hold the offices he is known to have held. Tempest 2017, pp. 262-263.

2. The speech Brutus wrote for Milo is also called the ^ exercitatio Bruti pro Milone. Balbo 2013, p. 320.

3. Cicero made the proposal, "referring to Brutus by his official name", ^

"that as proconsul Quintus Caepio Brutus shall protect, defend, guard, and keep safe Macedonia, Illyricum, and the whole of Greece; that he will command the army which he himself has established and raised... and see to it that, together with his army, he be as close as possible to Italy".

Tempest 2017, p. 150.

1. ^ Treggiari, Susan (2019). "Adolescence and Marriage to Brutus (c. 88-78)". Servilia and her Family. Oxford University Press. pp. 70-87. doi:10.1093/oso/9780198829348.003.0004. ISBN 978-0-19-186792-7.

2. ^ Valerius Maximus (2004). Memorable deeds and sayings : one thousand tales from ancient Rome. Translated by Walker, Henry J. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing. p. 205. ISBN 0-87220-675-0. OCLC 53231884. Pompey killed Marcus Junius Brutus, a rebel legate in northern Italy, in 77 BC.

3. ^ Tempest 2017, p. 102, noting the "almost universally accepted" treatment rejecting Caesar's parentage at Fluß, Max (1923). "Servilius 101" . Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft (in German). Vol. II A, 2. Stuttgart: Butcher. cols. 1817-21 - via Wikisource.

4. ^ Syme, Ronald (1960). "Bastards in the Roman Aristocracy". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. 104 (3): 326. ISSN 0003-049X. JSTOR 985248. Chronology is against Caesar's paternity.

5. ^ Tempest 2017, p. 43, citing Cic. Fam., 3.4.2 (relation to Appius) and Broughton 1952, p. 229 (dating of quaestorship).

6. ^ Tempest 2017, p. 53, noting also that Broughton 1952, p. 254 dates elevation to 51 BC.

7. ^ Tempest 2017, pp. 3-4, citing at Tempest 2017, p. 261 n. 1 the various ancient accounts: Nic. Dam., 58-106; Plut. Caes., 60-68; Plut. Brut., 8-20; Suet. Iul., 76-85; App. B Civ., 2.106-147; Cass. Dio, 44.9-19.

8. ^ Tempest 2017, p. 218, citing Piccolomini, Manfredi (1991). The Brutus revival: parricide and tyrannicide during the Renaissance. Carbondale and Edwardsville: Southern Illinois University Press. pp. 2-5. ISBN 978-0-8093-1649-6.

9. ^ Parker, Deborah (1993). Commentary and ideology: Dante in the Renaissance. Duke University Press. pp. 65, 82-83. ISBN 978-0-8223-1281-9. Both writers emphasize that Caesar symbolizes the universal monarch and Brutus and Cassius represent the assassins of the true universal emperor.

10. ^ Dry, Murray; Storing, Herbert J, eds. (1985). The anti-Federalist: an abridgement. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-77562-3. OCLC 698669562.

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Marcus Junius Brutus (; Latin pronunciation: [ˈmaːrkʊsjuːniʊsˈbruːtʊs]; c. 85 BC - 23 October 42 BC) was a Roman politician, orator, and the most famous of the assassins of Julius Caesar. After being adopted by a relative, he used the name Quintus Servilius Caepio Brutus, which was retained as his legal name.

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Vercingetorix was the king/chieftain of the Arverni Tribe. During the last phase of the Romans annexing Gaul, he united the tribes who had been fighting each-other and resisting the Romans at the same time and started a revolt against the Roman invasion. This revolt was the most significant revolt against the Roman invasion by the Celts(Gauls) in the entire invasion.

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Lucius Cornelius Sulla or commonly known as Sulla, was a Roman general and statesman. He came to prominence most of all in the Social War (91-89 BC). When in 88 BC Mithridates VI of Pontus attacked the Roman province of Asia, where Romans and Italians were slaughtered. The senate decided on Sulla, to be commander of the army against Mithridates.

After the Mithridatic War, Sulla wanted a political position but instead of them offering to him one, Sulla simply marched on Rome and took it by force. The consuls Gnaeus Papirius Carbo and Marius the Younger could not raise an army powerful enough to fend him off and so Sulla took charge.

He was not to take power as an elected consul, but in the position of dictator, a post specially set aside in the Roman constitution for times of military crisis.

Primary Source:
http://www.attalus.org/names/s/sulla.html

By Craig Thomas

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From 120-63 BC, Mithridates VI ruled as king of Pontus. He lived between the 1st and 2nd centuries BC. Mithridates was very ambitious and engaged in 3 separate wars fighting against Roman generals Sulla, Pompey the Great and Lucullus.

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Julius Caesar was a roman politician, general and author he played a big part in the demise of the roman republic and the rise of the roman empire. In 60BC Caesar and others formed a political party that dominated roman politics, his victories in the Gallic war securing the English Channel and Rhine allowing him to conduct the first invasion on Britain. Due to these achievements he had unmatched military power. Caesar conducted civil war after being asked to step down from command and after winning the war he was given unmatched power. In 44 BC Caesar was assassinated as a result of a conspiracy between many Roman senators as a result of this he was stabbed.

matt L

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By Charlie Stuart
Augustus was born on September 23, 63 BC in the city of Rome. His birth name was Gaius Octavius Thurinus, but he was given the title Octavian until later in life when he won the Battle of Actium.
Octavian grew up in the village of Velletri, not far from Rome.
When he was just four years old, his father died. His mother remarried, and Octavian was sent to be raised by his grandmother, Julia Caesaris.

When he became a man, he joined his Uncle Caesar in battle. After a while, Caesar was impressed with the young man and, because he had no son of his own, made Octavian the heir to his fortune and name.

Octavian was the most powerful man in Rome in 27 BC. The Senate gave him the title of Augustus, as reward of his sucesses. He became the ruler and emperor of Rome.
Augustus ruled up until his death in 14 AD.
http://historum.com/ancient-history/27328-primary-sources-reign-augustus.html

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Born an Egyptian Princess, Cleopatra was favoured by her father who was the Pharaoh

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Caesar’s Civil War - (January 49 BC – March 45 BC)

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Caesar’s Civil War - (January 49 BC – March 45 BC)

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Caesar’s Civil War was located in Rome and Italy. Julius Caesar wanted to become senator and was worthy of the position, however the Senators did not want him to have any power. Caesar went back to rome where the people were separated into different sections called tribunes. Some of these tribunes supported Caesar but some supported the senators also. The different tribunes created armies to fight one another which then began Caesar’s civil war.

http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Caesar/Civil_Wars/3D*.html

Charlie & Jordan

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The founding of Rome is a traditional story about the history of their city, told through legend and myth. According to the legend, there were two sons, twins, named Romulus and Remus who were abandoned by their parents as babies. They were put in a basket that was then placed into the Tiber river. The twins washed ashore at the palatine hill and were suckled by a she wolf. When Romulus and Remus became adults, they decided to found cities. Romulus chose palatine hill where the she wolf found them, and Remus chose the aventine. They quarreled over where the site should be, so Romulus killed Remus. This left Romulus the sole founder of the new city, so he named it after his name, Rome.

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It was a political revolution in Ancient Rome in around 509 BC, which resulted in the expulsion of the last King of Rome, (Lucius Tarquinius Superbus) and the establishment of the Roman Republic. It all began when the Romans overthrew their Etruscan conquerors in 509 B.C.E. Centered north of Rome, the Etruscans had ruled over the Romans for hundreds of years. Once free, the Romans established a republic, a government in which citizens elected representatives to rule on their behalf.

By Zoe  & Sophia

https://mr-hannigan.wikispaces.com/file/view/Primary+Sources+-+Fall+Of+Rome.docx

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By Benedict and Oli. The Punic Wars were three wars which were fought between Rome and Carthage, which is opposite to Sicily. The wars happened when Carthage had control over the Mediterranean Sea and Rome was a growing force in Italy. Carthage had a lot of naval power which the Romans wanted control of. In the Battle of Lipari Islands, part of the First Punic War, the Roman navy was defeated by Carthage while attempting to gain control. After Carthage kept control and the Romans retreated, the Romans fought their next war (Illyrian Wars) while Carthage improved their empire. Primary Sauce: Barbecue. Secondary Sauce: Tomato. Tertiary Sauce: Dijon Mustard. They're all really nice. Some more sauces include Wikipedia and History.com.

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The social war was a civil war between the Romans and the Italian Allies.The Italians revolted because they were not given roman citizenship even though they were a huge part of the military. The rebels were led by Papius Mutilus and Quintus Poppaedius Silo with about 100,000 men. The roman army had about 150,000 men and was split up. led by P. Rutilius Lupus in the north and Julius Caesar in the south. After the first year of war, the Romans granted the demands made by the Italians. The war ended in 88.

https://ryanfb.github.io/loebolus-data/L004.pdf

http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/republicanromanbattles/g/092807SocialWar.htm

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By Charlie Stuart & Sohie O'Brien
The Battle of Actium marked a strong-minded victory by Roman Leader Octavian. The battle was the decisive confrontation of the Final War of the Roman Republic. Held on the Ionian Sea near the city of Actium,in the Roman province of Epirus vetus in Greece,  it was between fleets of Octavian, commanded by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, and the combined forces of  the combined forces of Mark Antony and the Queen of Egypt, Cleopatra.
The battle was won by the forces of Octavian and the date is often used to mark the beginning of the Roman Empire.
A year after the battle, both Mark Antony and Cleopatra committed suicide.

http://www.livius.org/li-ln/livy/periochae/periochae126.html

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The first servile war started in 135 BC because slaves rebelled against the Roman republic in Enna on the island. The leader of the slave rebellion was Eunus who claimed to be a prophet. A bigger Roman army arrived in Sicily and defeated the slaves after minor battles were won by the rebels. This war ended in 132 BC.

The second servile war started in 104 BC when 800 Italian slaves and a rebellion called Salvius who was following in the footsteps of Eunus were released from Sicily. His army consists of thousands of trained and armed slaves including 2,000 cavalry and 20,000 infantry. His men from west of Sicily also helped Salvius in the revolt. This war ended in 100 BC.

The third servile war started in 73 BC. The slaves threatened the Roman heartland of Italy by their repeated victorious slaves rebelling against the Roman armies. The slaves leader Spartacus, got defeated by the Roman commander, Marcus Licinius Crassus in 71BC.

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The war with Pyrrhus was a Greek campaign, throughout Southern Italy in an effort to assist the Tarantines and other small tribes/civilisations within Italy.

Why was the War with pyrrhus fought?

In 280BC, In an effort protect Thurii from attack, Rome sent a squadron of ships into the bay of Tarentum. These ships were soon fired upon and destroyed by the Tarentines as it violated a treaty signed in 302BC.

This treaty was not designed to restrict roman seaborne commerce, but only to protect the greeks of southern Italy from a Roman vessel attack

Rome sent an embassy which was insulted by the Tarentines. Rome, in sheer anger, promptly declared war and marched on Tarentum

The main events of the war

As Tarentum was in no way prepared to defend itself on land, it soon hired mercenaries from Pyrrhus, the current King of Epirus in Greece. Pyrrhus spent around a year fighting in Sicily and Southern italy against Rome, alongside multiple other Italian Tribes.

Initially Pyrrhus was defeating Rome and pushed the Romans back towards their city, this however, led to a logistical situation in the favour of Rome. Rome could replinish man-power and supplies much easier than Pyrrhus, who struggled vastly to recover man-power from the foreign Italian tribes.

In 279BC Pyrrhus fought Rome at Ausculum where he won the battle, but suffered such losses that he was crippled for the remainder of the war, eventually fleeing without the majority of his army.

Aftermath of the War with Pyrrhus

In the aftermath of the war with Pyrrhus, Tarentum was besieged and conquered by Rome and was used to create warships for the empire.

It was also where the phrase Pyrrhic victory originates, due to the battle Ausculum where Pyyrhis' army faced such great losses during the battle that had become more of a defeat than a victory.

Primary source:
http://www.forumromanum.org/literature/justin/english/trans18.html

Image Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrrhic_War#/media/File:Pyrrhic_War_Italy_en.svg

By Daniel and James.

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Pyrrhic War

Part of Roman expansion in Italy

The route of Pyrrhus of Epirus during his campaigns in southern Italy and Sicily.

Belligerents

Greeks invading Italy:

Greek allies in Italy:

Italic allies:

Sicilia:

Commanders and leaders

Pyrrhus of Epirus

Casualties and losses

The Pyrrhic War ( PIRR-ik; 280-275 BC) was largely fought between the Roman Republic and Pyrrhus, the king of Epirus, who had been asked by the people of the Greek city of Tarentum in southern Italy to help them in their war against the Romans.

A skilled commander, with a strong army supported by war elephants (which the Romans were not experienced in facing), Pyrrhus enjoyed initial success against the Roman legions, but suffered heavy losses even in these victories. He could not call up more men from home[why? ] and his allies in Italy were becoming indifferent. The Romans, by contrast, had a very large pool of military manpower and could replace their losses. Plutarch wrote that Pyrrhus said after the second battle of the war, "If we are victorious in one more battle with the Romans, we shall be utterly ruined." This is the source of the expression " Pyrrhic victory", a victory that inflicts losses the winner cannot afford in the long term.

Worn down by the battles against Rome, Pyrrhus moved his army to Sicily to war against the Carthaginians instead. After several years of campaigning there (278-275 BC), he returned to Italy in 275 BC, where the last battle of the war was fought, ending in Roman victory. Following this, Pyrrhus returned to Epirus, ending the war. Three years later, in 272 BC, the Romans captured Tarentum.

Roman expansion in Italy from 500 BC to 218 BC through the Latin War (light red), Samnite Wars (pink/orange), Pyrrhic War (beige), and First and Second Punic War (yellow and green). Cisalpine Gaul (238-146 BC) and Alpine valleys (16-7 BC) were later added. The Roman Republic in 500 BC is marked with dark red.

By 290 BC, at the end of the three Samnite Wars, Rome had established her hegemony over parts of central and southern Italy, cemented through alliances with various Italic peoples in central Italy. To the south of the Roman sphere of influence were Greek city-states of Magna Graecia. Tarentum was the largest and most powerful of these and when the Tarentines attacked a Roman fleet off their coast, Rome declared war.

Appian, Cassius Dio and Zonaras have different versions of the events which triggered the declaration of war. In Appian's version, in 282 BC ten Roman ships appeared close to Tarentum, in the north-eastern part of the Gulf of Taranto. Allegedly, Publius Cornelius Dolabella (one of the two consuls for 283 BC) was sailing along the coast of Magna Graecia, sight-seeing. A demagogue reminded the townsfolk about an old treaty in which Romans had bound themselves not to sail beyond the promontory of Lacinium near Croton, on the opposite side of the gulf. He persuaded them to attack the ships: four were sunk and one was captured "with all on board". This would have happened in the year after Dolabella's consulship, because that year he was fighting in central Italy. Appian's explanation did not justify why so many ships were needed for the consul's sight-seeing.

Cassius Dio's statements are ambiguous. The statement that the Romans learnt that Tarentum was preparing for war obscures the fact that the known events indicate Tarentum did so only when Rome declared war on them. The statement that the Tarentines started the war but felt safe, because the Romans pretended to be unaware of this, is also ambiguous. The Romans sent their envoys soon after the attacks on their ships and declared war soon after their envoys were insulted. Thus, it is hard to see what the pretence was. This fragment claims that the Tarentines started the war, but in fact they just caused the events which led to it. As for Gaius Fabricius' being sent to the allies of Rome, this occurred in the year of the attack on the Roman ships, and it is likely that it was after this event. In that year there was also a rebellion by various Italic peoples, indicated by an entry for 282 BC in the annals of Livy's Periochae: "The Samnites revolted. In several battles, many commanders successfully fought against them and against the Lucanians, Bruttians, and Etruscans." It was probably prompted by the tensions between Rome and Tarentum.

Appian wrote that the Tarentines accused the Greek city of Thurii (on the eastern coast of Calabria) of preferring the Romans to themselves even though they were Greeks, "they held its citizens chiefly to blame for the Romans overpassing the limits [of the treaty]. Then they expelled the noblest citizens of Thurii, sacked the city, and dismissed the Roman garrison that was stationed there under a treaty." Livy's Periochae recorded that when the Romans were fighting the Lucani, they also decided to support the inhabitants of Thurii. The dating in this seems that it was in 286 or 285 BC. The plebeian tribune Gaius Aelius, who proposed to help this city, was honoured by its people with a statue in the Roman Forum. Dionysius of Halicarnassus, wrote that Gaius Fabricius Luscinus "conquered the Samnites, Lucanians and Bruttians in stubborn battles and had raised the siege of Thurii" when he served as consul in 282 BC.

Modern historical consensus gives the breach of the treaty mentioned by Appian and the raising of the siege of Thurii as the explanation for the attack on the Roman ships. Appian's claim of sight-seeing is deemed implausible. Tarentum was concerned about growing Roman influence in this area, which started with Thurii asking for Roman protection in 286 or 285 BC. This turning to Rome instead of Tarentum was taken as an acknowledgment of the emergence of Rome as the hegemonic power in Italy by the latter. This is probably why Appian wrote that the Tarentines blamed Thurii for overstepping the limits of the treaty, attacked the city and expelled the Roman garrison there. It has been speculated that the mentioned treaty might have been a peace treaty made by Alexander of Epirus with the Romans in 332 BC while campaigning in southern Italy to support Tarentum against the Lucani, or a treaty made with Cleonymus of Sparta in 303 BC for the same reason. There has also been speculation that when the Romans raised the siege of Thurii their troops might have been transported by a small fleet which turned up off Tarentum.

After the attack on their ships, the Romans sent envoys to demand the return of their prisoners and the people of Thurii, restoration of their plundered property and the surrender of the perpetrators. The envoys were presented to the people, who had been revelling during the Dionysiac festival. They were mocked for the way they spoke Greek and their Roman togas. One man relieved himself and soiled the clothing of the chief envoy. The leaders of the town did not apologise for this and rejected the proposal.

Dionysius of Halicarnassus wrote that when the envoys returned to Rome there was great indignation. Some argued that Rome should not send an army against Tarentum until she had subdued the rebelling Lucanians, Bruttii, Samnites, and the Etruscans. Those who argued for waging war immediately won the day. Appian wrote that Lucius Aemilius Barbula (one of the consuls for 281 BC) was ordered to suspend his operations against the Samnites, and invade Tarentum. He was to offer terms first and, if the Tarentines disagreed, he was to wage war. Zonaras, instead, wrote that Lucius Aemilius offered favourable propositions, hoping that the Tarentines would choose peace. However, the opinions of the Tarentines were divided. The pro-war faction sent envoys to Pyrrhus to propose an alliance. Lucius Aemilius got wind of this and pillaged the countryside. The Tarentines made sorties, but these were routed. Lucius Aemilius freeing some of the more influential prisoners led to hope for reconciliation. However, there were disagreements. Agis, a friend of the Romans, was chosen as the general of the city. Plutarch, too, wrote that the elderly, whom he described as sensible, opposed a plan to call for the aid of Pyrrhus. However, they were "overborne by the clamour and violence of the war party, and others, seeing this, absented themselves from the assembly." Plutarch did not mention the election of Agis.

Dionysius of Halicarnassus wrote that the Tarentines decided to ask Pyrrhus to help them and banished those who were opposed to it. Prior to this, a Tarentine, Meton, pretended to be drunk to demonstrate the free and leisurely lifestyle of the Tarentines, argued against allowing a king to garrison the city and claimed that this would bring many evils to a free and democratic city like Tarentum. He was listened to for a while, but then he was thrown out of the theatre where the assembly of the people had convened. Cassius Dio also related that Meton failed to persuade the Tarentines not to engage in war with the Romans and that he argued that Tarentum would lose its freedom under Pyrrhus. Plutarch wrote that his words "brought conviction to most of the Tarentines, and a murmur of applause ran through the assembly. But those who were afraid that if peace were made they would be given up to the Romans, reviled the people for tamely submitting to such shameless treatment from a drunken reveller, and banding together they cast Meton out." After that a decree to send envoys from Tarentum and other Greek cities in Italy to Pyrrhus was passed. They brought gifts and claimed if he went to Italy he would find a force of 50,000 infantry and 20,000 cavalry gathered from Tarentum, Messapia, Lucania and Samnium. This got Pyrrhus excited and made the Epirotes eager to fight in Italy.

Cassius Dio wrote that Pyrrhus "had a particularly high opinion of his powers because he was deemed by foreign nations a match for the Romans." He had for a long time coveted Sicily and considered how to overthrow Roman power, but he did not want to fight them "when no wrong had been done him." Both Cassius Dio and Plutarch wrote about Cineas, an important adviser of Pyrrhus. He was a man from Thessaly with a reputation for great wisdom who had been a pupil of Demosthenes the orator. Pyrrhus held him in high regard. Cineas saw the folly of an expedition to Italy. He tried to dissuade Pyrrhus and urged him to be satisfied with the possessions he already had, but Pyrrhus did not listen to him.

Pyrrhus asked Antiochus I (the king of the Seleucid Empire) for money and Antigonus II (the king of Macedon) to lend him ships to carry his army to Italy. Ptolemy II (the king of the Ptolemaic Kingdom in Egypt) gave him 5,000 infantry and 2,000 cavalry on condition that they would not serve him for more than two years. In exchange, since Pyrrhus would be taking the best of his army to Italy, he appointed Ptolemy as guardian of his kingdom while he was away.

Zonaras wrote that Pyrrhus, who saw the request for help as a lucky break for his aims in Italy, insisted on a clause in the treaty with the Tarentines which provided that he should not be detained in Italy longer than needed in order not to arouse suspicions. After that he detained most of the Tarentine envoys as hostages with the excuse that he needed them to help him to get his army ready. He sent a few of them ahead with Cineas who was given some troops. This came in the way of negotiations with the Romans. He arrived soon after the election of Agis and his arrival encouraged the Tarentines, who stopped their attempts at reconciliation with the Romans. They deposed Agis and elected one of the envoys as commander. Shortly after this Pyrrhus sent Milo, one of his lieutenants, ahead with another force. He took the acropolis to serve as headquarters for Pyrrhus and took over the guarding of the wall. The Tarentines were happy to be relieved from this task, gave food to the troops and sent money to Pyrrhus. Plutarch wrote that Cineas went to Tarentum with 3,000 soldiers.

Lucius Aemilius saw that the soldiers of Pyrrhus arrived and could not hold out because it was winter. He set off for Apulia. He was ambushed by the Tarentines at a narrow pass. However, he put some captives in front and they stopped the attack because they did not want to hurt their compatriots.

Zonaras wrote that Pyrrhus did not even wait for the spring to cross the sea to reach Italy (the Mediterranean Sea is stormy in the winter). He was caught in a storm. He lost many men and the rest was scattered by the sea. He reached Tarentum overland with difficulty. Plutarch wrote that after many ships were sent from Tarentum, 20,000 infantry, 2,000 archers, 500 slingers, 3,000 cavalry, and twenty elephants were embarked. When the fleet was caught in the storm some ships missed Italy and ended up in the seas of Sicily and Africa. Others were swept to other shores and were destroyed. Pyrrhus threw himself into the sea and managed to reach the coast. He was helped by the Messapii. Some of the ships survived the storm. Only 2,000 infantry, a few cavalry and two elephants reached Italy.

Pyrrhus did not do anything against the will of the Tarentines and did not impose anything on them until the surviving ships arrived and he assembled most of his forces. After that he put restrictions on the inhabitants because they were only interested in a leisurely lifestyle and would have let him do all the fighting. He closed all the gymnasia, banned festivals, banquets, revelry and drinking. He closed the theatre in case the people gathered there for a revolt. He feared that the people, feeling oppressed, might defect to the Romans. Therefore, he sent Tarentine men who could be able politicians to Epirus and assassinated some of them. He ordered that the citizens undergo severe military exercise or face a penalty and put the men of military age into military service alongside his soldiers, dividing them into two companies. Zonaras also wrote that Pyrrhus placed guards in people's houses so that they would not leave the city. The Tarentines felt that they found in Pyrrhus a master instead of an ally. Some people complained and left the ranks. Plutarch wrote: "Many therefore left the city, since they were not accustomed to being under orders, and called it servitude not to live as they pleased." Appian wrote that the penalty for not undergoing severe military exercises was death; the "king's officers [ ] quartered themselves upon the citizens by force, and openly abused their wives and children.... [M]any people ... fled the city as though it were a foreign government and took refuge in the fields, ... [and] Pyrrhus ... closed the [city] gates and placed guards over them."

The Greek city of Rhegium, in Calabria, on the Strait of Messina, asked the Romans for a garrison. The Romans sent a contingent of 4,000 men to the city. At first they honoured their duty. However, with the Romans being busy dealing with Tarentum and Pyrrhus, this contingent was not under strict discipline and, instigated by Decius, their commander, they coveted the riches of the city. They were inspired by the Mamertines, mercenaries who had been placed to garrison the city of Messana (in Sicily, on the other side of the narrow Strait of Messina) by Agathocles of Syracuse and seized the city, killing its male inhabitants, when he died in 289 BC. Decius presented letters which he claimed were written to Pyrrhus by some citizens who wanted to betray the city to him. He also got a man to announce that part of Pyrrhus' fleet was anchored nearby. This provided a pretext for seizing the city. Many people were killed. Decius then ratified a friendship with the Mamertines. The Romans did not react immediately because they were busy dealing with Pyrrhus. They were reproached because they did not seem to give this matter great importance. During his second consulship in 278 BC, after Pyrrhus went to Sicily, Gaius Fabricius Luscinus was sent to Rhegium. He besieged the city and seized it. The surviving rebels were sent to Rome, where they were beaten with rods and executed for treason, their bodies cast away unburied. Decius committed suicide.

Prior to this time, Rome had never pitted its military strength against any of the Hellenistic states in the eastern Mediterranean.

Publius Valerius Laevinus, one of the two consuls for 280 BC, marched against Pyrrhus with a large army and plundered Lucania on his way. He wanted to fight as far away from Roman territory as possible and hoped that by marching on Pyrrhus he would frighten him. He seized a strong strategic point in Lucania to hinder those who wanted to aid Pyrrhus. Pyrrhus sent him a letter saying that he had come to the aid of the Tarentines and the Italic peoples and asking the Romans to leave him to settle their differences with the Tarentines, Lucanians and Samnites. He would arbitrate justly and redress any damage these peoples may have caused. He called on the Romans to offer sureties with respect to any charges against them and abide by his decisions. If Romans accepted this he would be their friend; if they did not, it would be war. The consul replied the Romans would not accept him as a judge for their disputes with other peoples. They did not fear him as a foe, and would fight and exact penalties they wished. Pyrrhus should think who he would offer as sureties for the payment of penalties. He also invited Pyrrhus to put his issues before the Senate. Laevinus captured some scouts and showed them his troops, telling them that he had many more men, and sent them back to Pyrrhus.

Zonaras wrote that all the Romans would have been killed had it not been for a wounded elephant trumpeting and throwing the rest of these animals into confusion. This "restrained Pyrrhus from pursuit and the Romans thus managed to cross the river and make their escape into an Apulian city." Cassius Dio wrote that "Pyrrhus became famous for his victory and acquired a great reputation from it, to such an extent that many who had been remaining neutral came over to his side and all the allies who had been watching the turn of events joined him. He did not openly display anger towards them nor did he entirely conceal his suspicions; he rebuked them somewhat for their delay, but otherwise received them kindly." Plutarch noted that Dionysius of Halicarnassus stated that nearly 15,000 Romans and 13,000 Greeks fell, but according to Hieronymus of Cardia 7,000 Romans and 4,000 Greeks fell. The text of Hieronymus of Cardia has been lost and the part of the text of Dionysius which mentions this is also lost. Plutarch wrote that Pyrrhus lost his best troops and his most trusted generals and friends. However, some of cities allied with the Romans went over to him. He marched to within, 60 kilometres from Rome, plundering the territories along the way. He was joined belatedly by many of the Lucanians and Samnites. Pyrrhus was glad that he had defeated the Romans with his own troops.

Cassius Dio wrote that Pyrrhus learnt that Gaius Fabricius Luscinus and other envoys were approaching to negotiate about his captives. He sent a guard for them as far as the border and then went to meet them. He escorted them into the city and entertained and honoured them, hoping for a truce. Fabricius said he had come to get back their captives and Pyrrhus was surprised they had not been commissioned to negotiate peace terms. Pyrrhus said that he wanted to make friends and a peace treaty and that he would release the prisoners without a ransom. The envoys refused to negotiate such terms. Pyrrhus handed over the prisoners and sent Cineas to Rome with them to negotiate with the Roman senate. Cineas lingered before seeking an audience with the senate to visit the leading men of Rome. He went to the senate after he had won over many of them. He offered friendship and an alliance. There was a long debate in the senate and many senators were inclined to make a truce.

Livy and Justin, like Cassius Dio, placed Gaius Fabricius and the other envoys going to see Pyrrhus before Cineas went to Rome. In Livy's Periochae, Fabricius negotiated the return of the prisoners and the mission of Cineas was about organising Pyrrhus' entrance into the city as well as negotiating a peace treaty. In Justin's account, Fabricius made a peace treaty with Pyrrhus and Cineas went to Rome to ratify the treaty. He also wrote that Cineas "found nobody's house open for their reception." Plutarch, instead, had this sequence the other way round. He placed the embassy led by Gaius Fabricius after Cineas' trip to Rome and wrote that Pyrrhus sought friendly terms because he was concerned about the Romans still being belligerent after their defeat and he considered the capture of Rome to be beyond the size of his force. Moreover, a friendly settlement after a victory would enhance his reputation. Cineas offered to free the Roman prisoners, promised to help the Romans with the subjugation of Italy and asked only friendship and immunity for Tarentum in return.

Many senators were inclined towards peace (in Plutarch's account) or a truce (in Cassius Dio's account) because the Romans would have to face a larger army as the Italic allies of Pyrrhus had joined him. However, Appius Claudius Caecus, who was old and blind and had been confined to his house, had himself carried to the senate house in a litter. He said that Pyrrhus was not to be trusted and that a truce (or peace) was not advantageous to the state. He called for Cineas to be dismissed from the city immediately and for Pyrrhus to be told to withdraw to his country and to make his proposals from there. The senate voted unanimously to send away Cineas that very day and to continue the war for so long as Pyrrhus was in Italy.

Appian wrote that the senate decreed to levy two new legions for the consul Publius Valerius Laevinus. He noted that some of the sources of his information reported that Cineas, who was still in Rome, saw the Roman people hastening to enroll and told Pyrrhus that he was fighting against a hydra (a mythological monster with many heads which grew two new heads when one head was cut off). Other sources said that Pyrrhus himself saw that the Roman army was now large because Tiberius Coruncanius, the other consul, "came from Etruria and joined his forces with those of Laevinus." Appian wrote that Cineas also said that Rome was a city of generals and that it seemed a city with many kings. Pyrrhus marched towards Rome plundering everything on the way. He reached Anagnia and decided to postpone the battle because he was heavily laden with the booty. He went to Campania and sent his army to winter camps. Florus wrote that Pyrrhus' march on Rome laid waste the banks of the River Liris and the Roman colony of Fregellae and reached Praeneste (today's Palestrina), which was only twenty miles from Rome and which he nearly seized. Plutarch wrote that Cineas assessed that the Romans now had twice as many soldiers as those who fought at the Battle of Heraclea and that "there were many times as many Romans still who were capable of bearing arms." Justin wrote that Cineas told Pyrrhus that the treaty "was broken off by Appius Claudius" and that Rome appeared to him a city of kings.

Cassius Dio gave a different account of Pyrrhus' march towards Rome. In his version, it was a march in Tyrrhenian Italy. Publius Valerius Laevinus found out that Pyrrhus wanted to seize Capua (in Campania) and garrisoned it. Pyrrhus set out for the nearby Neapolis ( Naples), but he did not accomplish anything and passed on through Etruria "with the object of winning the people there also to his cause." According to Zonaras, Pyrrhus saw that the Etruscans had made a treaty with the Romans, Tiberius Coruncanius, the other consul for 280 BC, was moving towards him and Laevinius was dogging his footsteps. He "became afraid of being cut off on all sides." He withdrew and got close to Campania. Laevinus confronted him with an army which was now larger and "he declared that the Roman legions when cut to pieces grew whole again, hydra-fashion." Pyrrhus declined to join a battle and went back to Tarentum. Because of the fragmentary nature of the surviving texts of Cassius Dio and Zonaras, the dating of these events is uncertain. It could be after Cineas' trip to Rome. Cassius Dio wrote that the Romans sent another army to Laevinus, who, after seeing to the wounded, followed Pyrrhus and harassed him. They also recalled Tiberius Coruncanius from Etruria and assigned him to guard Rome.

Three ancient historians wrote accounts of this battle: Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Plutarch and Cassius Dio. In the version of Plutarch, the battle took place over two days. In the other two versions it lasted one day. In Cassius Dio's version the Romans won. In Plutarch's version Pyrrhus won. Plutarch noted that Dionysius of Halicarnassus "made no mention two battles, nor of an admitted defeat of the Romans." In fact, Dionysius did not say who won the battle. Plutarch also wrote that Pyrrhus said to someone who was congratulating him: "If we are victorious in one more battle with the Romans, we shall be utterly ruined." This was because he lost a great part of the forces he had brought to Italy and most of his commanders. He could not call up more men from home[why? ] and his allies in Italy were becoming indifferent. The Romans, instead, could quickly replenish their forces "as if from a fountain gushing forth indoors", and did not lose courage or determination in defeat.

Polybius discovered the documents of a series of treaties between Rome and Carthage in a library in Rome. One of them, the fourth one, was against Pyrrhus. It stipulated that: "If they make an alliance with Pyrrhus, both shall make it an express condition that they may go to the help of each other in whichever country is attacked. No matter which require help, the Carthaginians are to provide the ships for transport and hostilities, but each country shall provide the pay for its own men. The Carthaginians, if necessary, shall come to the help of the Romans by sea too, but no one shall compel the crews to land against their will." Livy's Periochae placed the conclusion of this treaty after the Battle of Asculum.

The two parties collaborated in only one instance. There was no Roman assistance when Pyrrhus campaigned in Sicily and no Carthaginian assistance when Pyrrhus returned to Italy. Diodorus Siculus wrote that after making the alliance and before Pyrrhus' crossing from Italy to Sicily, the Carthaginians took 500 Roman legionaries on board their ships and sailed across to Rhegium (presumably from Sicily). They besieged the rebel Roman garrison which had seized the city (see above), but gave the siege up, but not before setting fire to some timber which had been gathered for shipbuilding. They remained and kept a watch on the narrow Strait of Messina between Italy and Sicily, looking out for any attempt by Pyrrhus to cross it. This must have been the first action against the rebel Roman garrison at Rhegium. The consul Gaius Fabricius Luscinus eventually defeated the garrison and restored the city to its people.

Coin of Pyrrhus minted at Syracuse, 278 BC. Obverse: Veiled head of Phtia with oak wreath, ΦΘΙΑΣ (of Phthia). Reverse: Thunderbolt, ΒΑΣΙΛΕΟΣ ΠΥΡΡΟΥ (of King Pyrrhus).

Pyrrhus went to Sicily and took the leadership of the Greek cities of eastern and southern Sicily in a war against the Carthaginians in western Sicily. There had been a history of conflict between the Greeks and the Carthaginians in Sicily (see Sicilian Wars). We have details about Pyrrhus' campaign against the Carthaginians from two fragments from the work of Diodorus Siculus. Plutarch gave only a very brief account, most of which was about the relationship between Pyrrhus and the Greek cities in Sicily. The fragments from the text of Dionysius of Halicarnassus are also about Pyrrhus and the Sicilian Greeks. The fragments from Appian deal mostly with events which occurred when Pyrrhus was leaving Sicily. We have minimal information from the fragments from the text of Cassius Dio.

In Plutarch's account, Pyrrhus received two requests for help. Men from the Greek cities of Sicily "offered to put into his hands the cities of Agrigentum, Syracuse, and Leontini, and begged him to help them to drive out the Carthaginians and rid the island of its tyrants." The Macedonians asked him to accede to the throne of Macedon when their king, Ptolemy Keraunos, whose army was defeated in the Gallic invasion of Greece, was captured and beheaded by the Gauls. Pyrrhus decided that Sicily provided better opportunities for glory since Africa "was felt to be nearer" - Plutarch thought that Pyrrhus coveted the conquest of Carthage, which was in Africa. He sent Cineas to hold talks with the Greek cities in Sicily while he garrisoned Tarentum. The Tarentines were unhappy and demanded that he either continue the war with Rome or go away and leave Tarentum as he had found it. In other words, they wanted the end of his tyrannical rule of the city if he left. Pyrrhus left without giving a reply.

Appian wrote that Pyrrhus begun to be more concerned about Sicily than Italy because Agathocles, the tyrant of Syracuse and self-proclaimed king of Sicily, had just died and Pyrrhus had married his daughter Lanassa. However, Appian must have been confused. Agathocles died in 289 BC, nine years before Pyrrhus' venture in Italy and eleven years before he went to Sicily. Moreover, Lanassa had left Pyrrhus in 291 BC. It's possible Appian was referring to Pyrrhus' hereditary claims following Agathocles' death, and this relatively recent event, Pyrrhus' claims, as well as Pyrrhus' proximity prompted the inhabitants of Syracuse in 279 BC to ask him for assistance against Carthage. According to Appian, Pyrrhus was reluctant to leave those in Italy who had asked for his help without a peace settlement. He sent Cineas to Rome to negotiate a peace once more. He received the same answer. The Romans returned the Tarentines and the Italic allies they held as prisoners. In Appian's account there was an armistice. Pyrrhus then set off for Sicily with 8,000 cavalry and his elephants. He promised his allies that he would return to Italy. Pyrrhus left Milo in Tarentum to garrison the city. According to Justin, he also left his son Alexander to garrison Locri Epizefiri.

Plutarch wrote that Thoenon and Sosistratus, the leading men in Syracuse, were the first to persuade Pyrrhus to go to Sicily. Diodorus Siculus wrote that "Thoenon controlled the island [of Syracuse], while Sosistratus ruled Syracuse. They had ten thousand soldiers [in Syracuse], and carried on war with each other. But both, becoming exhausted in the war, sent ambassadors to Pyrrhus." While Pyrrhus was preparing to set sail, the Carthaginians were besieging Syracuse. They blockaded her port with a fleet. They conducted operations near the city walls and pillaged the countryside with 50,000 men. The Syracusans pinned their hopes on Pyrrhus because he had married Lanassa. When Pyrrhus set sail from Tarentum, he stopped over at Locri Epizefiri.

Pyrrhus accepted delivery of the "[i]sland [of the city] from Thonon, and of the rest of the city from the citizens and Sosistratus." He added that, besides ruling Syracuse, "Sosistratus had made himself master of Agrigentum and of many other cities, and had an army of more than ten thousand men." Pyrrhus reconciled "Thoenon and Sosistratus and the Syracusans and restored harmony, thinking to gain great popularity by virtue of the peace." He took over the military equipment of the city and her 140 ships. Pyrrhus now had more than 200 ships. Dionysius of Halicarnassus wrote that Sosistratus was the ruler of the city and Thonon was the commander of the garrison. They gave Pyrrhus money from the treasury and 200 warships. According to Diodorus Siculus, the ruler of the city of Leontini handed him over the city and its 4,000 infantry and 500 cavalry. Other cities did the same. The city of Enna had expelled the garrison the Carthaginians had placed there, and promised to hand itself over to Pyrrhus. Pyrrhus went to Agrigentum and took over the city, as well as 8,000 infantry and 800 cavalry who were picked men. He also took over thirty cities ruled by Sosistratus and brought over the siege engines and the missiles of Syracuse.

According to Diodorus Siculus, Pyrrhus set off for the territories subject to the Carthaginians with 30,000 infantry and 1,500 cavalry. In Plutarch's account Pyrrhus had 30,000 infantry, 2,500 cavalry and 200 ships. Diodorus related that Pyrrhus defeated the Carthaginian garrison in Heraclea Minoa and seized Azones. Selinus, Halicyae, Segesta and other cities went over to him. He besieged Eryx, which had strong natural defensive features and a large Carthaginian garrison. The siege lasted a long time, but Pyrrhus managed to take the city by storm. He left a garrison there and attacked Iaetia, which was a powerful city in a good strategic position to attack Panormus, which had the best harbour in Sicily. Iaetia surrendered without a fight. Panormus was taken by storm. Pyrrhus was in control of all the Carthaginian dominions except for Lilybaeum. While he was besieging this city, the Carthaginians brought over a big army and large quantities of grain from Africa. They also strengthened the fortifications of the city. Plutarch, whose account of Pyrrhus' campaign in the Carthaginian territories was brief, just wrote that Pyrrhus subdued the areas under Carthaginian control and that after seizing Eryx he moved against the Mamertine mercenaries who had seized Messana. They were a nuisance to the Greeks and even imposed a tribute on some of them. Pyrrhus captured their tribute collectors and executed them. He defeated the Mamertines in battle and destroyed many of their strongholds. Plutarch did not mention the siege of Lilybaeum and Diodorus Siculus did not mention the campaign against the Mamertines.

Both Plutarch and Diodorus Siculus wrote that the Carthaginians initiated negotiations. They offered a large sum of money. In Plutarch's account, they also offered ships. According to Diodorus Siculus, Pyrrhus refused to accept money and was persuaded to concede Lilybaeum to the Carthaginians. However, his friends and the delegates from the Greek cities urged him not to "grant [them] a stepping-stone for an attack on Sicily, but rather to drive the Phoenicians out of the entire island and to make the sea the boundary of his domain." Plutarch did not mention Pyrrhus being swayed by his friends and the delegates of the cities. In his version, Pyrrhus rejected the offer because he wanted "to pursue the ambitions for which he had left home in the beginning and set his heart on Libya." In other words, Pyrrhus wanted to conquer Carthage, which was in what the Greeks called Libya (Plutarch was Greek) and the Romans called Africa. In Diodorus Siculus' account, the negotiations occurred during the siege of Lilybaeum. After this Pyrrhus engaged in skirmishes near the city walls. The Carthaginians resisted effectively because of the size of their forces and because they had so many catapults that there was not enough room for all of them on the city walls. Many of the men of Pyrrhus were killed and he was at a disadvantage. Pyrrhus set out to build war engines which were more powerful than those he brought from Syracuse. However, the Carthaginian resistance continued, favoured by the rocky terrain. After two months he gave up the siege. Pyrrhus then bent his efforts towards building a large fleet to transport his troops to Africa after he gained mastery of the sea.

Plutarch wrote that many of Pyrrhus' ships were undermanned and he began to collect oarsmen. He stopped dealing with the Greek cities fairly and treated them in a despotic manner, using compulsion and imposing fines. He was no longer a popular leader. He became a tyrant known for "ingratitude and faithlessness". At first the Sicilian Greeks put up with this. Things changed when Pyrrhus became suspicious of Sosistratus and Thoenon, the men who had invited him to Sicily and had been of great assistance to him. Sosistratus was afraid of the suspicions of Pyrrhus and kept a low profile. Pyrrhus accused Thoenon of complicity with Sosistratus and had him executed. Dionysius of Halicarnassus gave some details of the behaviour of Pyrrhus. He seized the estates of Agathocles of Syracuse from the relatives and friends who had inherited them and gave them to his friends. He gave the chief offices in the cities to his military men. He conducted some trials and some administrative tasks himself and assigned others to members of his court, who were interested only in personal gain and luxury. He established garrisons with the excuse that they were for protection against the Carthaginians. He arrested the cities' most prominent men and had them executed on false treason charges, one of whom was Thoenon. Pyrrhus tried to arrest Sosistratus, but he escaped from the city.

The actions of the king caused hatred in the Greek cities. According to Plutarch, some of them sided with the Carthaginians and some called in the Mamertine mercenaries. While Pyrrhus was facing opposition and rebellion, he received a letter from the Tarentines and Samnites. The Samnites had been pushed out from their rural areas and found it difficult to defend their cities and begged him to come to their assistance. This gave Pyrrhus an excuse to leave Sicily, where he had lost control, without appearing to be running away. Plutarch wrote that Pyrrhus said "My friends, what a wrestling ground for Carthaginians and Romans we are leaving behind us!" We do not know whether Pyrrhus actually said this because ancient historians often made speeches by historical characters up. Cassius Dio wrote that when the Carthaginians saw that Pyrrhus' forces were small and that he had lost the goodwill of the Sicilian Greeks, they "took up the war vigorously. They harboured the Syracusans who were exiled and harassed [Pyrrhus] so severely that he abandoned not only Syracuse but Sicily as well." Dionysius of Halicarnassus that wrote the Carthaginians sent an army to Sicily because the situation gave them an opportunity to regain the cities they had lost. After Pyrrhus left Sicily, the Carthaginians took control of their domains in the west again.

Dionysius of Halicarnassus did not mention a naval battle in the Strait of Messina. He wrote that the ships of Pyrrhus, who wanted to sail straight to Tarentum, met an unfavourable wind which lasted the whole night. Some ships were sunk. Some were swept to the Strait of Messina and others were driven ashore on the beaches of Locri. The crew of the ships beached near Locri died when they were submerged by the backwash of the waves. According to Dionysius, this happened because Pyrrhus, misled by one of his friends, Euegorus ( Ancient Greek: Εὐήγορος) son of Theodorus ( Ancient Greek: Θεόδωρος), and pushed by lack of funds, plundered the sacred treasure of the temple of the goddess Persephone, thus committing sacrilege. Dionysius did not specify where this took place. However, his narrative suggests that it occurred in Syracuse prior to setting off for Italy. The ships which were driven to the shores of Locri were the ones which were carrying the offerings to the goddess. When the waves broke the ships up, the sacred monies of the treasure were cast on the shore closest to Locri. Pyrrhus got scared and restored them to the goddess.

Appian mentioned the naval battle with the Carthaginians in the strait of Messina, but not the battle with the Mamertines on the mainland. In his account Pyrrhus took possession of the treasure of Persephone in Locri, after crossing from Sicily to Italy. He wrote that Pyrrhus had been a burden to the Greek cities because of the lodging and supplying of his troops, the garrisons he established, and the tribute he imposed. These exactions enriched him. When he left Sicily he set sail for Rhegium with ten ships and many cargo and merchant ships. The Carthaginians attacked him and sunk seventy ships and disabled the rest, except for twelve ships. He managed to escape and took vengeance on the city of Locri, whose inhabitants had killed the commander of his garrison there. He did much killing and plundering and grabbed the treasure of Persephone. He set sail again and got caught in a storm, which sunk some of his ships. All the sacred objects were swept to the beach of Locri. Pyrrhus restored them to the goddess and tried perform sacrifices in her honour. However, the sacrificial victims were inauspicious and he got angry. He executed those who advised him to rob the temple, had taken part in it or assented to it.

When Pyrrhus returned to Italy in 275 BC, he fought the Battle of Beneventum against the Romans, which was to be the last battle of the war.

Plutarch gave the most detailed account of the battle. He wrote that during the three years Pyrrhus spent campaigning in Sicily the Samnites suffered many defeats at the hands of the Romans and lost a substantial part of their territory. This made them resentful towards Pyrrhus. Therefore, most of them did not join him when he returned to southern Italy. Cassius Dio wrote that the Samnites being hard-pressed by the Romans, caused Pyrrhus to set forth again to come to their assistance. In Plutarch's account, Pyrrhus engaged the Romans despite the lack of Samnite support. The two consuls for 275 BC, Lucius Cornelius Lentulus Caudinus and Manius Curius Dentatus, were fighting in Lucania and Samnium respectively.

Plutarch wrote that Pyrrhus divided his forces into two divisions. He sent one of them against Cornelius Lentulus and marched with the other force during the night against Manius Curius, who was encamped near Beneventum and was waiting for help from Cornelius Lentulus. Pyrrhus was in a hurry to engage Manius Curius in case his colleague showed up. However, his soldiers lost their way and fell behind because he went a long way round through woods and his lights did not hold out. Dionysius of Halicarnassus wrote that Pyrrhus marched through "long trails that were not even used by people but were mere goat-paths through woods and crags, would keep no order and, even before the enemy came in sight, would be weakened in body by thirst and fatigue." This delayed Pyrrhus and at dawn he was in full view of the enemy as he advanced on them from the heights. Plutarch wrote that Manius Curius led his men out of the camp, attacked the enemy advance-guard and captured some elephants which were left behind. This success brought him to the plain, where he could engage Pyrrhus in battle on level ground. He routed some of the enemy lines, but an elephant charge drove him back to his camp. He called on the camp guards who were standing on the parapets of the rampart. They came down and threw javelins at the elephants, forcing them to turn round. They ran through the ranks of Pyrrhus, which were thrown into disarray, and, as a result, the Romans won the battle.

Cassius Dio also related the story of the wounded calf. He wrote that Pyrrhus was put to flight because "a young elephant had been wounded, and shaking off its riders, wandered about in search of its mother, whereupon the latter became excited and the other elephants grew turbulent, so that everything was thrown into dire confusion. Finally, the Romans won the day, killing many men and capturing eight elephants, and they occupied the enemy's entrenchments."

Back in Greece, Pyrrhus went to war with the kingdom of Macedon. He deposed its king, Antigonus II, and briefly ruled Macedon and Thessaly. In 272 BC he supported Cleonymus' claim to the Spartan throne. He besieged Sparta and aimed to gain control of the Peloponnese by taking this city. However, he met fierce resistance and gave this up. He was then called to intervene in a dispute in Argos, but was killed in a street battle there.

After the war, Rome asserted its hegemony in southern Italy. In 272 BC, the year Pyrrhus died, Rome captured Tarentum. Livy's Periochae recorded that in 272 BC a Carthaginian navy brought help to Tarentum and broke the treaty with Rome. However, Cassius Dio wrote that the Tarentines called in the Carthaginians to help them against Milo, the commander of the Epirot garrison, when they heard that Pyrrhus had died. They were angry with Milo because he mistreated them. They had attacked him, but they did not achieve anything and then occupied the fortress of the city and kept harassing Milo from there. The Roman consul Lucius Papirius Cursor besieged the city. Hemmed in by the Romans on land and by the Carthaginians on the sea, Milo surrendered the fortress (presumably he had regained it) to Lucius Papirius on the condition that he would be allowed to leave with his men and his money. The city was handed over to the Romans and the Carthaginian fleet left. The Tarentines agreed to pull down the city walls and pay tribute. Prior to taking on Tarentum, Lucius Papirius had defeated the Bruttii, while his colleague Spurius Carvilius Maximus fought the Samnites.

The capture of Tarentum also gave the Romans control over the Messapii of central and part of southern Apulia, who, although they had fought against Tarentum earlier in history, had become closely tied with Tarentum since 304 BC. In 267 BC, the consuls Marcus Atilius Regulus and Lucius Julius Libo conquered the Salentini (who lived in southern Apulia) and captured the town of Brundisium. Cassius Dio wrote that the Romans used the excuse that they had sided with Pyrrhus and that they were now overrunning the territories of their allies, but in fact, they were after the fine harbor of Brundisium, which was the gateway for sailing to the eastern Mediterranean. They sent colonists to Brundisium and other towns. Livy's Periochae recorded that in that year the Umbrians were also defeated. Brundisium later became the port for sailing to the eastern Mediterranean.

Cassius Dio wrote that after the capture of Tarentum in 272 BC the Romans turned their attention to Rhegium, which had taken Croton by treachery, razed it to the ground, and killed the Romans who were there. They prevented intervention by the Mamertines (the mercenaries who had seized Messana, on the other side of the narrow Strait of Messina) whom Rhegium had expected to secure as allies, by making an agreement with them. The Romans besieged the city but suffered from a scarcity of food. Hiero II became the Tyrant of Syracuse after Pyrrhus left Italy. Since he was weary of the Carthaginians who were encroaching on Sicily, he favoured the Romans. He sent grain to the Roman troops which were besieging the city, thereby helping them to seize it. Rhegium was restored to its survivors and the rebel garrison was punished. We do not know when the siege started, but we do know that Hiero II assumed power in Syracuse in 270 BC.

An entry in Livy's Periochae suggests that the tensions between Rome and Tarentum encouraged rebellions. It recorded that in 282 BC "[t]he Samnites revolted. In several battles, many commanders successfully fought against them and against the Lucanians, Bruttians, and Etruscans." As noted above, Zonaras wrote that in 280 BC the consul Tiberius Coruncanius campaigned in Etruria and that the Etruscans concluded a peace treaty with Rome. After the war the Bruttians submitted willingly and gave up half of their Sila mountain district which was rich in timber (fir, black poplar, pitch and stone pine, beech, and oak). Cornell thinks that the rebellion of the Samnites and Lucani lasted a decade. We do not have much detail from the sources, but the annals of the Fasti Capitolini list ten triumphs over these peoples between 282 BC and 272 BC. Cornell writes that the final defeat of Samnium and Lucania was marked by the foundation of colonies at Paestum in 273 BC, Beneventum in 268 BC, and Aesernia in 263 BC."

In 268 BC a rebellion by the Picentes in central Italy was suppressed and a colony was founded at Ariminum. A colony was also established at Cosa, on the coast of southern Etruria, in 273 BC.

282 BC

Ten Roman ships appear off the coast of Tarentum.

Philocharis of Tarentum views Cornelius' expedition as a violation of an ancient naval treaty, and attacks the expedition, sinking four ships and capturing one.

Tarentum attacks the Roman garrison at Thurii, expels it, and sacks the city.

Rome dispatches an embassy to Tarentum, which is rejected and insulted by The Tarentines.

The Roman senate declares war on Tarentum.

281 BC

280 BC

Pyrrhus sends Cineas ahead to Tarentum

Pyrrhus also sends Milo ahead to Tarentum

Pyrrhus sets sail for Italy.

Pyrrhus arrives in Terentum, bringing war elephants.

The Samnites, Lucani, Bruttii, and Messapi ally with Pyrrhus.

Pyrrhus offers to negotiate with the Romans.

Pyrrhus defeats the Romans at the Battle of Heraclea.

Locri sides with Pyrrhus.

Rhegium asks for Rome's protection. The Roman place garrison in the city. These soldiers seize it, killing many of its people.

The consul Tiberius Coruncanius is recalled from Etruria to defend Rome.

The ranks of the legions of the consul Publius Valerius Laevinus are replenished.

Pyrrhus advances on Capua, Publius Valerius Laevinus garrisons the city.

Pyrrhus sets out for Neapolis, but he does not accomplish anything

Pyrrhus advances as far as Anagni or Fregellae in Latium and then goes to Etruria.

Pyrrhus finds out the Etruscans allied with Rome; the two Roman consuls pursue him.

Pyrrhus withdraws and gets close to Campania. Laevinus confronts him with an army. Pyrrhus refuses battle and returns to Tarentum.

Mago, a Carthaginian commander goes to Rome with a fleet of 140 warships to offer help. The Roman senate declines the offer.

Mago goes to see Pyrrhus privately, ostensibly to negotiate peace. In reality, he wanted to check his intentions regarding a plea for help by the Greek cities in Sicily.

Gaius Fabricius Luscinus is sent on a mission to Pyrrhus to negotiate the release of Roman prisoners of war. Pyrrhus attempts to bribe Fabricius, and when he cannot, releases the prisoners without ransom. [B]

Pyrrhus sends Cineas to Rome as the ambassador of Pyrrhus to negotiate peace or a truce.

Appius Claudius Caecus calls for Pyrrhus to leave Italy and for Cineas to leave Rome immediately. The senate seconds him.

Cineas returns to Pyrrhus, and calls the Roman senate "a parliament of kings". He also assessed that the Romans have twice as many soldiers as those who fought at the previous battle and many more reserve men.

279 BC

Pyrrhus invades Apulia, and is confronted by the Roman army.

Pyrrhus defeats the Romans at the Battle of Asculum, but suffers heavy losses.

The Carthaginians and the Romans conclude an alliance treaty.

When Gaius Fabricius discovers a plot by Pyrrhus' doctor, Nicias, to poison him; he sends a warning to Pyrrhus.

The Greek cities in Sicily ask Pyrrhus for help against the Carthaginians. Pyrrhus agrees.

Cineas goes to Rome again, but he is unable to negotiate peace terms.

The Roman garrison at Rhegium seizes the town, killing many of its people. The Romans retake the city and execute the rebels.

Joint Roman-Carthaginian expedition sent to Rhegium.

278 BC

During his second consulship, after Pyrrhus went to Sicily, Gaius Fabricius Luscinus, is sent against the rebel garrison at Rhegium. He seizes the city and restores it to its people. The surviving rebels are taken to Rome and executed for treason.

The Carthaginians and the Romans conduct an operation against the rebel Roman garrison which had seized Rhegium

278-75 BC

Pyrrhus leaves Italy and crosses over to Sicily.

The Carthaginians blockade Syracuse

Pyrrhus lands at Catana and marches on Syracuse, the Carthaginians leave.

Sosistratus and Thoenon hand over Syracuse to Pyrrhus. Pyrrhus arranges peace between them.

Embassies from many Sicilian cities come to Pyrrhus offering their support.

Pyrrhus takes control of Agrigentum and thirty other cities which previously belonged to Sosistratus.

Pyrrhus attacks the territory of the Carthaginians in Sicily.

Pyrrhus captures Heraclea Minoa, Azones, Eryx, and Panormus. The other Carthaginian or Carthaginian-controlled cities surrender

Pyrrhus defeats the Mamertines. [C]

Pyrrhus starts the siege of Lilybaeum

The Carthaginians start negotiations. Pyrrhus tells them to leave Sicily.

Pyrrhus abandons the siege of Lilybaeum.

Pyrrhus decides to build a fleet to invade Africa to conquer Carthage.

To man his fleet Pyrrhus treats the Greek cities in Sicily in a despotic and extortionate manner.

Pyrrhus has Thoenon of Syracuse executed on suspicion of treason, and his despotic behavior makes him unpopular with the Sicilians.

The Greek cities in Sicily turned against Pyrrhus. Some of them sided with Carthage, others called in the Mamertine mercenaries.

275 BC

Pyrrhus receives a letter from the Tarentines and Samnites. The latter asked for his assistance. This gives Pyrrhus an excuse to leave Sicily without appearing to be running away.

Pyrrhus sails to Italy. His fleet is caught in a storm. Pyrrhus is attacked by a Carthaginian fleet in the Strait of Messina. [D] [E]

The Mamertines fight Pyrrhus on the mainland. Many of his elephants and men are killed. Pyrrhus is wounded, but he manages to win the battle. [F]

The consul Manius Curius Dentatus expelled a contingent in Croton and seized the city.

Locri went over to the Romans...

Pyrrhus sacks the town of Locri, including with treasure of the temple of Persephone. [F]

Pyrrhus' fleet is caught in a storm after leaving Locri.

The Romans defeat Pyrrhus at the Battle of Beneventum.

Pyrrhus leaves Italy; the Pyrrhic War ends.

[A] According to Appian, this fleet was led by the ex Roman consul Publius Cornelius Dolabella. According to Cassius Dio, it was led by the consul Gaius Fabricius Luscinus. According to Zonaras, it was led by Lucius Valerius, whom he described as 'the admiral'.

[B] According to Cassius Dio, Cineas was sent to Rome before the embassy of Fabricius. According to, Plutarch he was sent after this embassy.

[C] this mission against the Mamertines was mentioned only by Plutarch. Diodorus Siculus, whose information is more detailed did not mention it.

[D] This battle was mentioned by Plutarch and Apian, but not by Dionysius of Halicarnassus.

[E] According to Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Pyrrhus was caught in a storm while he was sailing to Italy. Some of his ships were sunk, some drifted to the Strait of Messana and some were swept to Locri. According to Appian, Pyrrhus was caught in a storm when he left Locri.

[F] According to Appian and Cassius Dio, the treasure was plundered in Locri, according to Dionysius of Halicarnassus, it was seized in Syracuse.

2018: Pyrrhus Imperator (Vae Victis n°143), Boardgame about the Pyrrhic War in Italy and Sicily.

Primary sources

Secondary sources

Abbott. J., Pyrrhus, King of Epirus, A Biography. This was written in the nineteenth century. It had been published by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2016; ISBN 978-1539758068

Champion, J. Pyrrhus of Epirus, Pen & Sword Military, 2016; ISBN 978-1473886643

Cowan, R., For the Glory of Rome, 2007

Cowan, R., Roman Conquests: Italy, Pen & Sword Military, 2009; ISBN 978-1844159376

Franke, P.R., Pyrrhus, in The Cambridge Ancient History, Volume 7, Part 2: The Rise of Rome to 220 BC, 1990; ASIN B019NEM4E8

Garoufalias, P., Pyrrhus, King of Epirus, Stacey International, 1978; ISBN 978-0905743134

Grant, M., The History of Rome, Faber & Faber, 1986; ISBN 978-0571114610

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Pyrrhic War Part of Roman expansion in Italy The route of Pyrrhus of Epirus during his campaigns in southern Italy and Sicily.

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Sack of Rome (390 BC) By Charlie and Ben

# data[].attributes.subject
Sack of Rome (390 BC) By Charlie and Ben

# data[].attributes.body
The Sack of Rome was the worst recorded disaster in the history of the early Roman Republic. By many people the city of Rome was considered indestructible. However, in 390 BC after the gauls defeated the romans, the gauls marched into Roman territory and burned, ransacked and killed many homes and civillians in the walls of Rome. Only on the capital hill was where some Romans put on a satisfactory defence. The day after the battle the Gallic arrived at the walls of Rome. The Sack of Rome was the worst recorded disaster in the history of the early Roman Republic.
Primary Source:
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0026%3Abook%3D5%3Achapter%3D48

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The Mithridatic Wars were a series of three battles fought by the Roman Armies.

First Mithridatic War:
The First Mithridatic War (89 - 85 BC) was a war about the Roman Empire trying to expand and rule over the Greek world. The Kingdom of Pontus and many Greek cites started to rebel against the Roman Empire. This rebellion was led by Mithridates VI of Pontus.

Second Mithridatic War:
The Second Mithridatic War (83 - 81 BC) was still fought between Pontus and the Roman Republic. Mithridates VI of Pontus  and is leading the army against the Roman Republic. Ending in a Pontic Victory

Third Mithridatic War:
The Third Mithridatic War (73 - 63 BC) was the longest war out of the three. The war ended in defeat for Mithridates, ending the Pontic Kingdom, and resulted in the Kingdom of Armenia becoming an allied client state of Rome. And later the death Mithridates VI due to suicide

Primary Source:
http://www.livius.org/sources/content/appian/appian-the-mithridatic-wars/

By Craig and Freya

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The Invasion of Gaul by the Romans under the control of Julius Caesar lasted from 58b.c. to sometime around 54-50b.c. This invasion was portrayed as Caesar as a defensive action (or pre-emptive strike) but was really a seizing of land and a revenge strike for the multiple attacks that tribesmen from regions in and to the north of Gaul. This invasion ended in a Roman victory, as Rome annexed Gaul, effectively making Gaul a Roman province.

matt loader, tom walters
http://classics.mit.edu/Caesar/gallic.1.1.html

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The Macedonian wars were four conflicts fought by the Roman Republic and the Kingdom of Macedonia. The wars resulted in the Roman control and influence over the Eastern Mediterranean basin. The Macedonian wars traditionally include four wars fought against Macedonia, in addition to another war fought with the Seleucid Empire and a final war with the Archean League, this war is often considered to be the final stage of the Macedonian Wars. After the war, the Macedonian Kingdom was gradually digested by Roman influence and became part of what was becoming a leading global empire.

http://www.livius.org/sources/content/appian/appian-the-macedonian-wars/appian-the-macedonian-wars-1/