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¤ BAALBEK City in the province of Syria, near the cities of Tyre and Berytus, that boasted one of the Empire's finest temple precincts and public buildings. In existence since before the 6th century B.C., when the first great temple structures were built, Baalbek figured in the stabilizing of the frontiers during the early years of the reign of AUGUSTUS (ruled 27 B.C.-14 A.D.). Marcus AGRIPPA reorganized the East and chose Baalbek and Berytus as two important Roman colonies. Henceforth Baalbek was a thoroughly Roman city in the midst of Syria, and its name was changed eventually to Heliopolis. Not only did Baalbek serve Roman interests in Syria, it also helped maintain a buffer against PARTHIA and PERSIA, a difficult task as the imperial frontier became weak.
The new colonists brought their new gods, and the result was a spectacular series of buildings erected between the 1st and 3rd centuries A.D. Collectively, the edifices were called the Sanctuary of Jupiter. The Temple of Jupiter dominated the complex. Nearby rose the Temple of Bacchus, constructed in the 2nd century, which survives in remarkably good shape and so offers excellent archaeological and artistic details from the period. Known as Bacchius's temple, but most likely the Temple of Venus Atargatis, it was heavily decorated and supported by Corinthian columns.
¤ BACCHUS Roman god of wine, a conversion of the Greek god Dionysus, the son of Zeus (Jupiter) and Semele. He was considered boisterous, and his festival, the wild, orgiastic Bacchanalia, was suppressed in 186 B.C. Bacchus remained popular into the Empire, and his impersonation was attempted by Emperor GAIUS CALIGULA. Around 211 A.D., Emperor Septimius SEVERUS constructed a temple at Rome in Bacchus's honor. The city of Baalbek also contained a temple, known as Bacchus' temple, erected between the 1st and 3rd centuries. See also GODS AND GODDESSES OF ROME.
¤ BAETICA The name used by the Romans for the region of Andalusia in Spain. See also HISPANIA.
¤ BAGAUDAE The name given to a tribe (really a loose group of peasants) in Gaul during the late 3rd century A.D. Crushed under the weight of the imperial tax system and disenfranchised by the barbarian invasions, many Gallic farmers and peasants banded together to form brigand communities. In 286 they put forth two leaders, AMANDUS AND AELIAN, as imperial aspirants. Emperor Diocletian, testing out his new form of government through trusted aides, sent his colleague MAXIMIAN to Gaul to crush the rebellion. Swiftly, but mercifully, the Bagaudae were eliminated and their leaders faded. See also GALLIA.
¤ BAIAE Town in the Campania district of Italy; on a beautiful bay near Naples, just across from the city of Puteoli. The region was one of the most lovely in Italy, with natural springs and baths in abundance. For centuries the elite of Rome, including senators and emperors, built homes, estates and palaces along the water. Baiae gained increased notoriety during the reign of NERO (54-69 A.D.), who spent much time at the villa of Gaius Calpurnius PISO, who became the center of the famed PISONIAN CONSPIRACY. It was proposed that Nero be murdered there but Piso refused. In 138 A.D. Emperor HADRIAN, his health deteriorating, left Rome and travelled to Baiae where he died on July 10. SEVERUS ALEXANDER was fond of the town, building a palace and a pool for his use as well as many public works of which most have been lost to the sea. See also BAULI.
¤ BALBILLUS, TIBERIUS CLAUDIUS (fl. mid-lst century A.D.) Astrologer for the emperors CLAUDIUS, NERO and VESPASIAN; probably the son of THRASYLLUS, for so many years the astrologer for TIBERIUS, from whom he learned his trade. He was a friend of Claudius, travelling with him to Britannia. A political career followed, including a procuratorship in Asia and a prefecture in Egypt. During the reign of Nero, Balbillus became an astrological advisor to the emperor and his mother. When a comet passed across the sky, in either 60 or 64, signalling the death of a great personage, Balbillus tried to calm Nero's fears by noting that the usual solution was to murder prominent citizens and thus appease the gods. Nero agreed, killing many nobles. Balbillus died in the late 1st century A.D. He was also known as BARBILLUS. See also ASTROLOGY.
¤ BALBINUS See PUPIENUS AND BALBINUS.
¤ BALBUS, LUCIUS CORNELIUS (1) (fl. mid-lst century B.C.) A valuable and powerful ally of Julius CAESAR in Rome, eventually serving AUGUSTUS' cause in the capital as well. Of Spanish descent, he came from Gades; his reportedly tremendous wealth earned him the friendship of POMPEY THE GREAT from whom he received Roman citizenship in 72 B.C. Henceforth Balbus lived in Rome as a friend of Pompey and especially Caesar, whose interests he increasingly managed. These relationships proved invaluable in 56, when he was prosecuted for receiving his citizenship illegally. Pompey and Crassus both testified upon his behalf, and Cicero delivered one of his finest extant speeches, resulting in full acquittal. When the Civil War erupted, Balbus remained outwardly neutral, although he was Caesar's representative in personal matters; he joined Gaius Oppius, especially after the battle of PHARSALUS in 48, as a powerful political figure. Caesar's death in 44 diminished his influence, but as an agent of Octavian (AUGUSTUS), he served the consulship in 40 B.C.
¤ BALBUS, LUCIUS CORNELIUS (2) (fl. late 1st century B.C.) A nephew of Lucius Cornelius BALBUS (1); gained more power under AUGUSTUS than his uncle and returned to his home in Gades and rebuilt it. Like his relatives, he gained Roman citizenship and worked actively for Caesar in the Civil War (49-45 B.C.). He held the rank of proquaestor in Spain (HISPANIA) and was later a consul under Augustus. In 21 B.C., he received his greatest opportunity when he was named proconsul in Africa. In 19 B.C., he fought and defeated the African tribes of the Garamantes and had the distinction of being the last general to receive a TRIUMPH in Rome - who was not a member of the Imperial House. Making the most of his victory, Balbus built a theater in Rome, dedicated in 13 B.C.
¤ BALLISTA (fl. mid-3rd century A.D.) Praetorian prefect (260-261 A.D.) of Emperor VALERIAN and the usurper MACRIANUS; not only a victorious general against the Persians but a kingmaker as well. In 260 Valerian was defeated and captured by SHAPUR I, king of Persia, throwing the imperial succession into chaos. Ballista, one of Rome's most successful soldiers, proposed that FULVIUS MACRIANUS, another general, and his sons should take the throne. Despite throwing his considerable military skills behind Fulvius' sons Macrianus and the younger Quietus, defeat could not be averted at the hands of ODAENATH, king of Palmyra, in 261. Both Macrianus and Quietus were killed. There is some question as to Ballista's fate. According to the dubious Scriptores Historiae Augustae, Ballista may have been pardoned or settled on land in the Antioch area. More likely he was executed.
¤ BARBIA ORBIANA (d. after 227 A.D.) Empress from 225 to 226 A.D. and the wife of Severus Alexander. Sallustia Barbia Orbiana was probably the daughter of the nobleman Seius Sallustius Barbius. In 225 Julia Mamaea, the mother of Severus Alexander, arranged for her son to marry Orbiana. Ever jealous of sharing her power or her control with her son, Mamaea treated her daughter-in-law cruelly and persecuted Orbiana's father. Although Severus Alexander opposed his mother's actions, Mamaea eventually had Macrinus put to death and compelled her son to divorce Orbiana. The empress was sent to Africa in 227, where she lived in exile.
¤ BARBILLUS See BALBILLUS, TIBERIUS CLAUDIUS.
¤ BAR COCHBA, SIMON (d. 135 A.D.) The leader of a Jewish revolt in 132-135 A.D. After visiting Palestine in 130, HADRIAN desired to erect temples to Jupiter and Zeus and planned to place a Roman colony, Aelia Capitolina, on the site of JERUSALEM'S destroyed walls and streets. Fulfilling the prophecy in the Book of Numbers, Simon son of Cosba (or Kosba) declared himself leader of the resultant uprising, taking the promised name Bar Cochba or "Son of Star." Using guerrilla tactics, Bar Cochba's warriors defeated sizable Roman detachments and then disappeared into the hills. Hadrian sent JULIUS SEVERUS to Palestine with a large army; according to Dio, 50 outposts and 985 villages were destroyed. The rebels were driven into caves and, from his base at Engeddi, Bar Cochba wrote of their sinking morale. As the Romans closed in, the Jews retreated to the Dead Sea caves and to Bethar. It was in Bethar that the last battle was fought, and Simon Bar Cochba was killed. So ended the revolt, but Judaea was devastated. Severus was given a triumph by Hadrian. Accounts of the revolt were made by Dio, and Eusebius in the Ecclesiastical History noted the letters of the teacher Basilades referring to Bar Cochba. In letters recently unearthed in the Dead Sea caves, Bar Cochba is called Prince of Israel, a title also used on coinage he issued.
¤ BARDASANES OF EDESSA (154-222 A.D.) A heretic from Armenia, Bardasanes denied the resurrection of Christ, and the resurrection of the body after death. He wrote the Book of the Laws of the Nations in defense of his anti-GNOSTICISM.
¤ BARGOIA, SIMON (d. 70 A.D.) Also called Simon Bar Giora; leader of the Jewish revolt put down by TITUS in 70. Defending the Great Temple of JERUSALEM from the besieging Romans, many of the rebels, including Bargoia, were captured. As he was the leader, only he was chosen for execution by Titus.
¤ BASIL THE GREAT ("St. Basil") (330-379 A.D.) Bishop of Cappadocia; one of the leading champions of Christian Orthodoxy and an important influence in the development of Eastern monasticism. Born to a wealthy Caesarean family, he studied at CONSTANTINOPLE and in ATHENS, was baptized around 356 and by 358, at his sister's urging, became an ascetic and wrote rules of monastic life that remain into the 20th century - work in the fields supplemented by prayers. In 370 Basil was appointed bishop of Caesarea where he wrote extensively for the last nine years of his life and exercised influence at the imperial court of VALENS. Together with his younger brother, St. GREGORY OF NYSSA, and St. GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS, St. Basil fought the spread of ARIANISM within the church.
¤ BASILICA Roman structure with architecture similar to the Greek stoa. The basilica was a large, heavily decorated meeting place or public center, used for various purposes. Basilicas served most often to house the meetings of governmental groups or commissions. In the Western Empire, virtually all major structures were erected to accompany the edifices of a FORUM. Architecturally most basilicas, even those in the outer provinces, shared a number of characteristics: ornate columns, open areas fronting the forums of which they were an integral part, and spaces within that were designed to provide not only room but also air. In the Empire, four of the most important basilicas were the Aemilia, Julia, Maxentius and Ulpia.
¤ BASILICA AEMILIA The basilica in the FORUM ROMANUM that was rebuilt in 14 B.C. by Augustus. It was located across from its sister building, the BASILICA JULIA, and was surrounded by the Temple of Antoninus and the CURIA JULIA. Built before the time of Julius Caesar, the basilica was repaired with elaborate artifices and opulence during the Augustan Age. It was damaged in 12 B.C. from the ravages of the same fire that burned the Julia but was not repaired until 22 A.D., by Emperor Tiberius. There was a special chapel, called sacrarium, within the basilica, in honor of Gaius and Lucius, the grandsons of Augustus. In his Natural History, PLINY THE ELDER wrote of its beauty.
¤ BASILICA JULIA Begun by Julius CAESAR in 54 B.C., the Basilica Julia was finished by Augustus early in his reign. In the space once occupied by the Basilica Sempronia, built in 170 B.C., the new edifice was part of the great FORUM ROMANUM, parallel to the Rostra and surrounded by the TEMPLE OF SATURN and TEMPLE OF CASTOR AND POLLUX. In 12 B.C. it was damaged by a fire. Augustus dedicated the new marble works and additions to his designated heirs, his grandsons Gaius and Lucius, but the use of the name Julia continued. Another fire in 283 A. D. caused more destruction, but DIOCLETIAN had the basilica repaired. Originally, the basilica housed the board of the centumviri; the 180 court members worked in a building over 110 feet long and 53 feet wide.
¤ BASILICA MAXENTIA A massive project undertaken during the reign of the usurper MAXENTIUS (306-312 A.D.); the last great architectural endeavor of Classical Rome. Maxentius, who ruled for six war-plagued years, desired a structure radically different from the Roman basilicas. Also called the Basilica Nova, the structure rested on the Velian Hill and relied upon the baths of the period for inspiration, rather than the other basilicas. Thus there were three vaults in the structure, and the nave was triple vaulted as well. Eight Corinthian columns supported the vaults. Maxentius died before the building was complete, and Constantine alterd the original design by having the entrance front the Sacred Way. He also placed an immense statue of himself, carved from stone, in the apse. This basilica measured 92 feet in length and was 27 feet wide.
¤ BASILICA ULPIA Constructed during the reign of TRAJAN (98-117 A.D.), this basilica was larger than any other structure of its rime and influenced later Christian architecture. The basilica relied upon two rows of columns and contained a central nave, with two apses. The high roof, made of timber, allowed windows with clerestory lighting. Later Christian basilicas, especially those constructed in the time of Constantine the Great (306-337 A.D.), copied the plans of this monument. In LEPCIS MAGNA, the Basilica Severiana followed the basic theme, proving that such constructions were not only possible outside of Italy but also could be achieved with great sophistication.
¤ BASILISCUS (fl. 5th century A.D.) Usurper in the Eastern Empire who ruled from 475 to 476 A.D.; brother of the Empress Verina, wife of LEO I. In 468, Verina convinced her husband to appoint Basiliscus commander of the large fleet setting sail from CONSTANTINOPLE against the Vandal kingdom of GEISERIC in Africa. With 1,113 ships and over 100,000 men, Basiliscus sailed to Africa, forming the main blow of a three-pronged attack from Constantinople, Egypt and Italy. CARTHAGE might have fallen but Basiliscus failed to follow up on initial successes, and Geiseric mustered a fleet of fire ships and put the galleys of Constantinople to rout. Returning to the capital, the failed commander hid in the Church of St. Sophia and then returned to Heraclea. When Leo died in 474, Verina adamantly opposed the rightful successor, ZENO, and enlisted her brother's aid in usurping the throne for PATRICIUS, an Isaurian master of the palace and her lover. Instead, Basiliscus seized control himself. Zeno fled the city as Basiliscus elevated his wife Zenonis to the rank of Augusta and his son to that of Augustus. Patricius was killed.
Upon Zeno's departure, however, rioting began in Constantinople, and fire destroyed the Basilica of Julian and the Palace of Lausus. The situation grew more serious as the emperor turned away from Orthodoxy and various ministers of the city urged Zeno's return. Zeno thus set out from his hiding place among his native Isaurians and entered the city amid the support of the state officers. Basiliscus, his wife and children, were exiled to Cucusus in Cappadocia and there starved to death.
¤ BASSUS, BETILINUS (d. 40 A.D.) A victim of Emperor GAIUS CALIGULA, for some real or imagined offense, epitomizing the cruelties of Caligula's reign. In 40 A.D., Bassus was ordered executed by imperial decree, and his father Capito was compelled by Caligula to watch the event. When Capito asked to close his eyes, he too was condemned to death. Knowing that he would perish, Capito stated that he was part of a conspiracy, and promised to disclose his accomplices. Having already murdered others for plotting against him, the emperor listened as Capito named all of the courtiers who had most abetted Caligula in his crimes. Capito thus died knowing that he had sown discord in the court. Within a year, Caligula was a victim of assassination by the PRAETORIAN GUARD.
¤ BASSUS, JUNIUS (fl. 4th century A.D.) Prefect of the PRAETORIAN GUARD under Constantine from 318 to 331 and consul in 331. He was responsible for the construction of a basilica in Rome on the Esquiline Hill and may have been a Christian.
¤ BASSUS, QUINTUS CAECILIUS (fl. 1st century B.C.) An officer of POMPEY THE GREAT during the CIVIL WAR (49-45 B.C.), Bassus took part in the battle of PHARSALUS in 48, which forced him to flee for safety. When a rumor of Caesar's defeat in Africa caused a mutiny, a large portion of the Caesarian forces joined Bassus in Syria. Antistius Vetus, a legate of Julius Caesar, besieged Bassus at Apamea during 45, but with the help of the Parthians the mutineers survived. Eventually CRASSUS arrived in Syria and the soldiers in Apamea joined him, while Bassus escaped into anonymity.
¤ BASSUS THEOTECHNIS, JUNIUS (317-359 A.D.) Son of Junius BASSUS. While his father served as Praetorian prefect, Theotechnis became prefect of Rome in 359, but died soon after. In death he acquired his greatest fame, for his sarcophagus is one of the finest examples of Roman Christian art. According to Ammianus Marcellinus, the year of his death was 358 but he probably died in 359. PRUDENTIUS noted that he was the first Christian in his family (suggesting that his father was not a Christian himself).
¤ BATAVI A people of Germanic or of Celtic origin, the Batavi lived along the Rhine River in an island-like territory formed by the Rhine, the Waal and the Maas and known to contemporaries as Insula Batavorum. Related to the hostile Germanic tribe of the CHATTI, the Batavi joined the Romans as allies around the 1st century A.D. In 12 B.C. they aided Drusus in his campaign in Germany and in 16 A.D. assisted GERMANICUS in his seeking of revenge for the loss of Roman legions in 9 A.D. (in which the Batavi played no part). The historian TACITUS spoke of the reckless courage of their chief Chariovalda who dashed across the Weser with his warriors to attack the Germans. The awaiting CHERUSCI severely mauled the Batavi and Chariovalda was killed. Roman cavalry rode to their rescue, after which their loyalty was unquestioned. By 69 A.D., they not only composed auxiliary formations in the Roman legions but were also a horse guard and a personal bodyguard to emperors. A Batavian unit played a critical role in the first battle of BEDRIACUM (69 A.D.). Their obedience ended in 69, for the Batavian CIVILIS used his command of Vespasian's supporters on the lower Rhine to launch what became a massive, Batavian-led revolt. Caught in the ambitions of Civilis, the Batavi fought valiantly but were crushed finally by the Emperor Vespasian's legate Petilius CEREALIS around 70. Thereafter the position of the tribe was greatly weakened, and its importance to Rome decreased. The Batavi were eclipsed completely by the arrival of new peoples from the East.
¤ BATH See AQUAE (SULIS).
¤ BATHS The baths of the Roman Empire were one of the most common types of building and came to represent luxury, community, recreation and, in the provinces, an association with Rome. Any city aspiring to greatness would have possessed baths (or thermae). The baths first appeared in the Italian region of Campania, and the best preserved examples of the early types are in POMPEII. There the Stabian Baths of the 1st century B.C. were used, although they tended to be darker, smaller and more primitive than their later imperial counterparts.
Any large bath consisted of a number of rooms: the apodyterium (the changing room), frigidarium (cold room), tepidarium (warm room), caldarium (hot room), laconicum (dry sweating room) and an area for swimming, a natatio. Heat was provided to the caldarium from braziers or with ducts and hypocausts or underfloor heating. The better the bath, the more luxuries and amenities would be provided. The caldarium might be supplied with a schola labri, a basin of cold water, for example. Other additions were libraries, private suites (in public baths), gardens and especially a gymnasium with an exercise area, the palestra.
It is not surprising, then, that baths were popular centers of local activity. Nowhere was this more true than in Rome itself. Marcus AGRIPPA, around 20 B.C., constructed the first major baths in the city, in the area of the Campus Martius. The baths that bore his name stood until 80 A.D. when they were consumed in the fire that destroyed much of the Campus Martius. The GOLDEN HOUSE OF NERO was described by SUETONIUS as having running sea water and sulphur water. Perhaps based on the Golden House, TITUS constructed a large series of rooms that included a bath with all of the essential elements plus two palaestrae, although it lacked a natatio. The much larger Baths of Trajan were begun in 104 A.D. and took five years to complete under the architect APOLLODORUS. He brilliantly placed the frigidarium in an elevated middle position, allowing everything else to revolve around it, including the extensive natatio. These baths, situated on the Esquiline and utilizing much of the Golden House, were the largest structure yet built and remained so until CARACALLA'S reign.
The vast Baths of Caracalla, completed by his successors, represented the height of bath architecture. There were libraries, gardens, gymnasiums and cisterns. The natatio was large and positioned to maximize the sky overhead; further, screens and walls semi-enclosed its area. Vaster in size was the frigidarium, which was supported by cross vaults and surrounded by small pools. The caldarium was moved away from the interior of the baths and set in its own position with a magnificent dome, some 35 meters high. Caracalla's Baths remained in excellent condition for centuries and have preserved even into the 20th century their scale and ambition.
DIOCLETIAN was next to order new baths for Rome, finishing in 306 the work begun by MAXIMIAN in 298. They resembled Caracalla's baths but were simpler in design, though they were certainly well built, for they stand today.
The provinces and cities of the Empire adapted these designs. In Africa, in LEPCIS MAGNA and CARTHAGE baths were erected. Lepcis Magna offered both Hadrianic Baths and smaller Hunting Baths of the late 2nd century A.D. Carthage boasted the extensive Antonine Baths (mid-2nd century A.D.) near the ocean, pointing to the economic success of both city and province. Tivoli, the resort of Hadrian, possessed two thermae, a small and a large. The Small Baths were probably the emperor's personal area and were a twisting amalgam of shapes and sizes. The large Baths were very conventional, with cross vaults over the frigidarium.
¤ BATHYLLUS (fl. early 1st century A.D.) Pantomime actor from Alexandria. Bathyllus was the freedman of Gaius MAECENAS, who was his patron and most ardent admirer. Through his influence, Bathyllus became, with Pylades, one of the leading actors of his time.
¤ BATO (1) (d. 9 A.D.) Chief of the Breucian tribes of PANNONIA. In 6 A.D. he used the departure of the governor of ILLYRICUM and Pannonia, Valerius Mesallinus, who meant to aid Tiberius in his German campaign, as a suitable time to lead his people in a revolt. The Breucians marched against Sirmium but were severely checked by Caecina Severus, governor of Moesia, who had moved swiftly to defend Dlyricum and Pannonia. Defeated but not broken, Bato the Breucian allied himself to Bato the Dalmatian, and their combined armies took refuge in the mountainous territory of Pannonia. The two Batos were again defeated, this time by King Rhoemetalces of Thrace, but again survived annihilation. Using guerrilla tactics they ravaged Illyricum and even broke into MACEDONIA. Germanicus was dispatched by Augustus to the Danube frontier. But victory still eluded Rome, and Bato the Breucian was undone only because of the suspicion of his ally. Bato the Dalmatian disliked the Breucian's taking of hostages from the tribes, trapped him and put him to death.
¤ BATO (2) (fl. early 1st century A.D.) Chief of the Dalmatians who led a major revolt in ILLYRICUM and PANNONIA. In 6 A.D., reluctantly assembling his warriors for use by the Romans in Tiberius's campaign against the Germans, Bato decided instead that he had enough troops to rebel, especially in the absence of the governor Valerius Messallinus, who was away with Tiberius. The Dalmatians marched on the city of Salonae but Bato was wounded. He dispatched a column to the coast, threatening Tiberius' communications with Italy. Mesallinus marched to give battle; although outnumbering the Romans, Bato was defeated.
An alliance was formed shortly thereafter with Bato the Breucian (see BATO [1]). After receiving another blow at the hands of Rhoemetalces of Thrace, the allies nevertheless ravaged Illyricum and threatened Greece via Macedonia. Sometime in 8 A.D. Bato the Dalmatian fell out with Bato the Breucian and had him killed, whereupon the Breucians broke the alliance and were easily conquered by Caecina Severus, governor of Moesia. Bato fled into Pannonia. Tiberius and Germanicus besieged him at Andetrium, a fortress near Salonae. Seeing his garrison reduced, Bato fled but eventually surrendered after receiving a pledge of his safety. Tiberius asked him why he had revolted, and his answer cut to the heart of a problem underlying the imperial system of provincial government: Rome, he said, sent as protectors of its flocks, not dogs or even shepherds, but wolves.
¤ BAULI A small community near the towns of BALAE and Misenum; composed of the estates of the most powerful figures in Rome. Like Baiae, the area was for centuries a retreat for senators and emperors. This, and its location directly across the bay from Puteoli in Campania, made Bauli susceptible to the bizarre plans of GAIUS CALIGULA.
The astrologer THRASYLLUS, servant of Tiberius, once prophesied that Gaius had as much chance of becoming emperor as he did of riding dryshod across the Gulf of Baiae between Puteoli and Bauli. To prove the prediction false, Caligula ordered in 39 A.D. a bridge of boats be thrown across the bay. Every boat in Italy was commissioned, causing starvation and food shortages, and other boats were built on the spot. A massive project, the historian Dio reported that there were rooms, resting places and running water on the bridge. Dressed like Alexander the Great, Caligula for days paraded his friends and his Praetorian Guard from shore to shore as he rode in a chariot, with Darius, a prince of the Arsacids, at his side.
¤ BAUTO (d. c. 388 A.D.) MAGISTER MILITUM under Emperor Valentinian II, Bauto was one of the first and most powerful generals of the Late Empire. He both interfered in imperial policies and directed their course through his daughter, Aelia EUDOXIA, who became the wife of Eastern Emperor Arcadius.
According to Zosimus, Bauto, a Frank, was sent by Gratian, the emperor of the West, to aid Theodosius on the Balkan and Danube frontiers after the disastrous battle of ADRIANOPLE in 378 A.D. As a general he was valued by Valentinian II, who brought him back to defend Italy against the attack of the usurper Magnus MAXIMUS. Henceforth, Bauto influenced Valentinian's policy in the West, working as an ally or as a neutral with AMBROSE, the bishop of Milan. He achieved the consulship in 385, serving with Arcadius, who married his daughter in 395. His control over Valentinian ended, however, around 388, and it can be assumed that he died in that year. His wife was probably a Roman, and his daughter was given a Roman education.
¤ BEDRIACUM A town in northern Italy, located on the Via Postuma, between the cities of Cremona and Verona. In 69 A.D. it was the site of two major battles. The first confrontation was on April 15; it brought to an end the brief reign of Emperor OTHO, at the hands of the army of VITELLIUS. Otho had begun his reign with the assassination of Galba but discovered immediately that the German legions were in revolt, having declared their commander, Vitellius, emperor of Rome. Two legates, Aulus CAECINA ALIENUS of the IV Legion and Fabius VALENS of the I Legion at Bonn, assumed control of Vitellius' army and set out for Rome with approximately 70,000 men.
In Rome, Otho cultivated popular support and garnered the oaths of legions in Pannonia, Dalmatia and Moesia, and that of the commander VESPASIAN in Judaea, but could not muster more than 25,000 men for the campaign. Although additional legions were marching to his aid, the bulk of his troops were from the reliable PRAETORIAN GUARD. His generals included the aged Marius Celsus, the Praetorian Prefect Licinius Proculus, Suetonius Paulinus and Annius Gallus. Vitellius' legions breached the Alps and fought several inconclusive skirmishes in northern Italy with the Othonians. The first large battle took place at PLACENTIA, between Caecina and several contingents of Otho's Praetorians. Although outnumbering the Othonians, the veterans of Germany did not fare well.
By April, Otho was reinforced by the first troops from the Danube legions. Paulinus, Celsus and Gallus called for patience. Victory could be won with additional forces. But Proculus and his brother, who possessed Otho's ear, counseled bold action, citing Otho's military genius. As Tacitus noted: "Such was the language of flattery. They made their position palatable, and no man presumed to administer an antidote." Battle would be given. Otho commanded his army from the town of Brixellum, some miles from Bedriacum, while his legions grew despondent and fatigued.
Otho's generals entered the contest with the I Adjutrix, the XII Pannonian, gladiators and the Praetorian Guard in the center position. The XIV Legion from Britain stood as a reserve. They were opposed by the XXI Legion, the V Alaudae, the cohorts of Batavians and the I Italian, which faced the Praetorians directly.
The I Adjutrix plowed into the XXI, and the Vitellians lost their eagle. Recovering quickly, the German veterans launched a brutal counterattack, and the Othonian I Adjutrix broke apart, its young cohorts disintegrating. Vitellius' other legion, the Alaudae, routed the XII Pannonian, and then put the XIV from Britian to flight as well. Only the Praetorians refused to yield ground, bloodily dueling the I Italian Legion to a standstill. The Batavians, however, tipped the scales against them, finishing the rout of Otho's wings. Facing retreat or total annihilation, the Praetorians withdrew.
The next morning Otho's camp at Bedriacum lay open to Valens and Caecina. The Praetorians pulled back to Brixellum to be with the emperor. Otho killed himself at dawn on April 17, 69. Vitellius marched to Rome to become emperor. His reign would not last much longer than Otho's, however, for Vespasian was also on his way to Rome and would claim the throne for himself. Accounts of the battle were written by Tacitus, Suetonius, Dio and Josephus.
A second military engagement was fought at Bedriacum - actually at Cremona, some miles distant - on October 27, 69 A.D., between the legions of Emperor VITELLIUS and the army of Antonius PRIMUS, who represented the cause of VESPASIAN. After crushing the Othonians in April, Vitellius had proceeded to Rome and there humiliated the Praetorian Guard by replacing it with new members; incensed the Danube Legions with cruel treatment; refused to allow the dead at Bedriacum to be buried; and then demonstrated a pernicious avarice and gluttony. The discontented legions chose Vespasian, general of the legions in JUDAEA, to remove Vitellius from power.
Titus, Vespasian's son, Mucianus, the governor of Syria, and Tiberius Julius Alexander, the prefect of Egypt, urged Vespasian to accept the throne. The balance of the legions joined in his crusade. Tiberius Alexander administered the oath of allegiance to the troops on July 1, and plans were begun for a march on Rome.
Meanwhile, Antonius Primus, the legate on the Danube, and Cornelius FUSCUS, the procurator of Pannonia, stirred up the Danubian Legions and were soon joined by the disbanded Praetorian Guards, by now a ferocious enemy of Vitellius. These three western legions set out for Italy, even before Vespasian's eastern legions could begin their march. Vitellius sent his legate, Alienus Caecina, with six legions to the north to confront Primus. Intending to defect to Vespasian, Caecina ignored orders from Rome and dispatched the bulk of his forces to Cremona, while a large detachment moved to Hostilia, a city on the Po River. Primus moved southward across the Alps, investing Verona and using it as the center of his operations - unaware that Vespasian had ordered that no troops cross the great mountains, preferring to leave the war to the hard-marching Mucianus. Letters from Caecina to Primus set the groundwork for betrayal, and Caecina, with the backing of the fleet in the Adriatic, proposed to his legions that they join the Flavian cause. His plans were dashed when his own soldiers placed him in chains. From Cremona the legions marched out to give battle to the waiting Primus.
The now-leaderless Vitellians formed up from right to left, cavalry and auxiliaries, XXII, XVI, I, V, and IV Legions, with more auxiliaries and cavalry. The British Legions, the IX, II and XX, stood in reserve. Opposite them, near the crossroads of the Via Postuma, were Primus' legions, from right to left: cavalry, auxiliary cohorts, the III, VIII, XIII, VII Galbiana, and VII Claudia, with more auxiliaries and cavalry. The Praetorians formed a powerful reserve.
Altogether, 100,000 men stood poised for death. The Vitellians were numerically superior, but, as Tacitus noted, the soldiers of the emperor had grown soft during their days in Rome. Tacitus wrote that "The battle lasted through the night with great slaughter on both sides, and alternate success." The eagles were lost, retaken and lost again. The dead piled up on the field. Slowly the Vitellians gained the edge but then lost it as Primus threw in the fanatical cohorts of the Guard. A rout was started, but then prevented, as the Vitellians dragged up siege engines and opened fire with great effect on the Flavians. Two soldiers saved the battle by cutting the ropes on the engines. Nature then turned on Vitellius as the moon rose high in the sky, shining on his soldiers' faces and shrouding Primus' legions. According to Tacitus, Primus exhorted the Praetorians: "Now is your time to conquer, or renounce the name of soldiers." At dawn the Flavian legions from Syria cheered the new day. The Vitellians, knowing nothing of this tradition from Syria, believed reinforcements had arrived and fled the scene. Cremona was pillaged, looted and burned to the ground. Vitellius, in Rome, could only wait the arrival of Primus, Mucianus and Vespasian, the next emperor of the Roman Empire. Accounts of the battle were written by Tacitus, Suetonius, Dio, Josephus and Plutarch.
¤ BELGAE A people, probably of German extraction, living in GALLIA Belgica, the most northern area of Gaul, near the Rhine, the North Sea and the Sequani. Because of their location they not only fought with the BATAVI but, at the time of Caesar's GALLIC WARS, were also the most "uncivilized" Gallic people. They were reportedly hard, cruel and vicious in battle, the hardest to subdue, and even extended their influence into Britain. The Belgae penetrated the southeastern coast of Britain in the early 1st century B.C. and intervened there in subsequent years, although direct control was not possible. These ties remained until Julius Caesar destroyed the Belgae on the continent and thus put an end to their holdings in Britain.
¤ BELGICA See GALLIA.
¤ BELLONA A goddess of the Roman pantheon, generally associated with war. Her temple stood in the Campus Martius and formed a relationship with the god Mars, her temple resting near his altar. She was later associated with the Cappadocian goddess Ma.
¤ BENEVENTUM Town in the south-central region of Samnium in Italy, along the Appian Way. Beneventum was one of the oldest towns in Italy, but for many years was called Maleventum, because of its bad air. During the Empire it saw heavy traffic bound to and from southern Italy and thus depended upon good roads. Nerva planned to improve the roads, but it was not until Trajan's era that serious work was accomplished. The emperor completely rebuilt the circuit from Beneventum to Brundisium. In gratitude, the stretch was renamed the Via Traiana and the famed Arch of Trajan (see ARCHES) was constructed in 117 A.D. to mark the start of the road. A temple dedicated to Isis, the patron of Beneventum, was built during the reign of Domitian.
¤ BERENICE
Berenice, from a bust of the Jewish Princess
BERENICE (b. 28 A.D.) Jewish princess; the daughter of Agrippa I and a sister of King Agrippa II of Judaea. Berenice was first married to the brother of Tiberius Julius Alexander, the prefect of Egypt, and then, in 46 A.D., to her uncle Herod of Chalcis, a minor prince by whom she had two sons. Herod died in 48, and she moved back with her brother Agrippa, sharing in the rule of Judaea. In 50, she also ruled Chalcis, when Emperor Claudius granted Agrippa control of the region too.
Her relations with the populace of Judaea were never good. Rumors abounded that she carried on incestuously with her brother. A marriage to a Cilician priest-king, sometime around 54, neither lasted nor improved her standing with the Jews. In 67, Titus arrived in the province and fell in love with her, an affair that lasted for years.
When Agrippa visited Rome in 75, he brought Berenice with him, and she moved into the palace, living openly with Titus. According to various sources, she expected to marry Titus one day. The Romans took little pleasure in the thought of another Eastern princess involved in the imperial politics; with the name "Cleopatra" floating through the city, Titus was compelled to send Berenice away.
¤ BERYTUS City in Phoenicia (later Syria), long prosperous under the Seleucid kings and the Roman Empire. In 32 B.C., Berytus played a role in the Civil War between Octavian (later Emperor AUGUSTUS) and Antony and Cleopatra, by revolting against the Egyptian queen. It declared its independence and issued its own coinage. As part of Augustus' reorganization of the East, Marcus Agrippa settled veterans in the area, converting Berytus into a Roman colony. This transformation in 16 B.C. not only helped establish the city as part of the Empire, but also provided the colony with territory stretching all the way to Baalbek. Berytus was located on the major trade routes traversing Syria and drew the attention of others, such as Agrippa I of Judaea, who gave the people art works and an amphitheater. Romanization was complete by the 2nd century, and, aside from the textiles for which the entire province was famed, Berytus' reputation increasingly depended upon its school of law. Students from all over the Empire traveled to the city to be instructed in law, and Berytus greatly influenced Roman legal development. Courses were given in Latin, not Greek. As a center for higher learning, the city remained integral to imperial education until at least the 5th century.
¤ BETRIACUM See BEDRIACUM.
¤ BIBRACTE Capital of the powerful Gallic tribe, the Aedui, Bibracte was situated on a hill (now Mount Beuvray in east-central France) in Gallia Lugdunensis. A battle was fought there in July of 58 B.C., between Julius CAESAR and the migrating Helvetians. After defeating the Helvetians at the battle of ARAR, Caesar took up a defensive position in the face of an enemy counteroffensive. He had at his disposal some 30,000 legionnaires, 2,000 Gallic auxiliaries and about 4,000 cavalry. Although the Helvetians had some 70,000 warriors, their attack was a disaster. Caesar's legions stood firm and then shattered the increasingly confused barbarians. An all-out Roman assault ensued, driving the Helvetians back into their camp, where their women and children became entangled in the massacre. Over 120,000 Helvetians died on the site, and those who survived retreated into their homelands. The site was abandoned after the Gallic Wars in favor of AUGUSTODONUM.
¤ BIBULUS, LUCIUS CALPURNIUS (d. 32 or 31 B.C.) Son of Marcus Calpurnius BIBULUS and Porcia; followed in his father's footsteps, espousing anti-Caesarian beliefs and joining his father-in-law, Marcus Brutus, against Marc ANTONY at the battle of PHILIPPI in 42 B.C. Although proscribed and eventually captured by Antony, he entered his service and over time reached an accord with the general. As Antony's lieutenant, Bibulus acted as a messenger between the triumvir and his comrade Octavian (see AUGUSTUS) and then looked after his own affairs in Syria, where he died. Bibulus was noted for a history of Marcus Brutus and was a prose writer in the last Republican period.
¤ BIBULUS, MARCUS CALPURNIUS (d. 48 B.C.) Roman politician in the late Republic. Bibulus was one of Julius Caesar's early partners and served with him in the aedileship (65 B.C.), praetorship (62 B.C.) and the consulship (59 B.C.). He believed in the aristocratic party and looked disapprovingly on the growing powers of the FIRST TRIUMVIRATE. He was forced by violence to abandon his intentions of blocking Caesar's agrarian laws, and thereafter withdrew from all public or political activities and fought Caesar's legislation by viewing the stars for omens. His absence, it was said humorously, created the consulship of Julius and Caesar.
In 52 B.C.. Bibulus took up the cause of Pompey, proposing him for the consulship. As the Civil Wars erupted, he first governed Syria for Pompey and then commanded the Adriatic fleet, where he worked himself to death. He was married to Porcia, who gave him a son, Lucius Calpurnius BIBULUS. Dio noted that so great an admiral was Bibulus that Antony had not dared to sail from Brundisium.
¤ BITHYNIA Roman province in ASIA MINOR, bordered by ASIA, Galatia and the Black Sea. Bithynia was a pivotal territory in the Empire, for it served as the geographical, economic and cultural bridge over the Bosporus for East and West. Its importance, moreover, increased as imperial power shifted eastward in the 4th century A.D.
In 74 B.C., Nicomedes IV, a Mithridaric king, bequeathed to Rome his kingdom along the Black Sea, and when Augustus established the Empire, Bithynia was classified as a senatorial province, under a PROCONSUL. Bithynia shared in the development of economic wealth that characterized the entire region of Asia Minor. Located on direct trade routes, the communities benefited from a local economy based on agriculture, timber and iron. Its major tities included such metropolises as NICOMEDIA, NICAEA and Prusa. It was governed as a senatorial province, with the seat at Nicomedia on the Black Sea, though the Nicaeans repeatedly tried to gain that advantage.
Beginning with Trajan, special legates, based in Nicomedia, were appointed to aid in the administration of Bithynia, rooting out corruption among civil servants, auditing city accounts and suppressing political movements and Christianity. Bithynia's political environment is understood more clearly than virtually any other province because of the writings of PLINY THE YOUNGER, who served as the first legate from 109 A.D. Pliny constantly communicated with Rome, especially with Trajan, and proposed building a canal for Nicomedia, along the coast, and a series of aqueducts, though neither project was ever completed. The legates in Bithynia exercised greater imperial control and were given the right to examine the accounts of the free cities of Anisus and CHALCEDON, a temporary but significant authority. Marcus Aurelius finally redesignated Bithynia as an imperial province. Another famous Bithynian politician was the philosopher Dio Chrysostom (DIO COCCEIANUS), who represented his native Prusa in a delegation to Trajan at his accession in 98 A.D. He requested from the emperor the right to a larger city council, permission to redevelop the city and a waiver on taxes, which was denied, not surprisingly.
Bithynia was not immune to the decline of imperial power in the 3rd century. Starting in 256 A.D., a terrible seaborne invasion of GOTHS devastated much of the province. Chalcedon, Nicomedia, Prusa and Nicaea were all captured and plundered. By the late 3rd century, Diocletian rejected the Roman establishment and made Nicomedia his capital for a time. Constantine the Great, however, was most responsible for Bithynia's role in the Eastern Empire. He created CONSTANTINOPLE and favored Nicaea, where he held the great council in 325 A.D.
Nicaea was the appropriate location for a Christian council. Bithynia was the gateway for Christianity into Europe, and Pliny had written of the new sect in his province. Its popularity increased, and with Constantine was legitimized. During the era of the Christian Empire, the Bithynian bishops were involved with the Arian heresy (see ARIANISM). Because of the territorial grants made by Nicomedes, the province was also known as Bithynia-Pontus. Of note is the terrible earthquake that flattened Nicomedia on August 24, 358 A.D Under the Late Empire, Bithynia was part of the Eastern provinces and was spared some of the ravages that befell the West.
¤ BLACK SEA Body of water that washes what were the northern shores of the province of BITHYNIA and the rest of Asia Minor, and the Caucusus, Thrace, Moesia and Scythia. The Black Sea was of considerable importance to the Romans because of its location and because of the economic activity centered upon it.
Seaborne goods ranging from cloths to wine and agricultural products crossed the Black Sea. The most important was grain from the kingdom of the BOSPORUS, whose fields in southern Russia supplied Bithynia and Asia. Roman fleets also scoured the Black Sea in search of pirates. The fleet operating out of NICOMEDIA was effective and increased the influence of the Empire along the northern coasts. Determined military alertness was essential, given the presence of the hostile SARMATIANS and Scythians. By the 3rd century, with the arrival of the GOTHS, Rome's domination was seriously opposed. Starting in 254, the Bosporus nations were compelled to supply ships to the Goths, and the barbarians swept over the Black Sea and pillaged Asia Minor. ARRIAN wrote Circumnavigation of the Black Sea; the Latin name for the sea was Pontus Euxinus (a Latin transliteration of the Greek, meaning "hospitable sea").
¤ BLAESUS, QUINTUS JUNIUS (d. 31 A.D.) General and governor of Pannonia and Africa, whose military career of successes and failures was ended by association with his nephew, the Praetorian Prefect SEJANUS. Blaesus was the governor of Pannonia in 14 A.D., a very important frontier post, but when Emperor Augustus died, his three legions, the VIII Augustus, IX Hispania and XV Apollinaris, mutinied. Under the urgings of a soldier Percennius, the troops erupted, demanded better service conditions, tried to kill Blaesus and tortured his slaves. Blaesus sent envoys to the new Emperor Tiberius, informing him that the frontier was now virtually defenseless. Drusus, Tiberius' son, arrived with several cohorts of the Praetorian Guard, and only by the good fortune of a lunar eclipse was order restored. Blaesus had lost control of his legions, but by 21 A.D. was supported by the powerful political arm of his nephew, Sejanus. He became proconsul of Africa in 21, where he conducted himself well; and his command was extended. He soon after achieved his greatest success, defeating the famed African pirate TACFARINAS. In 22, Tiberius granted him the title of IMPERA-TOR. When Sejanus fell from power, however, Blaesus was one of the first on Tiberius' long list of victims. In 31, Blaesus was killed, and his two sons committed suicide.
¤ BONA DEA Roman goddess worshiped in festivals attended exclusively, with one famous exception, by women. She was traditionally the wife or daughter of Faunus, hence her other name, Fauna, and her role as the patroness of chastity. The VESTAL VIRGINS conducted her festival on the 1st of May, always in the home of the chief consul or praetor, with his wife presiding. A sow was sacrificed to her. It was long a tradition that no male was allowed at the sacrifices, made on behalf of the Roman people. On one occasion this custom was violated. In 62 B.C., CLODIUS PULCHER entered the house of Caesar dressed as a woman and thus committed a great outrage against the tradition and the religious ideals of the nation.
¤ BONIFACE (fl. early 5th century A.D.) Also Bonifatius, a MAGISTER MILITUM in Africa. In 421, Boniface was assigned the task of aiding the general and come domesticorum, CASTINUS, in his campaigns against the VANDALS in Spain. Already a noted soldier, Boniface quarreled immediately with Castinus and departed for Africa. Castinus' subsequent defeat was blamed on Boniface and the influence of the empress, Galla Placidia, wife of Emperor Constantius III. When the powerful Honorius exiled Placidia in 422, Boniface sent Placidia money and in 423-425 defended Africa loyally for her and her son, Valentinian III, against the usurper John. John's defeat simply opened the door for the more cunning magister militum, AETIUS.
By 427, Boniface was strengthening his own hold over Africa. He was a close friend of St. AUGUSTINE but isolated himself politically with a marriage to an Arian woman named Pelagia. Under the influence of the magister utriusque militiae Felix, Galla Placidia recalled Boniface to Ravenna. He refused and then defeated the armies sent to subdue him. In an effort to strengthen his position, he invited the Vandals to invade. In 429, GEISERIC, the Vandal king, led the entire Vandal nation across the Mediterranean. Galla Placidia sought Boniface's support through an intermediary named Darius, and Boniface once more represented imperial interests but was soundly defeated by the Vandals and besieged for a year at HIPPO in Africa in 431. The city was sacked and effective resistance in Africa collapsed. Galla Placidia welcomed Boniface, and, faced with two great generals, she removed Aetius and elevated her favorite to the patricianate. Outraged, Aetius gathered an army and stormed over the Alps. At Arminium the two met, and Aetius was defeated. Though victorious, Boniface was wounded and died three months later. Aetius left Italy, gained the alliance of RUGILA, the king of the Huns, and returned to negotiate with Galla Placidia. Boniface's wife was compelled to marry Aetius and thus to deliver up the army of Boniface to him.
¤ BOSPORUS KINGDOM Domain located on the north shore of the Black Sea and one of the most important buffer states for Rome. The Bosporus kingdom controlled the region opposite Asia Minor and was closely connected to PONTUS, which it once ruled. The kingdom was of interest to the Romans for several reasons. The fields of the Ukraine and southern Russia (Crimea), though populated by the nomadic SARMATIANS, provided the bulk of the agricultural resources for Asia Minor. More important were the geopolitical realities of the Black Sea area. The Bosporus buffered the Roman provinces from potential invaisons by the Sarmatians and the SCYTHIANS, who inhabited all of the Crimea and much of the Steppes. Parthian expansion was also checked there.
After the battle of ZELA in 47 B.C., Asander, the slayer of Mithridates of Pergamum, gained the throne and ruled for the next 30 years. In 17 B.C., Emperor Augustus desired greater control and assigned to AGRIPPA the task of finding a reliable king. Agrippa compelled Dynamis, the daughter of Pharnaces, who was defeated by Caesar at Zela, to marry Polemo of Pontus. The marriage proved unsuccessful, and Polemo was ousted in favor of Dynamis and her new husband, the Sarma tian Aspurgus.
After Emperor GAIUS CALIGULA gave the Bosporus lands to Polemo II of Pontus, Emperor Claudius, in 39 A.D., decided upon one of Aspurgus' two sons, Mithridates (the other was Cotys). Mithridates, however, had to share his rule with a Thracian stepmother, Gepaepyris (the natural mother of Cotys). Cotys alerted Claudius in 44 or 45 A.D. that Mithridates planned rebellion. Didius Gallus, the governor of Moesia, removed Mithridates and installed his brother on the throne. Mithridates, however, found Sarmatian allies but was defeated in battle and sent to Rome.
By 62 A.D., the coinage of Cotys ceased being issued, an indication of the loss of independence. Nero, planning to conquer the Sarmatians, annexed the kingdom. Cotys was dead, deposed or reduced to a figurehead. Roman occupation of the region lasted until Nero's fall in 68 A.D., and Cotys's son Rhescuporis regained a client status. Semi-independent once more, the Bosporus continued its trade with Asia Minor, despite the arrival in the 1st century A.D. of the ALANS. Although the Scythians were aggressive and threatening, relations with the Sarmatians were so favorable that by the 2nd century a Sarmatian influence dominated the kingdom.
¤ BOUDICCA (d. 61 A.D.) Also called Boadaecia or Boadecia; leader of one of the most famous and bloody revolts ever mounted against Rome. Boudicca was ruler of the powerful tribe, the ICENI, with her husband PRASUTAGUS. They reigned in an area north of Cambridge and Colchester, in what is now Norfolk and Sussex in Britain. In 61 A.D. Prasutagus died and left his kingdom to Emperor Nero, believing that client status would assure its survival. The imperial response was, according to Tacitus, appalling: Roman legionnaires plunderd the realm, flogged the queen and ravished her daughters. CATUS, the procurator of Britain, fomented the revolt further by demanding funds back from the Iceni, given by the Romans in the past as gifts. SENECA also called for the return of 40 million sesterces he had forced the Britons to accept as a loan.
Boudicca gathered her warriors and with the blessings of her DRUIDS called for a war against Rome. While the legate of the local legions, SUETONIUS PAULINUS, was away on a campaign to subjugate the Druids on Anglesey Island, the queen's force grew to some 120,000 men.
The strength of Boudicca's attack was compounded by surprise. Suetonius had made no preparations for a revolt. CAMULODUNUM (Colchester), the center of Roman administration, was undefended as Boudicca stormed it easily, burning it to the ground. The Iceni collided with the legions of Petillius CEREALIS, and the cohorts were destroyed, retreating to LINDUM; Catus fled to Gaul. When Paulinus received word of the rebellion and returned, Boudicca was threatening Lincoln, and more importantly, LONDINIUM (London). Paulinus was forced to abandon London; the city fell to Iceni, and its inhabitants were massacred. Verulamium was captured next, while the Romans regrouped for war.
Suetonius had assembled his troops near Verulamium (St. Alban's), where he awaited the Iceni. With their wives and children in nearby wagons to watch, the warriors of Boudicca swept forward, screaming as they came to grips with the enemy. The Romans held firm, however, and then counterattacked, smashing the Briton forces. Boudicca's troops broke but were hemmed in by their own wagons, and men, women and children were thus annihilated by the vengeful cohorts. Tacitus put the number of Iceni dead at 80,000, a suspicious number. The losses were unquestionably high, however, and Boudicca's power was crushed. Rather than face Roman retaliation, she retuned to her home and committed suicide.
Boudicca reportedly wiped out 70,000 colonists and townsfolk, ending imperial policies of colonization without fortifications. Dio described Boudicca in some detail, stating:
-> In stature she was very tall, in appearance most terrifying, in the glance of her eye most fierce, and her voice was harsh; a great mass of the tawniest hair fell to her hips; around her neck was a large golden necklace; and she wore a tunic of diverse colours over which a thick mantle was fashioned with a brooch. <- ¤ BRIGANTES The most populous and powerful tribe in Britain until the era of Emperor VESPASIAN (69-79 A.D.). Brigantian influence stretched from the River Tyne to the Trent, and included such cities as Isurium (Aldborough), Olicana (Ilkley), Mancunium (Manchester) and the legionary fort at EBURACUM (York). Not one specific people like the CELTS, the Brigantes were actually a confederation of tribes acting in mutual coopertion. The Romans first encountered the Brigantes during the era of P. Ostorius SCAPULA, in 50 A.D., when they joined the ICENI in an assault. The Brigantes were driven off, and circa 51 the queen of the Brigantes, Cartimandua, signed a treaty with Emperor Claudius, bringing a short-lived peace. When the queen parted violently from her husband Venutius, civil war resulted in his exile. A counterattack threw her off the throne. Remembering that she had handed over the British rebel, Caratacus, Claudius supported her cause. She was reinstated by the Roman army and ruled over a divided people. In 68, Venutius, who had reconciled with Cartimandua, was again ousted from the palace, and Vespasian intervened. CEREALIS led the campaign to establish Roman domination in 71, driving the Brigantes northward and establishing superiority all the way to Eburacum. His work was carried on by AGRICOLA, who pacified the region and established roads and forts. The Brigantes had not surrendered, however, and in 138, the WALL OF HADRIAN was breached and they attacked Roman areas. The new governor, LOLLIUS URBICUS, beat the tribes back beyond the wall and then established a new perimeter of defense, the WALL OF ANTONINUS, farther north. The tribes attacked again in 154, and the Antonine Wall did not stem their invasion. Legions from Germany were dispatched to the scene to restore order. By this time, however, the strength of the Brigantes had been sapped. ¤ BRITAIN See BRITANNIA (1). ¤ BRITANNIA (1) The British Isles, also called Albion; the focus of numerous Roman invasions and colonization. Roman Rule Map - The Roman Conquest of Britain, 54 B.C. - 100 A.D. Britannia (or Britain) was originally known as Insulae Britannicae and contained several cultures of interest, the most important being that of the CELTS, transplanted from Gaul (see GALLIA). Celtic society was isolated by the now-English Channel in many respects. Thus DRUIDISM, a cornerstone in the life of the Celts, developed more richly than in Gaul and was far more powerful. It was only in the 1st century B.C. that new waves of people crossed the water and attempted to establish themselves in Britain. The BELGAE took over much of the countryside in the southwest, while maintaining strong ties with their homeland in Gallia Belgica. In 55 B.C., as a sidebar campaign to his GALLIC WARS, Julius CAESAR crossed the Channel. Sailing with two legions, he landed at Dover on August 26 and moved on to Kent. Fierce battles ensued with the local inhabitants. Victory was delayed because of further uprisings and a storm that wrecked many of the Roman transports. After putting down the last of the Kentish tribes, Caesar left Britannia in September. The following year, in July, the Romans began a second invasion. This time 600 transports, five legions and around 2,000 Gallic horsemen arrived in Kent to discover no unified oppostion from the local tribes. A quick advance could have concretized Caesar's position, but another storm wrecked many of his ships and allowed time for the chieftain CASSIVELLAUNUS and his chariot-driving Belgae near the Thames to organize. The chieftain was beaten in a pitched battle. Mandubracius, leader of an oppressed tribe, the Trinovantes, then joined Caesar's cause. These tribesmen helped the legions subdue Cassivellaunus and shared in the subsequent treaty. Because the Gallic peoples, in his absence, had started another revolt, Caesar retreated to Kent and set sail from Britain for the last time. Caesar had done little to convince the Britons of Roman supremacy in arms. Cassivellaunus probably never paid his promised tribute, and no doubt conquered the Trinovantes. A strong kingdom was established in southern Britannia, centered at Lexden near CAMULODUNUM (Colchester), under Cassivellaunus and his son Tasciovanus. They were joined by the Gallic chief COMMIUS, who had fled Gallia Belgica during Caesar's war against VERCINGETORIX (52 B.C.). An extensive Belgian influence was consequently felt throughout the island's southern domains. By Augustus's era, CUNOBELLINUS, son of Tasciovanus, ruled much of the isles, coexisting with the kingdoms of the ICENI, the BRIGANTES and the Silures. Cunobellinus ran his affairs most intelligently. Local Britons were never so oppressed as to revolt, and his organization was strong enough that an actual invasion by the Romans would have been a massive and precarious undertaking. AUGUSTUS refused to mount any expedition, considering such a venture wasteful, although Dio reported that he planned twice to invade, once in 34 B.C. and again in 27 B.C. He was prevented by more pressing matters in the Empire. Division ripped the Colchester Kingdom, meanwhile, as Cunobellinus' sons differed over policy. Amminius favored Rome, while CARATACUS and Togodumnus despised the Romans. Amminius fled and promised the realm to GAIUS CALIGULA, who made a rash display of Roman power along the coast to receive Amminius. He then wrote to the Senate that all of Britain had surrendered. When Cunobellinus finally died c. 41 A.D., his two remaining sons pledged their hatred of Rome. In 43, CLAUDIUS put forward the plan for conquest that Caesar had envisioned so long ago. General Aulus PLAUTIUS sailed to Kent with some four legions and auxiliaries. Plautius landed unopposed and defeated first Caratacus and then Togodumnus, who died in battle. When Claudius himself arrived, with elephants no less, Caratacus's kingdom collapsed. The fallen domain became a province, with Plautius as its first governor. In 47, P. Ostorius SCAPULA took over the governorship and pacified all of the old territories of the Belgae. Caratacus, however, refused to yield, and stirred up the Silures in Wales, leading a revolt. When it was crushed, Caratacus fled to CARTIMANDUA, the queen of the Brigantes, who by treaty handed him over to the Romans for punishment. PRASUTAGUS, the king of the Iceni, opposed the new frontier of 47 and was suppressed. Upon his death the Romans seized his lands and caused the dangerous revolt of BOUDICCA, his widow. SUETONIUS PAULINUS defeated the rebellion, but the position of the occupying Roman forces had been seriously threatened. The FLAVIANS initiated a series of campaigns in Britain. Beginning in 71, the commander Petillius CEREALIS destroyed the power of the Brigantes, marching past EBURACUM (York). His successor, FRONTINUS, subjugated much of Wales and the hard-fighting Silures. AGRICOLA conquered the rest of the Welsh lands and the island of Mona, the Druid stronghold. The advance units of Agricola entered Scotland, as he penetrated into the Grampian Mountains and CALEDONIA. Forts were established along the Forth and Clyde, and a Roman presence permeated the entire country. In six short years (78-83/84 A.D.) Rome had annexed vast amounts of territory. The province of Britannia was called Britannia Romana, while the wild north was Britannia Barbara. Three legions were subsequently allotted to the new governor, and Roman policy assumed a far more defensive approach. The wild tribes were again pressing the frontiers, and a retreat was made to the Tyne-Solway line. Around 120, this new boundary was fortified by the WALL OF HADRIAN, 80 miles long. A few years later, the shorter WALL OF ANTONINUS was built. In 196, CLODIUS ALBINUS attempted to seize the throne from Emperor Septimius SEVERUS. He took his legions in Britannia to Gaul, leaving the province unprotected. The Caledonians beyond the walls burst through the perimeters. Massacres and devastation ensued, and Emperor Severus himself went to the isles. He repaired Hadrian's Wall and constructed a new one, just a short distance to the north, called the Severan Wall. A campaign began in Scotland, and in 209, several battles relieved the pressure on the frontier. The Caledonians still threatened, when Severus died at Eburacum while preparing for another attack. After his death the province was fortified again and made secure. Henceforth, Britannia was divided into two provinces, as the emperor could not trust a sole governor with three legions. The next years witnessed the preservation of Roman rule, but two important new developments as well. SAXONS were beginning to harass the coasts, and the Empire found itself increasingly unable to recover from such assaults. The usurper CARAUSIUS proved that a usurper could wreak havoc among the provinces, gaining the support of the Britons while doing it. DIOCLETIAN and CONSTANTIUS i CHLORUS eventually defeated him and his murderer, ALLECTUS, restoring Roman dominance in 297. The provinces were divided yet again, as a result, into four separate regions. CONSTANTINE THE GREAT launched his bid for rule from Eburacum in 306. As he pursued his goal, the walls in Britain stood unmanned; the PICTS and Scots plundered by land and the Saxons ravaged by sea. In 407, the usurper CONSTANTINE HI withdrew the remaining isle troops for use in Gaul, effectively ending Roman rule in Britannia. Culture and Colonization Britannia's culture was Celtic in origin. Throughout the southernmost regions there were Belgae Gallic influences, but the Celtic character remained predominant (an ancient lifestyle once enjoyed by the Gauls as well). The Celts painted themselves blue, the sacred Druid color, and HERODIAN wrote that tattoos were also common. He described the Britons as savage and warlike, armed with spears and shields, and with swords suspended from their waists. They also used chariots to great effect. Roman imperial civilization began in Claudius' reign, when Camulodunum (Colchester) fell in 43 A.D. Subsequent occupation saw the construction of harbor settlements near modern Fishbourne, just outside of Colchester; in 49, an actual colony was begun. Roman veterans helped establish the colonia, building a town with a provincial cult, a theater and baths. By the middle of the 1st century small towns were populating the Roman possession. Camulodunum was the capital, while other influential towns like VERULAMIUM (St. Alban's) and the trading center of LONDINIUM (London) sprang up. As with the other major towns and fledgling homesteads, London could not defend itself, a fact that became catastrophically evident in 61 A. D, during the revolt of Boudicca. Sweeping across the countryside, the vengeful Britons sacked Colchester, St. Albans and London, as well as every farm and estate in between. Although Tacitus' figure of 80,000 dead was high, losses were severe enough to ensure that all subsequent building was fortified. After the campaigns of Cerealis, Frontinus and Agricola from 71 to 84 A.D., towns were walled and economic prosperity increased. London came to serve as a vital link in the military control of the south and had a garrison, while more veterans arrived to establish colonies, such as those of Lincoln and Gloucester. In urban areas, Latin was used, and native art and culture waned. Outside of the cities, farming was an essential way of life, and the Romans relied upon this agricultural base. Considerable gentry holdings, the villas, ensured that agricultural products were pumped into the cities. But in the country, even in the villas, elements of Celtic culture endured. An excellent road system connected cities, which now sported public baths and temples, including ones to the IMPERIAL CULT. By Hadrian's reign (117-138 A.D.) many municipalities used street grid systems to expand. Under Cunobellinus the economy had fared well, and the Roman occupation following his reign merely tapped into that abundance. Agriculture, supported by the villas, was the source of Britannia's wealth. Wheat was grown to feed the natives and the legions and was used as an export. Aside from its verdant fields, the province boasted numerous mineral deposits. Tin was important in the 1st century A.D., and again in the 4th century, when Rome was forced to seek new resources to sustain itself. Iron exports helped the economy of the Empire as a whole, and administrators in Britannia mined it extensively. The geographer STRABO noted Britannia's economic wealth and exports in corn, cattle, gold, iron and silver. In the balance of trade, Gaul supplied pottery, manufactured goods and art, while Britannia exported minerals and agricultural products. There was little incentive for developing other industry, and the quality of life in the province was better than in many other imperial domains. While the Britons appeared highly Romanized, Celtic culture persisted, especially in the rural areas. Druidism was pervasive and hence viewed as dangerous; Suetonius Paulinus attacked the island of Mona, a Druid stronghold, and the Druids were massacred. Christianity faced the same resistance, and upon its arrival, which coincided with the decline of Roman power, it struggled to attract vast numbers of followers in the isles. ¤ BRITANNIA (2) The name given to a coin minted by emperors HADRIAN (117-138 A.D.) and ANTONIUS PIUS (117-161 A.D.) to celebrate their victories in Britain. The coin was decorated with the personified figure of Britannia. Its value was that of a sestertius. See also COINAGE. ¤ BRITANNICUS (41-55 A.D.) Son of Emperor CLAUDIUS and MESSALINA and the legitimate heir to the throne. Britannicus lived under a cloud from birth, being the offspring of Messalina, whose scandalous life had shocked Rome and resulted in her death. His position as heir was thus questioned and was hampered even further by the arrival of AGRIPPINA as Claudius' new wife, together with her son NERO. Britannicus appears to have done little to ingratiate himself with his stepmother and adopted brother. He refused the goodwill of Agrippina, referred to Nero by his original family name "Domiti" and later, in 55 A.D., went so far as to accuse Nero of being a usurper. With Claudius' death and Nero's claim to the throne supported by the Praetorian Guard and the Prefect BURRUS, Britannicus was left politically impotent. Already sensitive to the inflammatory accusation of usurper hurled at him, Nero plotted to remove Britannicus and charged a tribune of the Guard, Pollio Julius, with the task. The poison administered proved ineffective, and LUCUSTA, who had arranged the poison, died as a result. A second attempt worked perfectly. Britannicus, dining with the court, became ill, and many fled the scene in horror. Nero commented to the onlookers that Britannicus was subject to epileptic fits. ¤ BRUCTERI Germanic people living near the Ems and Lippe rivers; fought extensively in the wars against Roman expansion along the northern Rhine. In 4 A.D., TIBERIUS, campaigning in Germany, forced them to accept his domination, and in 14-15 A.D., Roman supremacy was certified in the defeat the Bructeri suffered from CAECINA SEVERUS, the legate of GERMANICUS. Although Germanicus thus avenged the annihilation of VARUS in 9 A.D. at the hands of ARMINIUS, the Bructeri simply waited for another moment in which to strike at the Romans. In 69 A.D., when Julius CIVILIS led the BATAVI in revolt, the Bructeri joined in the fray but were put to flight by petillius CEREALIS. Undaunted, the Bructeri priestess Veleda became the heart of the Bructeri resistance, and the target of Roman operations. In 75-78 A.D., RUTILIUS GALLICUS successfully crushed the Germans with several sorties, one of which captured Veleda. The Bructeri then ousted one of their kings, who fled across the Rhine and convinced the Romans, under Vestricius SPURINNA, the governor of Lower Germany, to force his people to take him back. Subsequent fighting supposedly cost the Bructeri some 60,000 men. Following the disaster, the Bructeri were subdued, eventually joining with the migratory FRANKS. ¤ BRUNDISIUM City in the Calabria region of southern Italy, on the Adriatic; it became one of the most important ports and harbors in the Empire. With its natural port facilities and location, Brundisium was the gateway for shipping activity in the southern Adriatic, in Greece and in much of Asia. Commerce and trade to all of Italy started through the city and moved along the VIA ApPIA, which stretched northward. Roman domination of the sea lanes relied upon Brundisium as a naval cornerstone, along with RAVENNA, AQUILEIA and MISENUM for the eastern Mediterranean. In the Civil War between Caesar and Pompey in 48 B.C., Marc Antony used it as the launching point of an invasion of Asia. ¤ BRUNDISIUM, TREATY OF Pact signed in the later part of October 40 B.C. between Marc ANTONY and Octavian (AUGUSTUS), after the battle of PHILIPPI in 42 B.C., in which the forces of the SECOND TRIUMVIRATE had defeated the LIBERATORS led by CASSIUS and BRUTUS. Following Philippi, great tension remained between the forces of Antony and Octavian, with all of Italy prepared for war. The death of Antony's troublesome wife FULVIA paved the way for peace. Two envoys, Asinius Pollio representing Antony and Maecenas representing Octavian, hammered out an accord. Marcus LEPIDUS (1) was to remain in Africa as the impotent third triumvir, but the rest of the Roman world was split between Antony and Octavian. Antony received the east, and Octavian the west, the boundary line running through DALMATIA, with Italy accessible to both. They could both appoint consuls, and Octavian ceded Antony five legions belonging to CALENUS. Individuals proscribed by both parties were pardoned. The two triumvirs embraced. Antony then warned his new ally of a plot against him instigated by Salvidienus Rufus, Octavian's general in Gaul, while Octavian gave Antony his sister OCTAVIA in marriage - a union doomed to failure. As the men grew distant, so did the spirit of the treaty. Though reaffirmed in 37 B.C., with the Treaty of TARENTUM, Antony's infatuation with the East, and Octavian's increasing power in the West, propelled them into conflict that was finally resolved at the battle of ACTIUM in 31 B.C. ¤ BRUTUS, MARCUS JUNIUS (d. 42 B.C.) One of the prime movers in the assassination of Julius CAESAR in 44 B.C. and a champion of the moribund Republican cause. Brutus was the son of Marcus Junius and Servilia, the half sister of CATO UTICENSIS, and was brought up in a staunchly Republican environment. Though his father had been killed by POMPEY in 77 B.C., Brutus allied himself to the general in 49 B.C., at the outbreak of the CIVIL WAR against Caesar, who was at the time his mother's lover. The battle of PHARSALUS in 48 B.C. brought him once more into contact with Caesar, who expressed faith in him, appointing Brutus the governor of Cisalpine Gaul in 46 B.C. In 44 B.C. he was made praeter and was promised not only the governorship of Macedonia but the consulship in 41 as well. Brutus, however, suffered a change of heart while in Rome in 44 B.C., coming under the influence of CASSIUS, who worked on his desire to ensure the survival of the Republic. On the Ides of March, the LIBERATORS, as they called themselves, murdered Caesar. Brutus had underestimated the sentiment of the Roman people and was forced to flee the city and eventually to abandon Italy altogether. The Senate gave him a command in the Balkans, and in 43 B.C. he was put in charge of the provinces of Greece-Macedonia. Brutus demanded tribute from the provinces in Asia Minor, earning their enmity. With Caesar's deification by the Senate in January of 42 B.C., the campaign against all of the Liberators began. By October of that year the forces of the SECOND TRIUMVIRATE were pressing the attack at PHILIPPI, and on October 23, the Republican forces fell to Antony and Octavian. In defeat, Cassius and Brutus committed suicide and with them perished the Republican cause. Brutus was known as a literary man, writing numerous now lost histories, and was a friend of CICERO. His second wife was the beautiful PORCIA, daughter of Cato Uticensis. ¤ BRUTUS ARUTUS, DECIMUS JUNIUS (d. 43 B.C.) One-time officer under Julius CAESAR who joined in the conspiracy to assassinate his former commander. Brutus Albinus had had a successful military career with Caesar as his legate in the GALLIC WARS and then his supporter in the CIVIL WAR (49-45 B.C.). He served as propraetor in Gaul from 48 to 46 B.C. and was promised a proconsulship in the area of Cisalpine Gaul. But before he took up the position, the conspirator CASSIUS drew him into the plot. Presumably in the belief that a true Republic would be reinstated, he joined in the murder. He then fled to Cisalpine Gaul, pursued by the avenging Marc ANTONY, who besieged him at MUTINA. In April of 43 B.C., Brutus Albinus was rescued by the combined legions of Hirtius, Pansa and Octavian. Octavian turned against him, however. Fleeing to Gaul, and hoping to make his way to Macedonia and his coconspirator Marcus BRUTUS, he was trapped by Antony and slain. ¤ BUCOLICI Tribe of herdsmen and nationalists living near the Nile Delta just northeast of ALEXANDRIA in Egypt. In 172-175 A.D., they revolted against Rome in a widespread uprising. Under the leadership of the local chief Isidorus, a priest, the Bucolici first killed Roman troops stationed nearby in Alexandria, then defeated larger forces sent against them. Fearing the loss of such an important city as Alexandria, the governor of Syria, Gaius Avidius Cassius, marched into Egypt. His war on Isidorus was aided by dissension among the tribesmen, and by 173 A.D. the region was pacified and the rebels crushed. Dio remarked on their bravery. They were also called the Bucoli, and the Boukolai. ¤ BULLA REGIA A town in the Roman province of Africa Proconsularis, in what is now Tunisia. The region was taken by Rome after the Third Punic War (149-146 B.C.) and was again claimed by Pompey in 81 B.C. It developed an imperial atmosphere sometime during the reign of Tiberius (14-37 A.D.), when buildings of an Italian design began appearing. Such construction came as part of the peaceful and prosperous development of Africa, in which the community shared. The archaeological remains of Bulla Regia display homes built both above and below ground, with ancient lighting and fountains. ¤ BURDIGALA (Bordeaux) A major city in the province of Gallia AQUITANIA, and possibly the provincial capital. Important before the Roman occupation of Gaul, Burdigala was located on the Garonne River and was the center of activity for the fierce people of the region, the Aquitani. After Caesar's conquest of Aquitania, his legate publius CRASSUS began pacification in 56 B.C.; in 27 B.C., Augustus declared the area a Roman province. Burdigala was probably the administrative capital, although Saintes and Poitiers have both been named as possible seats. Clearly, Emperor Vespasian gave it a municipal standing, and the city produced several senators, as did the province. In the 3rd century A.D. a wall was built around Burdigala to protect it from the increasingly dangerous migrations and invasions. In the later 4th century the poet AUSONIUS retired there in great comfort, writing of his native city and especially about his academic colleagues. However, as Roman power collapsed, several Gothic kings conquered Burdigala. ATHAULF seized and then burned the city in 415. As part of a compact between Constantius and WALLIA, the Gothic kingdom gained the city. The modern name for Burdigala is Bordeaux. ¤ BUREBISTA (d. 44 B.C.) King of DACIA responsible for the aggrandizement of his land from 60 to 44 B.C.; the model for future rulers of Dacia such as DECEBALUS. With the aid of his advisor, a prophet-priest named Dekaineos (of Decaeneos), the ruler changed much in the country, and then launched an assault on those neighboring peoples who either threatened Dacia or proved detrimental to his royal ambitions. In succession Burebista crushed the Boii, a race of Celts, and the Taurini, moving into Thrace and facing the entire Danube frontier, which endangered Roman control and led to direct involvement in Roman politics. In 48 B.C., Pompey the Great sought Burebista's aid, but Caesar ended any hope of an alliance at the battle of Pharsalus. Caesar had been aware of the Dacian king since his days governing Illyricum. After Pharsalus, Caesar planned to relieve the pressure on the Danube with a massive campaign against Burebista, really a preparatory move for the greater military programs planned against Parthia. Burebista was assassinated in 44 B.C. His rapidly created empire broke apart at his death, but whatever long-term plans Caesar had for Dacia were also cut short, as he too was murdered. ¤ BURGUNDIANS A Germanic people originating in the region of the Vistula River, who possessed considerable power in Gaul in the 5th century A.D. The Burgundians first appeared around 250 A.D., in the vanguard of the Goths, with whom they shared a common ancestry. Settling in the region of the Main, they then faded from view, resurfacing again in 406, when they seized the lands directly on the Rhine. By 413, the Burgundians had crossed the great boundary and were in control of Germania Superior. Emperor Honorius was forced to accept their presence and concluded a treaty with them, by which they became allies. A kingdom was born, centered on Worms and ruled by Gundohar. In 436, the realm of Worms was crushed by the Huns, with Gundohar and thousands of his men slain. The remnant of the Burgundians moved into Savoy and were settled there by 443. They aided the magister militum AETIUS in his campaign against ATTILA, marking a resurgence. The Burgundians were finally overwhelmed by the Franks in the 6th century. ¤ BURRUS, SEXTUS AFRANIUS (d. 62 A.D.) Prefect of the PRAETORIAN GUARD during the reigns of CLAUDIUS and NERO. Burrus was an important advisor and key figure in Nero's era. An inscription claims that he came from Vasio in Gaul. His military career prospered from the start, as he served as a tribune, then as a procurator in some private capacity for the Empress LIVIA and later for TIBERIUS and Claudius as well. Through Claudius he met AGRIPPINA THE YOUNGER. The empress found him useful and trustworthy, and in 51 A.D. recommended him as sole prefect of the Guard. The prefect pursued Agrippina's interests, especially her desire to promote her adopted son Nero as Claudius's heir over his own son, BRITANNICUS. Thus, in 54, on the death of Claudius, Burrus presented the prince to the cohorts of the Praetorians. Early in Nero's reign, Burrus settled into the role of advisor, together with Seneca. The two men managed to preserve the empire from Nero's eccentricities and to break Agrippina's hold on her son as well. In 59, Agrippina was murdered by her son, and the influence of Burrus and Seneca weakened. Burrus had already faced one charge of plotting against the throne, in 55, and had escaped the charge. In 62, he tried to dissuade Nero from divorcing OCTAVIA. He became ill, with a swelling in his throat and difficulties breathing, and suspected poison. When Nero visited him, Burrus reportedly turned his face away, saying only "With me all is well." At his death soon after, he was replaced by TIGELLINUS, whom Nero had been grooming for some time. Tacitus wrote that Burrus was an officer of high reputation, and he was generally considered a gifted soldier and brilliant administrator and an honorable man. Dio wrote of his frankness, that when the emperor once asked him a second time for his opinions, Burrus responded: "When once I have spoken, do not ask me again." ¤ BYZANTIUM A city founded by Dorian Greeks in the 7th century B.C. that was transformed by CONSTANTINE in November of 324 A.D. and became his capital in 330. Modern Istanbul occupies the site today. See also CONSTANTINOPLE.