Reading Group--Caesar's Legion
- Thread starter SHARK
- Start date
Rashak Mani
First Post
Shark and Co. for a long time I have wondered about something... how were the provinces of the empire represented politically in Rome ? Did they "have" senators in the senate ? Or was it more a issue of sending money and bribing/buying political support for their regional issues ?
In other words how was regional representation in the Roman Empire ? After all many outside Rome were given the title of citizen...
In other words how was regional representation in the Roman Empire ? After all many outside Rome were given the title of citizen...
sword-dancer
Explorer
At this time AFAIk the provinces were administrated by proconsuls(exconsuls) and the taxes were auctionated ti the highest bidder, mostly senatorian or equites(knigths class)Rashak Mani said:
Caesar used the income of spain to pay his debts in Rome.
And from Varus administration of Syria is this quote
"Poor he comes in this rich province, rich he left the poor province"
In other words nothing.
An regular administration, of sorts come with Augustus.
Roman citicens were another matter.
Chapter XIII -- The Murder of Pompey the Great (continued)
Pompey dropped anchor in a shallow bay off Pelusium, on the north-eastern coast of Egypt, on September 28, 48 B.C. The next day he would celebrate his fifty-eighth birthday.
Maybe I'll feel differently in a few decades, but it sounds like Pompey has lived a rich, full life -- three years longer than Caesar, in fact.
Young Ptolemy XIII, no more than sixteen years of age, had been in conflict with his elder sister Cleopatra for the past few months, and he was camped here at Pelusium with an army of twenty thousand infantry and two thousand cavalry while Cleopatra camped in Syria to the north, trying to gather an army of her own around her.
And you thought you fought with your brothers and sisters -- imagine having armies at your command! I thought it was bad to give teens fast cars...
News of Pompey's defeat in Thessaly reached Ptolemy before Pompey did. Knowing that Pompey was on the run, and seeing his pitifully small fleet, the king's advisors decided to turn against Pompey to stay in Julius Caesar's favor.
Pompey's really getting kicked while he's down, isn't he? Show no fear; dogs can smell fear.
Looking up at Colonel Septimius opposite as the boat moved across the water, Pompey began to frown. The officer's face was beginning to look familiar. "Don't I know you, fellow soldier?" Pompey asked.
...
Behind them, Colonel Septimius drew his sword, stepped forward, and before any of Pompey's companions could prevent him, plunged it into the general. As Pompey fell forward, General Achillas and Centurion Salvius slid their swords from their scabbards and slit the throats of Pompey's centurions; then they, too, struck Pompey.
Sad.
A woman's scream echoed across the water -- Cornelia had witnessed it all.
It just gets worse.
Still alive, Pompey dragged his scarlet cloak over his head, so that his face was hidden from spectators in his dying moments.
I've never been dying at the hands of assassins, but covering my face to maintain my dignitas has never occurred to me as a priority.
As Pompey's two servants watched in terror, Colonel Septimius then stepped up, and wielding his sword like an ax, severed Pompey's head with several blows. Reaching down with his left hand, he grabbed a handful of his victim's graying hair and lifted the head up for those on shore to see.
Again, it just gets worse.
After a throng of Egyptians had insulted the remains, Philip, his secretary, was left on the beach with his master's naked, bloody corpse.
Why the intense hatred? The Egyptians don't simply eliminate Pompey; they tear off his head and "insult" his body. Even Pompey's avowed enemy, Caesar, doesn't want that.
Pompey dropped anchor in a shallow bay off Pelusium, on the north-eastern coast of Egypt, on September 28, 48 B.C. The next day he would celebrate his fifty-eighth birthday.
Maybe I'll feel differently in a few decades, but it sounds like Pompey has lived a rich, full life -- three years longer than Caesar, in fact.
Young Ptolemy XIII, no more than sixteen years of age, had been in conflict with his elder sister Cleopatra for the past few months, and he was camped here at Pelusium with an army of twenty thousand infantry and two thousand cavalry while Cleopatra camped in Syria to the north, trying to gather an army of her own around her.
And you thought you fought with your brothers and sisters -- imagine having armies at your command! I thought it was bad to give teens fast cars...
News of Pompey's defeat in Thessaly reached Ptolemy before Pompey did. Knowing that Pompey was on the run, and seeing his pitifully small fleet, the king's advisors decided to turn against Pompey to stay in Julius Caesar's favor.
Pompey's really getting kicked while he's down, isn't he? Show no fear; dogs can smell fear.
Looking up at Colonel Septimius opposite as the boat moved across the water, Pompey began to frown. The officer's face was beginning to look familiar. "Don't I know you, fellow soldier?" Pompey asked.
...
Behind them, Colonel Septimius drew his sword, stepped forward, and before any of Pompey's companions could prevent him, plunged it into the general. As Pompey fell forward, General Achillas and Centurion Salvius slid their swords from their scabbards and slit the throats of Pompey's centurions; then they, too, struck Pompey.
Sad.
A woman's scream echoed across the water -- Cornelia had witnessed it all.
It just gets worse.
Still alive, Pompey dragged his scarlet cloak over his head, so that his face was hidden from spectators in his dying moments.
I've never been dying at the hands of assassins, but covering my face to maintain my dignitas has never occurred to me as a priority.
As Pompey's two servants watched in terror, Colonel Septimius then stepped up, and wielding his sword like an ax, severed Pompey's head with several blows. Reaching down with his left hand, he grabbed a handful of his victim's graying hair and lifted the head up for those on shore to see.
Again, it just gets worse.
After a throng of Egyptians had insulted the remains, Philip, his secretary, was left on the beach with his master's naked, bloody corpse.
Why the intense hatred? The Egyptians don't simply eliminate Pompey; they tear off his head and "insult" his body. Even Pompey's avowed enemy, Caesar, doesn't want that.
Last edited:
Chapter XIV -- The Power of a Single Word
The second paragraph of Chapter XIV exemplifies why I wish Dando-Collins did not stick to the supposed subject of the book, Legio X, and instead gave us all the gory details of Caesar's exploits. This one paragraph could fill a chapter -- a chapter I'd like to read!
More than a year had passed since they'd seen Caesar riding out of the camp on the plain of Farsala for the last time, in pursuit of Pompey. He'd spent nine of the past thirteen months in Egypt locked in a life-and-death struggle with the Egyptians, who, after he'd arrived there on October 2, had decided to eliminate him the way they'd eliminated Pompey. Reacting quickly, Caesar had kidnapped young King Ptolemy. Joined by Ptolemy's sister and rival Cleopatra, Caesar and his small force had barricaded themselves in part of the royal palace at Alexandria. Trapped, and with just eight hundred cavalrymen, the nine hundred men of the 6th Legion, and the twenty-three hundred inexperienced legionaries of the 28th, Caesar had battled King Ptolemy's twenty-two thousand troops for months, the contest involving savage street fighting and desperate battles for control of the dock area....
Sounds exciting! I want more!
The second paragraph of Chapter XIV exemplifies why I wish Dando-Collins did not stick to the supposed subject of the book, Legio X, and instead gave us all the gory details of Caesar's exploits. This one paragraph could fill a chapter -- a chapter I'd like to read!
More than a year had passed since they'd seen Caesar riding out of the camp on the plain of Farsala for the last time, in pursuit of Pompey. He'd spent nine of the past thirteen months in Egypt locked in a life-and-death struggle with the Egyptians, who, after he'd arrived there on October 2, had decided to eliminate him the way they'd eliminated Pompey. Reacting quickly, Caesar had kidnapped young King Ptolemy. Joined by Ptolemy's sister and rival Cleopatra, Caesar and his small force had barricaded themselves in part of the royal palace at Alexandria. Trapped, and with just eight hundred cavalrymen, the nine hundred men of the 6th Legion, and the twenty-three hundred inexperienced legionaries of the 28th, Caesar had battled King Ptolemy's twenty-two thousand troops for months, the contest involving savage street fighting and desperate battles for control of the dock area....
Sounds exciting! I want more!
Last edited:
Important historical factoid we should all know:
At the Battle of Zela on August 2, 47 B.C., almost exactly a year since his victory at Farsala, Caesar had crushed the charioteers and hapless infantry of Pharnaces. It was after this victory that Caesar sent his famous message back to Rome: "I came, I saw, I conquered."
Veni, Vidi, Vici.
At the Battle of Zela on August 2, 47 B.C., almost exactly a year since his victory at Farsala, Caesar had crushed the charioteers and hapless infantry of Pharnaces. It was after this victory that Caesar sent his famous message back to Rome: "I came, I saw, I conquered."
Veni, Vidi, Vici.
SHARK
First Post
Greetings!
Yeah, it's kinda interesting how numerous kingdoms that opposed Rome were still using chariots, when even as far back as Alexander The Great the chariots were shown to be entirely eclipsed as a fighting force by horse-cavalry, pikemen, and archers. Still, many seemed slow to give up on the use of chariots and adopt new fighting formations and tactics.
Semper Fidelis,
SHARK
Yeah, it's kinda interesting how numerous kingdoms that opposed Rome were still using chariots, when even as far back as Alexander The Great the chariots were shown to be entirely eclipsed as a fighting force by horse-cavalry, pikemen, and archers. Still, many seemed slow to give up on the use of chariots and adopt new fighting formations and tactics.
Semper Fidelis,
SHARK
Similar Threads
- Locked
