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Chronology of the Campaigns of Aelius Gallus and C. Petronius

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 September 2012

Shelagh Jameson
Shelagh Jameson
Affiliation:
Royal Holloway College, London
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Extract

Two prefects of Egypt, Aelius Gallus and C. Petronius, undertook expeditions outside their province under Augustus. Aelius Gallus led a campaign against Arabia Felix, and C. Petronius on two occasions fought the Ethiopians. Dio dates the Arabian expedition to 24 B.C., the Ethiopian campaigns to 22.

The sources suggest that both men waged their wars during their prefectures. The proximity of their periods of activity, which may well confuse their chronology, is vouched for by Augustus himself, who says that both the Arabian and the Ethiopian wars took place ‘eodem fere tempore’. Several scholars have, indeed, rejected the order of prefectures given by Dio; others have involved themselves in a series of constitutional difficulties, which demand attention if it is assumed that the campaigns in these two areas overlapped.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Roman Studies , Volume 58 , Issue 1-2 , November 1968 , pp. 71 - 84
Copyright
Copyright © Shelagh Jameson 1968. Exclusive Licence to Publish: The Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies

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References

1 Dio (LIII, 29, 3 ff.) reports the campaign of Aelius Gallus in Arabia Felix, and seems to have believed that Gallus was prefect of Egypt at the time: ἐπὶ γὰρ ᾿Απανόαν τὴν εὐδαίμονα καλουμένην…Αἴλιος Γάλλος ὁ τῆς Αἰγύπτου ἄρχων ἐπεστράτευσε. Strabo (11, 118) also establishes that Gallus held the post of praefectus Aegypti, although his detailed description of the Arabian expedition belongs in another section (XVI, 780 ff.), where he adds the fact that it was undertaken on Augustus' instructions, but makes no reference to Gallus' status. The campaign is also mentioned by Pliny, (NH VI, 160Google Scholar), who refers to Aelius Gallus merely as ‘ex equestri ordine’. Josephus, (Ant. XV, 317Google Scholar) informs us that Herod sent soldiers to take part in Aelius Gallus' expedition, without indicating what Gallus' status was.

Dio (LIV, 5, 4 ff.) gives an account of Petronius' war with the Ethiopians; like Gallus, Petronius is designated ὁ τῆς Αἰγύπτου ἄρχων. Strabo (XVII, 788 and 819) indicates that Petronius was prefect of Egypt, although he is not explicitly so called; the Ethiopian war is described elsewhere (XVII, 820 f.) without reference to Petronius' status. Pliny, (NH VI, 181 f.Google Scholar) mentions Petronius' first campaign against the Ethiopians and calls him praefectus Aegypti. Josephus, (Ant. XV, 299 ff.Google Scholar, especially 307) reports Herod's purchase of corn from Petronius, made while the latter was prefect.

2 RG 26.

3 The order Petronius, then Gallus, is usually argued from Strabo XVII, 819, which does not prove it at all. For this view see Krüger, H., Der Feldzug des Aelius Gallus nach dem glücklichen Arabien unter Kaiser Augustus (Wismar, 1862)Google Scholar, a work I have been unable to consult; Schiller, H., Geschichte der römischen Kaiserzeit 1 (Gotha, 1883), 198 ff.Google Scholar, n. 2; Milne, J. Grafton, A History of Egypt under Roman Rule (London, 1898), 176Google Scholar; 217; de Ricci, Seymour in Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archaeology XXII (1900), 375Google Scholar; XXIV (1902), 56. For Dio's order, see Stein, A., Die Präfekten von Ägypten in der römischen Kaiserzeit (Bern, 1950), 15 ff.Google Scholar; Mommsen Res Gestae 106 ff.; Hardy, E. G., The Monumentum Ancyranum (Oxford, 1923), 121 ff.Google Scholar; Schmidt, J. in Philologus XLIV (1885), 463 ff.Google Scholar; Cantarelli, L., ‘La serie dei prefetti di Egitto, 1: da Ottaviano Augusto a Diocleziano’, Memorie della R. Accademia dei Lincei, classe di scienze morali, storiche e filologiche ser. V, vol. XII, fasc. ii (Roma, 1906), 57 ff.Google Scholar; Gardthausen, V., Augustus und seine Zeit 11, 2 (Leipzig, 1896), 448 ff.Google Scholar; Schürer, E., Geschichte des jüdischen Volkes im Zeitalter Jesu Christi I3 and 4 (Leipzig, 1901), 367 f.Google Scholar, n. 9.

4 Maiuri, A., ‘La successione “Elio Gallo— C. Petronio” nella lista dei prefetti dell' Egitto’, Saggi di storia antica e di archeologia a Giulio Beloch (Roma, 1910), 321 ff.Google Scholar, argues that none of the sources proves that Aelius Gallus was prefect at the time of the Arabian campaign, and places great emphasis on the fact that Pliny, (NH VI, 160Google Scholar) describes him simply as ‘ex equestri ordine’. He points out that the prefect of Egypt did not usually undertake military commissions which necessitated his absence from Alexandria, let alone the province, for any length of time, and meets the possible answer provided by Dig. IV, vi, 35, 3: ‘praefectus quoque Aegypti rei publicae causa abest …’ (a text which does not seem to me to be relevant to the situation) by supposing that Gallus was given an extraordinary commission by Augustus. Meyer, P. in ‘Papyrusbeiträge zur römischen Kaisergeschichte’, Klio VII (1907), 122 f.Google Scholar, and in a review in Berliner Philologische Wochenschrift 1907, 462 f., argued that the reference in Strabo (11, 118) to Gallus as prefect of Egypt does not apply to the time of the Arabian campaign; that Petronius could not have been vice-prefect at the time, because a vice-prefect could be appointed only if a prefect died in office; and also (citing Mommsen, Römisches Staatsrecht I3, 685 f.) that no governor could appoint a deputy.

5 XVII, 820.

6 J. Schmidt, loc. cit. n. 3, thought that Gallus remained prefect throughout his Arabian campaign, and that Petronius undertook his second, but not his first, Ethiopian campaign as prefect, after Gallus was recalled.

7 ‘Intravere et eo arma Romana divi Augusti temporibus duce P. Petronio et ipso equestris ordinis praefecto Aegypti’ (NH VI, 181 f.). Pliny deals only with the first Ethiopian expedition.

8 See the solutions cited above, n. 4.

9 They went on a cruise up the Nile together, Strabo 11, 118; XVII, 816.

10 RG 26.

11 Strabo XVII, 820.

12 Josephus, , Ant. XV, 317Google Scholar; 299 ff.

13 XVII, 821.

14 LIII, 28, 1.

15 Aug. 26.

16 CIL I2, p. 58 = Inscr. Ital. XIII, 1, p. 151, under the years 26, 25, and 24 B.C.

17 Ant. xv, 299 ff.

18 Ib. 317.

19 Mommsen (Res Gestae 2 106 f.) thought the narrative was divided: this passage, then, would be a ‘flashback’ to earlier events. However, as will shortly be noted, he believed that the portion of Ant. xv beginning at § 299 recorded the events of two years, not one.

20 Mommsen, Res Gestae 2 106 f.; Schmidt, op. cit. 465.

21 Loc. cit.

22 RE, Suppl. 11, 67.

23 Vogelstein, B., Die Landwirtschaft in Palästina ur Zeit der Mišnah: Dissertation (Breslau, 1894), 57 ffGoogle Scholar.

24 See Palestine and Transjordan: Geographical Handbooks Series, Naval Intelligence Division (December, 1943), 56.

25 Josephus, , Ant. XV, 310Google Scholar.

26 XVII, 819 ff.

27 Strabo XVII, 820. On my view the Ethiopian invasion occurred in the autumn of 25, just before, or about the time of, Gallus' recall from Arabia, on which see below, pp. 76 f. Petronius' campaign will have lasted six months at most. This reconstruction seems the only one possible, unless we are to suppose that there was some overlapping of prefectures, or that Petronius fought this campaign as vice-prefect, or that he was sent out by Augustus as prefect on receipt of the news of the invasion, which would pre suppose some delay in his getting to the scene.

28 NH VI, 181.

29 LIV, 5, 4 ff.

30 XVII, 821.

31 LIV, 5, 6.

32 Dio LIV, 7, 4, reports that Augustus spent the winter 21–20 on Samos, and in the spring proceeded to Asia Minor and thence to Syria. This is confirmed by Josephus, (Ant. xv, 354)Google Scholar, who notes that he arrived in Syria some time after April, 20 B.C.

33 Res Gestae 2 108.

34 So, the Spanish campaigns (LIII, 25, 5 ff.) and so, probably, the campaign under discussion of Aelius Gallus; cf. the remarks of Syme, , Klio XXVII (1934), 130 and n. 2Google Scholar.

35 Strabo XVII, 821, cf. Dio LIV, 7, 4.

36 See above, n. 1.

37 NH VI, 181 f.

38 Ant. xv, 307.

39 XVII, 820.

40 XVI, 780 ff.

41 Strabo XVI, 781.

42 XVI, 782.

43 LIII, 29, 6ff.

44 NH VI, 160.

45 Strabo XVI, 782.

46 XVI, 781: ἠναγκάσθη γοῦν τό τε θέρος καὶ τὸν χειμῶνα διατελέσαι αὐτόθι.

47 Polemius Silvius, CIL I2, p. 273.

48 Strabo XVI, 782.

49 Dig. 1, xvii.

50 Josephus, , Ant. xv, 317Google Scholar.

51 Strabo XVI, 780.

52 Strabo XVII, 820 proves that the Arabian expedition preceded the Ethiopian campaign of Petronius. Gallus took Herod's troops with him, and there is no evidence to suggest that he returned from Arabia at any point to collect them, and the expediion lasted over a year. If one agrees with Otto that Josephus, in his description of the famine of 25–24, was thinking of the droughts of 26, the phrase περὶ δὲ τὸν χρόνον ἐκεῖνον is perhaps more easily explicable.

53 XVI, 781.

54 Jones, A. H. M., The Herods of Judaea (Oxford, 1938), 91 fGoogle Scholar.

55 LIII, 29, 3 ff.

56 Syme, R., ‘The Spanish War of Augustus (26–25 B.C.)’, AJP LV (1934). 293 ffGoogle Scholar.

57 Odes 1, 35, 29 ff.

58 Dio mentions this twice, once at the end of the year 27 (LIII, 22, 5) in a passage which suggests Augustus left for Spain about this time, once in 26 (LIII, 25, 2).

59 Since (on the evidence of Suetonius, Aug. 26) Augustus was at Tarraco by 1st January, 26 B.C., the British expedition (which was eclipsed by the Spanish war) and the Arabian campaign must have been planned some time in 27.

60 11, 118.

61 LIII, 23, 5 ff. Boissier, G., L'Opposition sous les Césars4 (Paris, 1875), 176 f.Google Scholar, makes Cornelius Gallus' recall a consequence of accusations, which, according to Dio, took place in 26 B.C. Boissier refers to Augustus' absence, which also suggests that he was thinking of the year 26 as that of Cornelius Gallus' return.

62 Cantarelli, op. cit. 55; 57f.; Stein, op. cit. 14 f.

63 Caius Cornelius Gallus (Paris, 1966), 46 fGoogle Scholar. I do not agree, however, with Boucher's supposition that Dio's account of the accusations implies a long period of residence at Rome for Gallus after his return. He could have returned just as easily in 28 B.C.

64 Loc. cit.

65 Aug. 66.

66 Chron. ed. A. Schoene, 11 (Berlin, 1866), p. 141 (year 1990 from Abraham = Ol. 188.2 = 27 B.C.): ‘Cornelius Gallus Foroiuliensis poeta a quo primum Aegyptum rectam supra diximus XLIII aetatis suae anno propria se manu interfecit.’

67 Op cit. 5 f.

68 See above, n. 59.

69 CIL III, 14147 = ILS 8995 = OGI 654 = Boucher, op. cit. 41.

70 Pliny, , NH VI, 181Google Scholar.

71 XVII, 819.

72 XVII, 797; 818; also Pliny, , NH V, 57Google Scholar; Seneca, , Quaest. Nat. IV, 2, 7Google Scholar.

73 Dio LIII, 23, 5.

74 NH VI, 162.

75 Although this remark follows Pliny's account of information reported back by Aelius Gallus, it forms rather part of his general observations on the Arabs; the end of this section, however, referring to their wealth, seems to be drawn from Strabo XVI, 780.

76 XVI, 780: οὐδὲ γὰρ κατὰ γῆν σφόδρα πολεμισταί εἰσιν, ἀλλα κάπηλοι μᾶλλον οἱ Ἄραβες καὶ ἐμπορικοί, μήτι γε κατὰ θάλατταν.

77 XVII, 819: εἰσὶ δ᾿ οὗτοι νομάδες καὶ οὐ πολλοὶ οὐδὲ μάχιμοι, δοκοῦντες δὲ τοῖς πάλαι διὰ τὸ λῃστηρικῶς ἀφυλάκτοις ἐπιτίθεσθαι πολλακίς.

78 Strabo 11, 118; XVI, 781.

79 Cf. Pliny, , NH VI, 182Google Scholar: ‘…nec tamen arma Romana ibi solitudinem fecerunt: Aegyptiorum bellis attrita est Aethiopia vicissim imperitando serviendoque, clara et potens etiam usque ad Troiana bella Memnone regnante …’, and ibid. 181: ‘certe solitudines nuper renuntiavere principi Neroni missi ab eo milites praetoriani cum tribuno ad explorandum, inter reliqua bella et Aethiopicum cogitanti …’, and cf. Strabo XVII, 821 for the hardships of their way of life.

80 Strabo XVI, 780: .

81 Strabo 11, 118; XVII, 817; 818.

82 Strabo XVII, 819.

83 Strabo XVII, 820. Presumably the offer to make amends refers back to the fact that they did ‘μηδὲν ὧν ἐΧρῆν’ during the three days that they had previously requested for consultation.

84 LIV, 5, 4 ff.

85 Ibid.

86 Strabo XVII, 821.

87 W. A. Oldfather and H. V. Canter, The Defeat of Varus and the German Frontier Policy of Augustus: University of Illinois Studies in the Social Sciences IV. 2 (Illinois, 1915), contest the view that it was Augustus' intention to make Germany a province. It is true that Quintilius Varus' governmental activities (Vell, Pat. 11, 117) may be explained away by analogy with Caesar's conduct towards the Gauls: Caesar often sorted out tribal disputes or acted as arbitrator. Tacitus' language, however, is telling. Arminius can say (Ann. 1, 59): ‘Germanos numquam satis excusaturos quod inter Albim et Rhenum virgas et securis et togam viderint. aliis gentibus ignorantia imperi Romani inexperta esse supplicia, nesciatributa: quae quoniam exuerint inritusque discesserit ille inter numina dicatus Augustus, ille delectus Tiberius, ne imperitum adulescentulum, ne seditiosum exercitum pavescerent’, and, even more significantly, Germanicus had promised the German Segestes a ‘sedem vetere in provincia’ (Ann. I, 58).

88 RG 26: ‘meo iussu et auspicio ducti sunt (duo) exercitus eodem fere tempore in Aethiopiam et in Ar(a)biam, quae appel[latur] eudaemon, [maxim]aeque hos[t]ium gentis utr[iu]sque cop[iae] caesaesunt in acie et [c]om[plur]a oppida capta. In Aethiopiam usque ad oppidum Nabata pervent[um] est cui proxima est Meroe. In Arabiam usque in fines Sabaeorum pro[cess]it exerc[it]us ad oppidum Mariba.’

89 Cf. Caesar's British expeditions (BG IV, 20 ff.; V, 1 ff.) and reaction to them at Rome (Dio XXXIX, 50, 3; 53; cf. Cicero, , ad Q.f. 11, 13Google Scholar, 2, and, indicating later disillusionment, ad Att. IV, 16, 7).

90 Strabo XVI, 780; 781; 782; XVII, 819.

91 Id. XVI, 782.

92 Dio LIII, 29, 3 ff.

93 Galen, Opera, ed. Kühn, XIV, p. 189; 203, cf. 114; 158; 170 ff.

94 Dio LIII, 29, 8; Pliny, , NH VI, 160 f.Google Scholar; Strabo XVI, 780, but cf. 782.

95 Strabo XVII, 819.

96 See above, p. 75.

97 Horace, , Odes 1, 29Google Scholar; 35, 29 ff. (to be dated c. 27 B.C.); Propertius IV, 6, 78.

98 Tacitus, , Ann. 1, 11Google Scholar.

99 Dio LIII, 10, 4.

100 The same objects were perhaps pursued buy Claudius, as exemplified by the conquest of Britain and the annexation of Lycia; the large number of Claudii in the latter province (who are not all Neronian) attest his aim of forming clientelae.

101 Cicero, , ad Att. IV, 16Google Scholar, 7.

102 LIV, 9, 1.

103 LII, 26, 5.

104 If the trial of Primus (Dio LIV, 3, 2 ff.) took place in spring 23, his operations against the Odrysae probably occurred in 24.

105 Dio LIII, 28, 1.

106 Dio LIV, 4, 1, under the year 22. I shall try to show elsewhere that the material in this chapter belongs, like the Primus affair, to 23 (in Historia forthcoming).

107 Dio LIII, 2, 7.

108 Dio LIV, 5, 4: καταλειφθέντες δὲ (sc. οἱ Αἰθίοπες) ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ ἡττήθησαν, κἀκ τούτου καὶ ἐς τὴν οἰκείαν αὐτὸν (sc. Πετρώνιον) ἐπεσπάσαντο.

109 LIII, 33, 1.

110 Reinmuth, O. W., ‘The Prefect of Egypt from Augustus to Diocletian’, Klio, Beiheft XXXIV (1935), 120 fGoogle Scholar.