Digital Prosopography of the Roman Republic

VENT2638 P. Ventidius (5) P. f. Fab. Bassus

Status

  • Nobilis Expand

    VM. 6.9.7-9

  • Eques R? Expand

    Nicolet Ref 379. Gell. N.A. 15.4. humili loco, tr. pl. 45, cos. suff. 43

Life Dates

  • 98?, birth (Rüpke 2005)
  • 37?, death (Broughton MRR II)

Career

  • Tribunus Plebis before 44 (Broughton MRR II) Expand
    • Gell. 15.4.3. As the Tribunes of 44 are known, 45 is the latest year for his tribunate. (Broughton MRR II)
    • Cos. suff. 43: See MRR, Index, 2.362, and the years listed there. His tribunate might precede 45 (see MRR 2.308). Caesar enrolled him in the Senate, probably late in 47 or in 46 (Gell. 15.4.3; cf. Dio 43.51.5). In MRR 2.388, 39 B.C. and 393, 38 B.C., note that he issued coins in the East under the command of Mark Antony, IIIvir r. p. c. (Crawford, RRC 1.533, no. 531, 39 B.C.), inscribed PONT. IMP. On his origins, status, and career, see Gell. 15.4.3; Cic. Fam. 10.18.3; Plin. NH 7.135; Syme, Latomus 17, 1958, 63- 80-RP 1.395-399, not Sabinus ille of Catalepton 10; Badian, Historia 12, 1963, 141-142; L. R. Taylor, VDRR 264; Wiseman, NM 271-272, no. 474. (Broughton MRR III)
    • p. 257-63 (Thommen 1989)
  • Pontifex 43 to after 38 (Rüpke 2005) Expand
    • He probably became a Pontifex late in 43 (Gell. 15.4.3, before he became Consul). (Broughton MRR II)
  • Consul Suffectus 43 (Broughton MRR II) Expand
    • Fast. Amer., Degrassi 242 (P. Ventidius); Fast. Colot., ibid. 274f. (C. Carrinas C. f., P. Ventidius P. f.); Fast. Mag. Vic., ibid. 282f. They came into office for the final portion of the year. Ventidius, a Praetor of this year (see below), abdicated his praetorship and became Octavian's successor (Vell. 2.65.3; App. BC 4.2; Dio 47.15.2; and of. Gell. 15.4; Dio 43.51.5; Vergil, Catalepton 10). (Broughton MRR II)
  • Praetor 43 Italia, Gallia Cisalpina (Broughton MRR II) Expand
    • Though Praetor in office (Cic. Phil. 13.26; 14.21; Gell. 15.4; Dio 47.15.2), he recruited three legions for Antony in Picenum (Cic. Phil. 12.23; App. BC 3.66, and 72). He joined Antony with these in his retreat on the Ligurian coast at Vada (Cic. Fam. 10.17.1, and 18.3, mulio, and 33.4, and 34.1; 11.9, and 10.3, and 13.3; App. BC 3.72, and 80), and was declared a public enemy (Cic. Ad Brut. 1.5.1; Gell. 15.4). Upon the establishment of the Triumvirate he resigned the praetorship and received the consulship (see above, Consuls). (Broughton MRR II)
  • Promagistrate 42 Gallia Cisalpina (Broughton MRR II) Expand
    • 1 The use of the terms Legate and Proconsul under the Second Triumvirate is of necessity attended by uncertainty and confusion. Commanders, like Ventidius Bassus, who were for the most part ex-Consuls, held command over large and important areas and armies, and apparently acted with considerable initiative, are termed Legati in Latin sources such as the Periochae of Livy and Florus and # in Dio (Liv. Per. 127, 128; Flor. 2.19; Dio 48.41.5; cf. 49.21, and Act. Tr. for 38, on the title and triumph of Ventidius), and yet many of them appear in the lists of triumphs as Proconsuls. In mentioning the triumph of Domitius Calvinus, Dio (48.42.3-4) remarks that those in power granted honors at will # (see also 49.42.3; 54.12.1-2). Mommsen finds the beginning of this contradiction in Caesar's grant of triumphs at the end of 45 to his Legates Fabius Maximus and Q. Pedius (see 45, Promagistrates). Like these, the later commanders were Legates also under the superior imperium of the Triumviri, and their appearance as Proconsuls depended upon a fictive grant of imperium for the day of their triumph (Str. 1.125, 130f.; 2.245, note 1). The term Proconsul cannot refer to their status in command since a Legate never had more than an imperium pro praetore. The term Legatus pro consule does not occur, and indeed cannot occur because it is intrinsically self-contradictory (ibid. 1.130f.). Moreover it was simply this permission to triumph that made it logically possible for some of these Legates to accept acclamation as Imperator (see, on Sosius, Mommsen Str. 1.125). Mommsen's doctrine is difficult to test because in nearly all cases no official inscriptions remain from the period of command, and several of the commands are known only from the record of the triumph (see 34-32, Promagistrates, on Norbanus Flaccus, Statilius Taurus, Marcius Philippus, Olaudius Pulcher, and L. Cornificius). The term Legatus in Livy and Florus is strongly in his favor, since Die might have been affected by the regular system of Legati pro praetore in the Empire. However, as Canter saw (46-55), the situation was more complicated. The illogicality of a subordinate with an imperium pro consule occurs under Antony on the official coinage in Greece of M. lunius Silanus, who terms himself Quaestor pro consule (see 34, Promagistrates; note that in the Empire Pliny could be given the exceptional position of Legatus pro praetore consulari potestate), and raises the question how many commanders senior to Silanus may not also have held an imperium pro consule under the superior imperium of the Triumviri. Moreover, Sosius (Cos. 32) apparently termed himself Imperator on his coinage from 37 B. C. (see 37, Promagistrates), on a rather distant anticipation of the moment of a fictive grant of imperium pro consule for a day in 34; and there were others, like Laronius (see 33, Consules Suffecti), who took the title Imperator and did not triumph at all. The period of the Second Triumvirate was a period of transition in which irregularities and illogicalities could frequently occur in the government of the Roman Empire, before the Augustan regime rebuilt the pattern anew. I have therefore been inclined to keep the question open; and to list among the Promagistrates the holders of important commands under Octavian and Antony who received acclamation as Imperatores or celebrated triumphs. It must be granted that the superior position of the Triumvirs in this period made the difference between the functions of a Promagistrate and of a Legate much less than it had been before. See Ganter 46-55. (Broughton MRR II)
    • Probably but not certainly in command of a Gallic province for Antony in this year (see 41, Promagistrates; Dio, 48.10.1-2). (Broughton MRR II)
  • Promagistrate 41 Gallia Cisalpina (Broughton MRR II) Expand
    • Commander in a Gallic province, either the western part of the Cisalpine or, as Ganter supposes (9f.), with Fulius Calenus in the Transalpine one, and was acclaimed Imperator (Dio 48.10.1; cf. App. BC 5.31, #; Grueber, CRRBM 2.403). With Calenus he prevented the advance of Salvidienus Rulus toward Spain (Dio 48. 10. 1). He later came to aid Lucius Antony at Perusia but, like Pollio and the other Antonian commanders in Cisalpine Gaul, remained inactive and confused regarding Mark Antony's wishes (App. Be 5.31-32; cf. 5.50; Veil. 2.76.2). (Broughton MRR II)
  • Promagistrate 40 Gallia Cisalpina (Broughton MRR II) Expand
    • His attempt to relieve Lucius Antonius was stopped at Fulginium, (App. BC 5.35). After the fall of Perusia he retired into southern Italy, where he was chosen commander of the Antonian troops (5.50). After the peace of Brundisium, Antony sent him as Proconsul to resist the Parthians who had overrun Syria and Asia Minor (App. BC 6.65; Dio 48.39.2; cf. Plut. Ant. 33. 1, who names his first base in Asia rather than his main command in Syria, and places his appointment after the treaty of Puteoli in 39; see Ganter 41). (Broughton MRR II)
  • Proconsul 39 (Broughton MRR II) Expand
    • Termed a Legatus of Antony (Liv. Per. 127; cf. Gell. 15.4.4), but he held an imperium pro consulare at his triumph (Act. Tr. for 38, Degrassi 86f., 568). He defeated Labienus and the Parthians near the Taurus mountains, thus driving them from Asia Minor (Dio 48.39-40), then following up the Legate Silo (see below) he defeated them again at the Amanus mountains, an engagement after which Labienus was caught and put to death, and recovered Syria (Dio 48.41; cf. Joseph. AJ 14. 392 and 394 and 418, cf. 392-419; BJ 1.288-289, cf. 288-302; Liv. Per. 127, and 128; Plut. Ant. 33.4; Flor. 2.19.5; Gell. 15.4.3-4; Iustin 42.4.7; Eutrop. 7.5; Oros. 6.18.23). Josephus charges him with accepting bribes from Antigonus rather than relieve Herod’s followers in Masada (Aj 14.390; see below, Legatus, on Silo). (Broughton MRR II)
  • Moneyer 39 (RRC) Expand
    • Cos. suff. 43: See MRR, Index, 2.362, and the years listed there. His tribunate might precede 45 (see MRR 2.308). Caesar enrolled him in the Senate, probably late in 47 or in 46 (Gell. 15.4.3; cf. Dio 43.51.5). In MRR 2.388, 39 B.C. and 393, 38 B.C., note that he issued coins in the East under the command of Mark Antony, IIIvir r. p. c. (Crawford, RRC 1.533, no. 531, 39 B.C.), inscribed PONT. IMP. On his origins, status, and career, see Gell. 15.4.3; Cic. Fam. 10.18.3; Plin. NH 7.135; Syme, Latomus 17, 1958, 63- 80-RP 1.395-399, not Sabinus ille of Catalepton 10; Badian, Historia 12, 1963, 141-142; L. R. Taylor, VDRR 264; Wiseman, NM 271-272, no. 474. (Broughton MRR III)
    • ref. 531 (RRC)
  • Triumphator 38 (Rich 2014) Expand
    • Triumph ex Tauro Monte et Partheis. MRR II.388, 393, Itgenshorst no. 278, Rich no. 279. (Rich 2014)
  • Proconsul 38 Syria (Broughton MRR II) Expand
    • Proconsul in Syria under Antony (see 40, Promagistrates). He crushed a second Parthian invasion, killing their leader Pacorus, and then attacked Antiochus of Commagene (Dio 49.19-21; Vell. 2.78.1; Joseph. AJ 14.420-421, and 434; BJ 1.309 and 317; Tac. Hist. 5.9; Plut. Ant. 34; Iustin. 42.4.7-14; Fronto ad Ver. 2.1.5, LCL 2.136; Eutrop. 7.5; Oros. 6.18.23). Upon his arrival in Syria Antony took chief command, and sent Ventidius home to celebrate a triumph ex Tauro monte et Partheis (Act. Tr., Degrassi 86f., 569; Fast. Barb., ibid. 342f.; Vell. 2.65.3; Val. Max. 6.9.9; Plin. NH 7.135; Plut. Ant. 34.5; Fronto Ad Ver. 2.1.5; Gell. 15.4.4; Eutrop. 7.5). (Broughton MRR II)

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