No Grain of Salt

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No Grain of Salt

Casting a New Light on Pompeius’ cura annonae

Vervaet, Frederik Juliaan

From the journal Hermes Hermes, Volume 148, June 2020, issue 2

Published by Franz Steiner Verlag

article, 15227 Words
Original language: English
Hermes 2020, pp 149-172
https://doi.org/10.25162/hermes-2020-0010

Abstract Related content References

Abstract

That Cn. Pompeius Magnus (cos. 70, II 55, III 52) was charged with the Roman cura annonae in September 57 is a fact quite well known to Roman historians and all interested in the history of the late Republic. Although Pompeius’ grain commission in many respects represented a novel development, relatively few have bothered to study the fine detail of what happened to be the third and final extraordinary proconsulship of his remarkable career, signifying that several important questions remain largely unanswered1. After a brief discussion of the political context of the late summer of 57, this study therefore endeavours to cast a new light on his powers under the constitutive statute, the issue of the terminus of his tenure as superintendent of the grain supply, and its wider historical ramifications.

Author information

Frederik Juliaan Vervaet

Keywords

Cn. Pompeius Magnus | cura annonae | consulare imperium | pomerium | Augustus

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