MARCUS AEMILIUS SCAURUS

This article appears in Volume V24, Page 305 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: MAL-MAR

MARCUS AEMILIUS SCAURUS , his son, served during the third Mithradatic War (74-61 B.C.) as quaestor to Pompey, by whom he was sent to Judaea to settle the quarrel between Hyrcanus and Aristobulus. Scaurus decided in favour of the latter, who was able to offer more money. On his arrival in Syria, Pompey reversed the decision, but, ignoring the charge of bribery brought against Scaurus, left him in command of the

district

DISTRICT

. An incidental campaign against Aretas, king of the Nabataeans, was ended by the payment of 300 talents by Aretas to secure his possessions. This agreement is represented on coins of ScaurusAretas kneeling by the side of a camel, and holding out an olive branch in an attitude of supplication. As curule aedile in 58, Scaurus celebrated the public games on a scale of magnificence never seen before. Animals, hitherto unknown to the Romans, were exhibited in the

circus

CIRCUS (Lat. circus, Gr. Kipeos or Kptxot, a ring or' circle; probably " circus " and " ring " are of the same origin)

, and an artificial lake (euripus) was made for the reception of crocodiles and hippopotamuses. One of the greatest curiosities was a huge skeleton brought from Joppa, said to be that of the

monster

to which Andromeda had been exposed. A wooden theatre was erected for the occasion, capable of holding 8o,000 spectators. In 56 Scaurus was praetor, and in the following year

governor

GOVERNOR (from the Fr. gouverneur, from gouverner, O. Fr. governer, Lat. gubernare, to steer a ship, to direct, guide)

of Sardinia. On his return to Rome (54) he was accused of extortion in his province. Cicero and five others (amongst them the famous Q. Hortensius) undertook his defence, and, although there was no doubt of his guilt, he was acquitted. During the same year, however (according to some, two years later, under Pompey's new law), Scaurus was condemned on a charge of illegal practices when a candidate for the consulship. He went into

exile

EXILE (Lat. exsilium or exilium, from exsul or exul, which is derived from ex, out of, and the root sal, to go, seen in salire, to leap,
consul
- CONSUL
- CONSUL (in Gr. generally ihraros,ashortened form of errpavgybs 8hraeos, i.e. praetor maximus)
, &c.; the connexion with solum, soil, country is now generally considered wrong)

, and nothing further is heard of him.
See Josephus, Antiq. xiv. 3-5, Bell. Jud. i. 7; Appian, Syr. 51, Bell. civ. ii. 24; Pliny, Nat. Hist. xxxvi. 24; Cicero, Pro Sestio, 54, fragments of Pro Scauro, numerous references in the Letters; Asconius, Argumentum in Scaurum. See also, for both the above, AEMIL1us (Nos. 14o, 141) in Pauly-Wissowa's Realencyclopadie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft, i. pt. 1. (1894), and

Smith

's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography, s.v. SCAURUS.

End of Article: MARCUS AEMILIUS SCAURUS

If you wish, you can link directly to this article.

<a href="http://jcsm.org/StudyCenter/Encyclopedia/MAL_MAR/MARCUS_AEMILIUS_SCAURUS.html">
MARCUS AEMILIUS SCAURUS
</a>

(Previous)
MARCUS

(Next)
MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONINUS (12118o)

JCSM was founded in 1997 and exists to help the community and bring people into a life-changing and productive relationship with Jesus Christ. JCSM offers over 200,000 free web pages, including its weekly inspirational emails that were sent continuously for over a decade.

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries
P.O. Box 9297
San Diego, CA 92169
1-888-887-0417 or Email