User:Patar knight/Scaeva
 | This is not a Wikipedia article: This is a workpage, a collection of material and work in progress that may or may not be incorporated into an article. It should not necessarily be considered factual or authoritative. |
Marcus Cassius Scaeva (also Marcus Caesius Scaeva) was a Roman centurion, and later primus pilus, who was known for his bravery while serving under Julius Caesar in Britannia and during the Roman civil war of 49–45 BCE. Promotion of centurions in the Roman army usually involved assigning them to a lower numbered cohort, but Scaeva, after the Battle of Dyrrhachium, where he suffered numerous wounds and lost his eye defending one of Julius Caesar's forts against the soldiers of Gnaeus Pompey, was promoted from the centurion of cohort VIII directly to the primus pilus, or senior centurion, of his legion,[1] Legio VI Ferrata.[2]
Military service[edit]
Invasion of Britain[edit]
During Caesar's invasions of Britain in 55 BCE, Marcus Cassius Scaeva fought with conspicuous valour while on guard duty. Valerius Maximus's Memorable Words and Deeds (1st century AD) praises the bravery of Marcus Cassius Scaeva, a centurion under Caesar, who, having been deserted by his comrades, held his position alone against a horde of Britons on a small island, before finally swimming to safety.[3]
Battle of Dyrrhachium (48 BC)[edit]
During the Battle of Dyrrachium, Marcus Cassius Scaeva, along with a company of Legio VI Ferrata, was ordered by Caesar to guard the gate of one of the fortresses built to besiege Pompey. Four Optimate legions attacked the gate, but the company held for several hours, despite the heavy shower of arrows, of which around 130, 000 were collected after the battle.[2]
While defending the post entrusted to him, Scaeva lost his eye to an arrow, was wounded in the shoulder and thigh by javelins, and had stopped 130 darts with his shield. Scaeva pretended to surrender himself, but instead inflicted serious wounds to the soldiers of Pomepy who approached him. At this time, reinforcements from Caesar arrived, saving Scaeva's life. [4]
For this act of bravery, Roman legionaries brought Scaeva's pierced shield to Caesar, who promoted Scaeva to primus pilus of Legio VI Ferrata and rewarded with a sum of money. The pay of the unit under Scaeva's command was also doubled by Caeasr, who also gave them benefits "on a most generous scale."[5]
Later life[edit]
Marcus Cassius Scaeva is mentioned by Cicero as being a partisan of Julius Caesar around the time of his death in 44 BCE.[6]
Legacy[edit]
Marcus Cassius Scaeva is presented as a conflicted, but virtuous character in Book Six of Lucan's epic poem Pharsalia, who proclaims his eternal loyalty to Caesar, gives in to his bloodlust, and is later seen as semi-divine by the legionaries under his command.[7] Scaeva manages to repulse the first of Pompey's attacks, but later sallies overwhelm him as well.[8] The epic poem abruptly ends with Caesar trapped on a mole by the Pharos, having just caught sight of Scaeva, leading many to believe that the work is incomplete.[9]
External links[edit]
Notes[edit]
- ^ Fields, The Roman Army: The Civil Wars, 88-31 BC, 33
- ^ a b Suetonitus, The Twelve Caesars, 32
- ^ Valerius Maximus, Actorum et Dictorum Memorabilium Libri Novem 3:2.23
- ^ Hall, Palaestra stili Latini; or, Materials for translation into Latin prose, selected by B.H. Kennedy: or, Materials for translation into Latin prose, selected by B.H. Kennedy, 27
- ^ Caesar, Caesar's Civil War, 135
- ^ Smith, A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, 731
- ^ Hershkowitz, "The madness of epic: reading insanity from Homer to Statius", 214-216
- ^ Toohey, "Reading epic: an introduction to the ancient narratives", 177
- ^ Toohey, "Reading epic: an introduction to the ancient narratives", 183
References[edit]
- Caesar, Julius (2006). Caesar's Civil War (Illustrated ed.). Oxford University Press US. ISBN 9780195165104. Retrieved 2009-08-22.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - Fields, Nic (2008). Duncan Anderson (ed.). The Roman Army: The Civil Wars, 88-31 BC (Illustrated ed.). Osprey Publishing. ISBN 9781846032622. Retrieved 2009-06-27.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - Hershkowitz, Debra (1998). The madness of epic: reading insanity from Homer to Statius. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198152453. Retrieved 2009-08-22.
- Kennedy, Benjamin Hall (1855). Benjamin Hall Kennedy (ed.). Palaestra stili Latini; or, Materials for translation into Latin prose, selected by B.H. Kennedy: or, Materials for translation into Latin prose, selected by B.H. Kennedy (Digitized ed.). London. Retrieved 2009-06-27.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Roller, Matthew B. (2001). Constructing autocracy: aristocrats and emperors in Julio-Claudian Rome. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691050218. Retrieved 2010-5-15.
{{cite book}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - Smith, William (1873). William Smith (ed.). A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Vol. 3 (Digitized ed.). J. Murray. Retrieved 2009-08-22.
- Suetonius (2002). Michael Grant (ed.). The Twelve Caesars. Robert Graves (revised, reissue, illustrated ed.). Penguin Classics. ISBN 9780140449211. Retrieved 2009-08-22.
- Toohey, Peter (1992). Reading epic: an introduction to the ancient narratives. London: Routledge. ISBN 9780415042277. Retrieved 2009-08-22.
- Rudich, Vasily (1997). Dissidence and literature under Nero: the price of rhetoricization. Routledge. ISBN 9780415095013. Retrieved 2009-08-22.