Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 2.djvu/712

Rh 69R LABIENUS. general character of Labienus has been sufficiently shown b)"- the above sketch : he seems to have been a vain, haughty, headstrong man ; nothing is recorded of him which exhibits him in a favour- able light ; and with the exception of his military abilities, which were not, however, of the highest order, he possessed nothing to distinguish him from the general mass of the Roman nobles of his time. (Dion Cass, xliii. 30, 38 ; Flor. iv. 2 ; Appian, B. C. ii. 105 ; Auctor, B. Hisp. 18, 31.) 3. Q. Labienus, the son of the preceding, joined the party of Brutus and Cassius after the murder of Caesar (b. c. 44), and was sent by them into Parthia to seek aid from Orodes, the Parthian king. [Aksaces XIV.] Here he remained for a considerable time, and before he could obtain any definite answer from Orodes, the news came of the battle of Philippi (b. c. 42). Seeing that the triumvirs were resolved to spare none of their op- ponents, Labienus made up his mind to continue in Parthia ; but circumstances soon occurred which enabled him to take revenge upon the victorious party. The attention of Octavian was fully en- givged by the affairs of Italy and the war against Sex. Pompey ; and Antony, to whom the govern- ment of the East had devolved, had retired to Egypt, captivated by the charms of Cleopatra, and careless about every thing else. Labienus per- suaded Orodes to embrace this favourable oppor- tunity for the invasion of the Roman provinces in Asia ; and accordingly the Parthian king en- trusted to him and Pacorus a large army for the purpose. They crossed the Euphrates, and in- vaded Syria, in b. c. 40. At first they were repulsed from the walls of Apameia ; but as al- most all the fortified places were gairisoned by the old soldiers of Brutus and Cassius, who had joined the army of the triumvirs after the victory of the latter, Labienus and Pacorus met with little resist- ance. Most of these troops joined their banners ; but their commander, Decidius Saxa, continued fii-m in his allegiance to Antony, He was, how- ever, easily overcome in battle ; and as the fruit of this victory, Labienus and the Parthians obtained possession of the two great towns of Antioch and Apameia, While Pacorus remained with the Parthians in Syria, to complete the subjugation of the country, advancing for that object as far south as Palestine, Labienus, with the Roman troops he had collected, entered Asia Minor in pursuit of Saxa, whom he overtook and slew in Cilicia, and then proceeded along the south of Asia Minor, receiving the submission of almost all the cities in his way. The only resistance he experienced was from Alabanda, Mylasa, and Stratoniceia ; the two former of which he took by force [compare Hy- BREAs], while the latter successfully resisted all his efforts. Hereupon he assumed the name of Par- thian imperator, a title which we also find upon his coins, as is mentioned below. In adopting this title, Dion Cassius remarks (xlviii. 26), Labienus departed from the custom of all Roman command- ers, who were wont to take such titles from the names of the people whom they conquered, of which we have examples in Scipio Africanus, Ser- vilius Isauricus, Fabius Allobrogicus, and the like, while Labienus, on the contrary, assumed his from the victorious nation. It was in reference to this that Hybreas, when he was defending Mylasus, sent Labienus the taunting message that he would call himself the Carian imperator. LABIENUS. These successes at length roused Antony from his inactivity. He sent an army into AsiaMiin.r in B. c. 39, commanded by P. Ventidius, the most able of his legates, who suddenly came upon La- bienus before the latter had received any intelli- gence of his approach. Not having any of his Parthian allies with him, he dared not meet Ven- tidius in the field, and, accordingly, fled with the utmost haste towards Syria, to effect a junction with Pacorus. This, however, was prevented by the rapid pursuit of Ventidius, who came up with him by Mount Taurus, and stopped him from ad- vancing further. Here both parties remained for some days, Ventidius waiting for his heavy-armed troops, and Labienus the anival of the Parthians. The latter marched to his assistance, but were defeated by Ventidius before they joined Labienus, whom they then deserted, and fled into Cilicia. In these circumstances Labienus, not daring to engage with Ventidius, abandoned his men, and fled in disguise into Cilicia. Here he remained concealed for some time, but was at length apprehended by Demetrius, a freedman of Octavian, and put to death. It woidd appear, from a statement of Strabo (xiv. p, GOO), that this Labienus possessed the same arrogance and vehemence of temper which distinguished his father. (Dion Cass, xlviii. 24—26, 39, 40 ; Liv. Epit. cxxvii. ; Flor. iv. 9 ; Veil. Pat. ii. 78 ; Plut. A7it 30, 33 ; Appiau, B.C. V. Qb, 133; Justin, xlii. 4.) The coin an- nexed has on the obverse the liead of Labienus, with the legend Q. labienvs parthicvs imp., and on the reverse a horse, which refers clearly to the celebrated cavalry of the Parthians. (Eckhel, vol. V. p. 146.) COIN OF Q, LABIENUS. 4. Labievus was one of those included in the proscription of the triumvirs in b. c. 43, but we know not whether he was in any way connected with the other persons of this name. It is related of him that he had taken an active part in ap- prehending and killing those who had been pro- scribed by Sulla ; and deeming it disgraceful not to meet a similar fate with courage, he seated him- self in front of his house, and quietly waited fori the assassins. (Appian, B. C. iv. 26.) Whether this Labienus is the same as the one whose placeJ of concealment his freedmen could be induced by] no tortures to reveal (Macrob, 6W«r«. i. 11), ia] doubtful : the account of Appian would imply that] they were two different persons, as the fonner did not seek to conceal himself. 5. T. Labienus, a celebrated orator and his- torian in the reign of Augustus, appears to have been either the son or grandson of the Labienusi who deserted Julius Caesar. [No. 3.] He retainedj all the republican feelings of his family, and, unlikt most of his contemporaries, never became reconciled ^j to the imperial government, but took every op-* portunity to attack Augustus and his friends. In consequence of his bitterness he received the nick- name of Ruhiemis from the imperial party. He was an intimate friend of Cassius Severus, and an