Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 3.djvu/310

Rh 298 PHILO. 2. VOLERO PUBLILIUS P. F. VoLER. N. Philo, consular tribune, B.c. 399. (Liv. v. 13; Fast. Capit.) 3. Q. PuBLiLius Q. F. Q. N. Philo, a distin- guished general in the Samnite wars, and the author of one of the great reforms in the Roman consti- tution. He was consul B. c. 339, with Ti. Aemi- lius Mamercinus, and defeated the Latins, over whom he triumphed. In the same year he was appointed dictator by his colleague Aemilius Ma- mercinus, and, as such, proposed the celebrated Publiliae Leges^ which abolished the power of the patrician assembly of the curiae, and elevated the plebeians to an equality Avith the patricians for all practical purposes. It would seem that great op- position was expected from the patricians, and that Philo was therefore raised to the dictatorship, that the proposed reforms might be carried with the authority of the highest magistracy in the state. As he could not have been appointed dictator with- out the sanction of the senate, it has been inferred by Niebuhr, with much probability, that the Pub- lilian laws were brought forward with the appro- bation of the senate, which was opposed to the narrow-mindedness of the great body of the patri- cians. According to Livy (viii. 12) there were three Publilian laws. The first is said to have enacted " that plebiscita should bind all Quirites" {tit plebiscita omnes Quirites tenerent which is to the same purpose as the subsequent lex Hortensia. Niebuhr, however, supposes that the effect of the lex Publilia was to render a senatusconsultura a sufficient confirmation of a plebiscitum, and to make the confirmation of the curiae unnecessary ; and that the effect of the Lev Hortensia was to render un- necessary even the confirmation of the senate, and to give to the tributa comitia complete legislative force (comp. Diet, of Ant. s.v. Plebiscitum). The second law enacted, " ut legum, quae comitiis centuriatis ferrentur, ante inilum suffragium patres auctores fierent." By patres Livy here means the curiae, that is, the assembly of the patricians ; and accord- ingly this law enacted that the curiae should con- firm ((luctores fieri ; comp. Diet, of Ant. s. v. Auetor) the results of the votes respecting all laws brought before the comitia centuriata, previous to the com- mencement of the voting : in other words, the veto of the curiae in the enactment of laws by the cen- turiae, was abolished. The third law enacted that one of the two censors should necessarily be a plebeian ; and Niebuhr conjectures that there was also a fourth law, which applied the Licinian law to the praetorship as well as the consulship, and which provided that in each alternate year the praetor should be a plebeian. (Comp, Niebuhr, Hist, of Rome., vol. iii. pp. 146, &c., 154,418, &c.; Arnold, Hist. ofRome.^ vol. ii. p. 154, &c.) In B. c. 337 Philo was the first plebeian praetor ; in B. c. 335 he was magister equitum to the dictator L. Aemilius Mamercinus ; and in R c. 332 he was censor with Sp. Postumius Albinus : during this censorship the Maecian and Scaptian tribes were added, and the Roman franchise was given to the Acerrani. (Liv. viii. 15—17 } Veil. Pat. i. 14.) In B. c. 327 Philo was consul a second time, with L. Cornelius Ijentulus. He was sent against Palaepolis in southern Italy, to which he laid siege ; but as he was unable to take the town before the expiration of his year of office, his imperium was prolonged, with the title of proconsul, by means of a senatusconaultum and a plebiscitum : this is the PHILO. first instance in Roman history in which a person was invested with proconsular power. Philo suc- ceeded in taking Palaepolis in the following year, B. c. 326, in consequence of the treachery of two of its chief citizens, Charilaus and Nymphius, who enticed the Samnite gai'rison out of the town, and opened the gates to the Romans. Philo obtained a triumph on his return to Rome. (Liv. viii. 22—26.) In B. c. 320 Philo was consul a third time, with L. Papirius Cursor. They were elected to the consulship as being two of the most distinguished generals of their time, in consequence of the great defeat which the Romans had sustained in the previous year near Caudium. Both consuls marched into Samnium. Papirius, who had laid siege to Luceria, was shut up in his fortified camp by the Samnite army, which had come to the relief of Lu- ceria, and was reduced to great extremities. He was, however, relieved from his difficulties by the advance of the other army under Philo, who de- feated the Samnites and took their camp. (Liv. ix. 7, 13 — 15; comp. Niebuhr, Hist, of Rome, vol. iii. p. 224, &c., who points out various improba- bilities in Livy's account.) In B.C. 315 Philo was consul afourth time, with L. Papirius Cursor (Fast. Capit. ; Diod. xix. GG). The consuls of this year are not mentioned by Livy, who simply says (ix. 22) that the new con- suls remained at Rome, and that the war was con- ducted by the dictator Q. Fabius. PHILO, VETU'RIUS. 1. L. Veturius L. F. Post. n. Philo, was consul b. c. 220, with C. Lutatius Catulus, two years before the commence- ment of the second Punic war. The two consuls are stated to have advanced as far as the Alps, and to have gained many people for the Romans with- out fighting ; but we have no particulars of their expedition. In the second year of the Punic war, B. c. 217, Philo was appointed dictator for the pur- pose of holding the comitia, and in B. c. 210 he was censor with P. Licinius Crassus Dives, and died while he held this office. (Zonar. viii. 20, p. 405, a.; Liv. xxii. 33, xxvii. 6). 2. L. Veturius L. f. L. n. Philo, was curule aedile B. c. 210, and praetor B.C. 209, when he obtained the jurisdictio peregrina, and likewise Cisalpine Gaul as his province. He remained in Gaul as propraetor during the following year, B. c. 208, and next year, B. c. 207, he served under Claudius Nero and Livius Salinator, and was sent to Rome along with Q. Caecilius Me- tellus to convey the joyful news of the defeat and death of Hasdrubal. It was mainly owing to his services in this war that he was elected consul in B. c. 207, with Q. Caecilius Metellus, who had shared with him in the glories of the campaign. The two consuls received Bnittii as their province, in order to prosecute the war against Hannibal ; but their year of office passed by without any important occurrence, and Philo re- turned to Rome to hold the comitia, while his col- league remained in Bruttii. In B. c. 205 Philo was magister equitum to his former colleague Metellus, who was nominated dictator for the purpose of holding the comitia. Finally he accompanied Scipio to Africa, and after the battle of Zama, b. c. 202, was sent to Rome to announce the glorious news of the defeat of Hannibal. (Liv. xxvii. 6, 7, 22, xxviii. 9—11, 38, xxix. 11, xxx. 38, 40 ; Cic Brut. 14.^ (