The First Gallic Siege of Rome: Some Questions

[SPQR]

You know how the Gauls climbed up some Rock they saw someone going down, then the Geese quacked rushing Manlius to bravely save Rome, and forever be talked about in Forums? Well, I was wondering what happened to the cliff. I am going to Rome, and would be really happy if I could sell where it happened. I have a theory that it might be the Tarpeian Rock, or whatewver the exocution of the mentally insane and turncoats rock was, but I think if it was, Livy would have mentioned it. Any theories?

[Primus Pilus]

You know how the Gauls climbed up some Rock they saw someone going down, then the Geese quacked rushing Manlius to bravely save Rome, and forever be talked about in Forums? Well, I was wondering what happened to the cliff. I am going to Rome, and would be really happy if I could sell where it happened. I have a theory that it might be the Tarpeian Rock, or whatewver the exocution of the mentally insane and turncoats rock was, but I think if it was, Livy would have mentioned it. Any theories?

 

Livy did mention it, at least enough to give your theory merit... he names the Temple of Carmentis, which was/is adjacent to the Porta Carmentalis and is immediately south/southwest of the Capitoline Hill.

 

Livy 5.47

 

Since Tarpeian Rock was a cliff on the Capitoline... it very well could be the spot.

[M. Porcius Cato]

While you're looking for the Tarpeian Rock, you might consult Rome: An Oxford Archaeological Guide. Without it, I would have been lost in locating the Tarpeian Rock.

[Gaius Paulinus Maximus]

 

This is taken from an excellent Rome sight seeing guide...........

 

It is time for the Capitoline Hill walk. The place is dominated by the trapese Piazza del Campidoglio, designed and built by Michelangelo

in 1536. The staircase connecting it to via del Teatro di Marcello is called Cordonata and was built with a low steep specifically to allow the pontif's easy access to Palazzo Nuovo and Palazzo dei Conservatori. From Piazza del Campidoglio you can go directly to the Foro Romano. However, you should first take a detour to see The Tarpeian Rock; supposedly, this is the place where the traitors were thrown towards a deadly red cliff, in ancient times. To reach The Tarpeian Rock follow v.d. Tempio di Giove and descend the staircases on the left. Then head again uphill, and follow the road to Foro Romano.

 

 

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=htt..._GB228%26sa%3DX

[SPQR]

I am somewhat new to Roman History, and while I have many secondary sources, I have only a few primary ones. The secondary ones include almost nothing except what another one has. Then most internet sites seem to parrot even less. Does anyone know another primary source for the Gallic Siege? By the way, this isn't just for me. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one intrested in the First Gallic Siege.

[ASCLEPIADES]

I am somewhat new to Roman History, and while I have many secondary sources, I have only a few primary ones. The secondary ones include almost nothing except what another one has. Then most internet sites seem to parrot even less. Does anyone know another primary source for the Gallic Siege? By the way, this isn't just for me. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one intrested in the First Gallic Siege.

Salve, SPQR.

Strictly speaking, primary sources are first-hand narratives. On an almost semi-mythological event as the Gallic siege, about which even the exact date is disputed, we're dealing with "ancient tertiary sources" at best. Even Titus Livius himself complained about it on (Ab Urbe Condita, Liber VI, cp. I):

 

res cum uetustate nimia obscuras... tum quid rarae per eadem tempora litterae fuere, una custodia fidelis memoriae rerum gestarum, et quod, etiam si quae in commentariis pontificum aliisque publicis priuatisque erant monumentis, incensa urbe pleraeque interiere.

"The subject matter is enveloped in obscurity... partly owing to the fact that written records, which form the only trustworthy memorials of events, were in those times few and scanty, and even what did exist in the pontifical commentaries and public and private archives nearly all perished in the conflagration of the City2."

 

As you can see, the absence of documents itself was his best evidence on the magnitude of Rome's destruction.

 

By chronological order, main sources would be:

 

Polybius, Histories, Liber II. Written some one and a half centuries after the events actually took place.

 

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca historica, Liber XIV.

 

Titus Livius Patavinus, Ab Urbe Condita, by far the most extensive: Liber V, cp, XVII-LV for the Gaulish War itself and Liber VI for the aftermath. Q, Fabius Pictor, one of his main sources, was a contemporary of Polybius.

 

Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities, Liber XIII.

 

Mestrius Plutarchus, Camillus.

 

And additional references scattered among these and other sources like Strabo, Plinius Maior, Zonaras, et cetera.

Edited June 17, 2008 by ASCLEPIADES

[SPQR]

thank you for the correction. I guess I meant the closest to primary. Also, do you know of a definative list of known Roman literature?