L. Calpurnius Bestia 23

vol. III p.1366-1367

23) L. Calpurnius Bestia. As tribune of the plebs in 633 = 121, he arranged for P. Popillius Laenas to be brought back to Rome, after he had been exiled by C. Gracchus (Cic. Brut. 128). <50> He was elected consul for 643 = 111 (f. Cap. Lex agrar. CIL I 200 v. 95; cf. XI 364a. Chronogr. Idat. Chron. Pasch. Val. Max. I 8, 11. Oros. V 15, 1. Obsequ. 39. Cassiod.), and was granted Numidia as his province. He made a truce with Leptis (Sall. Iug. 77, 2f.), and then turned his full attention towards leading the war against Jugurtha, though it wasn’t long before he took bribes from the king, and offered him an exceptionally advantageous peace treaty (Sall. Iug. 27, 4-29, 7. Liv. ep. LXI. Flor. I 36, 7. Eutrop. IV 26, 1f. Oros. V 15, 4, as well as a vague reference in Plut. Mar. 9, 3 with regard to Sall. 85, 16). <60> After that, he returned to Rome for the elections (Sall. 29, 7. 32, 2). However, the people had grown angry at his shameful conduct in Numidia, and they demanded his punishment: he was charged by C. Mamilius Limetanus, and convicted, even though his accomplice and legate M. Scaurus belonged to the equestrian order and supported him (Sall. 40, 5. Cic. de orat. II 283; Brut. 128). <page break 1366/1367> He is probably also the Bestia who went willingly into exile in 664 = 90, when Q. Varius’ new law on treason, which related to the allies, began to pose a threat to him (Appian. b. c. I 37). According to both Sallust and Cicero, he was a capable man, but his greed outweighed all his better qualities. <10> A Carthaginian inscription from the empire seems to name him as a member of a triumviral commission (CIL VIII Suppl. 12535).

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