latrones - Get a Free Blog

GUERRILLA LEADERS AS LATRONES
On the basis of a terminological study, W. Hoben has been able to show
in detail how, at the beginning of each slave uprising, the sources speak of
latrocinium; then, after the incident has reached a certain order of magnitude,
they move to label it as bellum; and finally, as the star of the revolting slaves
sinks, they revert once more to latrocinium. 54 In such cases it was the size of
the slave armies and their initial military success that won them such regard
as opponents of Rome that, albeit only temporarily, they were quasi-legally
recognised as hostes. Investigation of the terminology of the war against
Viriatus, the Sicilian slave war and the war against Spartacus reveals two
criteria according to which a war that was, legally speaking, latrocinium,
could, in everyday language, be termed bellum. These were: 1) the size of the
enemy’s army and the extent of his military success; and 2) the respect
gained by the leadership of his commanders.
Once again, these observations are confirmed by the high esteem in which
Viriatus was held by the Roman historiographical tradition. The same
regard rescued other leaders of native resistance to Rome from being classified
as common latrones, although their wars were, both de iure and de facto,
latrocinia. What Vercingetorix achieved by his strength of leadership, political
dexterity and military acumen, namely the temporary political unification
of a large section of the Gallic tribes, compelled a degree of respect
from his Roman foes. This respect, the extent of his movement, and its
short-lived success shielded the leader of the great Gallic uprising against
Roman occupation from personal denigration as a latro, even if certain
aspects of what happened were termed latrocinia. 55 In the same way, Bato,
leader of the Pannonian-Dalmatian uprising of ad 6–9, ‘the most serious of
all foreign wars since those with Carthage’, 56 was not explicitly called latro
or leistes. This was despite the fact that his resistance movement waged a
guerrilla war, 57 and that after the uprising had been crushed ‘certain bands
of brigands (leistika tina) continued their forays for a long time’. 58 We encounter
the same peculiarity in the cases of resistance leaders such as Arminius,
Caratacus and Julius Civilis. All of these belong to a circle of respected
enemies of Rome. Their opposites are to be found in a group of enemies who
remained lacking in such respect, and who are therefore categorised according
to the typology of Roman latrones as ‘common’, ‘despised’ bandits.
Tacfarinas, leader of a resistance movement in North Africa under Tiberius,
is a good example of these. His case will be reviewed below; but first we
return to Viriatus as the prototype of the ‘noble bandit’.
5 Viriatus and his Roman opponents
A number of Roman writers not only offered accounts of Viriatus’ actions
but also more or less detailed written portraits of his character. Of the fullest
characterisations, we have lost those of Posidonius and Livy, but have those
41