December 3 in History

Vitruvius

79 BCE – 14 BCE

Technology

192

quotes

Vitruvius was a Roman architect and engineer during the 1st century BC, known for his multi-volume work titled De architectura. As the only treatise on architecture to survive from antiquity, it has been regarded since the Renaissance as the first book on architectural theory, as well as a major source on the canon of classical architecture. It is not clear to what extent his contemporaries regarded his book as original or important.

Phaedrus (fabulist)

137 BCE – 69 BCE

Philosophy

14

quotes

Gaius Julius Phaedrus or Phaeder was a 1st-century AD Roman fabulist and the first versifier of a collection of Aesop's fables into Latin. Nothing is recorded of his life except for what can be inferred from his poems, and there was little mention of his work during late antiquity. It was not until the discovery of a few imperfect manuscripts during and following the Renaissance that his importance emerged, both as an author and in the transmission of the fables.

Julius Caesar

100 BCE – 44 BCE

Politics

17

quotes

Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman who was the dictator of the Roman Republic almost continuously from 49 BC until his assassination in 44 BC. A member of the First Triumvirate, he led the Roman armies through the Gallic Wars and defeated his political rival Pompey in Caesar’s civil war. He consolidated power and proclaimed himself dictator perpetuo in 44 BC, which contributed to the political conditions that led to the collapse of the Roman Republic and the emergence of the Roman Empire.

Sulla

137 BCE – 77 BCE

Politics

5

quotes

Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix, commonly known as Sulla, was a Roman general and statesman of the late Roman Republic. Coming to fame for his military exploits, he was the first general during the late republic to march on Rome and win a civil war. After purging his opponents, he assumed the dictatorship, sought to strengthen the republican system by means of reforms to the constitution, and resigned his plenary powers after their enactment.

Strabo

62 BCE – 23

Philosophy

5

quotes

Strabo was an ancient Greek geographer who lived in Asia Minor during the transitional period of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire. He is best known for his work Geographica, which presented a descriptive history of people and places from different regions of the world known during his lifetime. Additionally, Strabo authored historical works, but only fragments and quotations of these survive in the writings of other authors.

Pompey

105 BCE – 47 BCE

Politics

3

quotes

Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, known in English as Pompey or Pompey the Great, was a Roman general and statesman who was prominent in the last decades of the Roman Republic. As a young man, he was a partisan and protégé of the dictator Sulla, after whose death he achieved much military and political success himself.

Cicero

106 BCE – 43 BCE

Politics

24

quotes

Marcus Tullius Cicero was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the establishment of the Roman Empire. His extensive writings include treatises on rhetoric, philosophy and politics. He is considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists and the innovator of what became known as "Ciceronian rhetoric".