The expressed the utmost
contempt
for Caesar's army,
great success which Labienus had gained under and thus contributed his share to increase that
Caesar, and which was rather due to Caesar's false confidence, which was one of the main causes
genius than to his own abilities, had greatly elated of the disastrous issue of the battle.
great success which Labienus had gained under and thus contributed his share to increase that
Caesar, and which was rather due to Caesar's false confidence, which was one of the main causes
genius than to his own abilities, had greatly elated of the disastrous issue of the battle.
William Smith - 1844 - Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities - b
Sut.
ii.
7), may be taken as
a
YY4
## p. 696 (#712) ############################################
696
LABIENUS.
LABIENUS.
A specimen of his style, he would rank above Te people the right of electing them. It was in con-
rence, and second only to Plautus, in dramatic sequence of this new law that Caesar obtained the
vigour, and Horace's depreciation of him (Sat. i. dignity of pontifex maximus this year. (Dion
10,6) might stand beside Pope's sneer at Chaucer, Cass. XXxvii. 26, 27, 37; Suet. Caes. 12, 13; Cic.
and “such writing as is never read. ” But there pro Rabir. passim. ) It was likewise no doubt at
is reason to infer that the diction of Laberius Caesar's suggestion, who was anxious to gratify
abounded in unauthorised words (Gell. xvi. 7) and Pompey, that Labienus and his colleague T. Am-
in antitheses and verbal jokes (Sen. Contr. 18), pius Bulbus proposed those honours to Pompey,
allowable in a farce-writer, but beneath the dig- which have been detailed elsewhere. [Vol. I. P.
nity of comedy. He was, however, evidently an 455, a] (Comp. Vell. Pat. ii. 40. )
original thinker, and made great impression on his All these services did not go unrewarded.
contemporaries. (Niebuhr, Lectures on Rom. Hist. When Caesar, after his consulship, went into his
vol. ii. p. 169. ) The fragments of Laberius are province of Transalpine Gaul in B. c. 58, he took
collected by Bothe, Poet. Soen. Lalin. vol. r. pp. Labienus with him as his legatus, and treated him
202—218. A revised text of the prologue has with distinguished favour. We find that Labienus
been published, with a new fragment by Schneide had the title of pro praetore (Caes. B. G. i. 21),
win, in the Rheinisches Museum for 1843, p. which title had doubtless been conferred upon him
632, &c. A writer of verses, named Laberius, is by Caesar's influence, that he might in the absence
mentioned by Martial ( Ep. vi. 14. ) (W. B. D. ) of the proconsul take his place, and discharge his
Q. LABERIUS DURUS, a tribune of the duties. Labienus continued with Caesar during
soldiers in Caesar's army, fell in battle in the a great part of his campaigns in Gaul, and showed
second invasion of Britain, B. C. 54. He is by himself an able and active officer. He was with
mistake called Labienus by Orosius. (Caes. B. G. Caesar throughout the whole of his first campaign
v. 15 ; Oros. vi. 9. )
(B. C. 58). According to Appian (Celt. 3, 15) and
LABE'RIUS MAXIMUS was procurator of Plutarch (Caes. 18), it was Labienus who cut to
Judaea in A. n. 73, 74, the third and fourth years pieces the Tigurini ; but Caesar ascribes the merit
of Vespasian's reign. After the destruction of this to himself (B. G. i. 12); and as he never
Jerusalem the emperor sent Laberius orders to manifests a disposition to appropriate to himself
offer for sale all the lands in Judaea. (Joseph. Bell. the exploits of his officers, his authority ought to
Jud. vii. 6, § 6. ) A Laberius Maximus, whether be preferred to that of the former writers. He
the same is uncertain, was banished by Trajan on speaks, moreover, of the services of Labienus in
suspicion of aspiring to the purple (Spartian. Ha- this campaign ; and after the conquest of the
driun. 5); and a person of the same name is men- Helvetii and the Germans we find him leaving
tioned by Martial (Ep. vi. 14) and by Pliny (Ep. Labienus in command of the troops in their
x. 16).
(W. B. D. ] winter-quarters, while he himself went into Cis-
LABIE'NUS, the name of a Roman family, alpine Gaul to discharge his civil duties in this
which does not occur in history till the last cen- province. (Caes. B. G. i. 10, 22, 54. )
tury of the republic. Most modern writers say As we have no further mention of Labienus in
that Labienus was a cognomen of the Atia gens, Gaul for the next three years, it is probable that
but there is no authority for this in any ancient he quitted the army when Caesar returned to in
author. The name was first assigned to this gens after the winter of B. c. 58. His absence was sup-
by P. Manutius, but apparently on conjecture ; plied by P. Crassus, the son of the triumvir; but
and although Spanheim (De Praest. et Usu Numism. when the latter left Gaul, in B. c. 54, in order to
vol. ii. pp. 11, 12) pointed out that there was no join his father in the fatal expedition against the
authority for this, the error has been continued Parthians, Caesar may perhaps have sent for La-
down to the present day, as, for instance, in bienus, or the prospect of honour and rewards may
Orelli's Onomasticon Tullianum.
have again attracted him to the camp of his patron.
1. Q. LABIENUS, the uncle of T. Labienus However this may be, we find Labienus again in
(No. 2], joined Saturninus when he seized the Gaul in B. c. 54, in the winter of which year be
capitoi in B. c. 100, and perished along with the was stationed with a legion among the Remi, on
other conspirators on that occasion. It was under the confines of the Treviri. Here he defeated the
the pretence of avenging his death that his nephew latter people, who had come under the command of
accused Rabirius of the crime of perduellio. (Cic. Induciomarus, to attack his camp, and their leader
pro Rubir. 5, 7. )
fell in the battle. Still later in the winter La-
2. T. Labienus was tribune of the plebs in B. c. bienus gained another great battle over the Treviri,
63, the year of Cicero's consulship; and, under and reduced the people to submission. (Caes.
pretence of avenging his uncle's death, as is men- B. G. v. 24, 53—58, vi 7, 8; Dion Cass. xl. 11,
tioned above, he accused Rabirius of perduellio. The 31. )
real reason, however, of his undertaking this ac- In the great campaign against Vercingetorix in
cusation was to please Julius Caesar, whose motives B. c. 52, which was the most arduous but at the
for bringing the aged Rabirius to trial have been same time the most brilliant of all Caesar's cam-
mentioned elsewhere. (Caesar, p. 541. ) Ra-paigns in Gaul, Labienus played a distinguished
birius was defended by Cicero, who was then ex- part. He was sent by Caesar with four legions
erting himself to please the senatorial party, and against the Senones and Parisii, and took up his
who consequently speaks of the tribune with great head-quarters at Agendicum. From this place he
contempt, and heaps upon him no measured terms marched against Lutetia, which was burnt at his
of abuse. Being entirely devoted to Caesar's in- approach ; and in his subsequent retreat to Agen-
terests, Labienus introduced and carried a ple- dicum, which was rendered necessary by the revolt
biscitum, repealing the enactment of Sulla, which of the Aedui and the rising of the Bellovaci, his
gave the college of pontiffs the power of electing conduct is greatly praised by Caesar. He sub
its members by co-optation, and restoring to the sequently reached Agendicum in safety, after
## p. 697 (#713) ############################################
LABIENUS.
697
LABIENUS.
gnining a complete victory over Camulogenus, who 11, 12, 13, en b. 15, 16, ad Fan. . xiv. 14, xvi.
commanded the enemy. During the winter of this 12. )
year he was left in command of the troops, while In the following year (B. C. 48) Labienas tok
Caesar repaired, according to his usual cristom, to an active part as one of Pompey's legates in the
Cisalpine Gaul; and finding that Commius, the campaign in Greece. Here he distinguished himself,
Atrebatian, was endeavouring to excite a new re- like many others of Pompey's officers, by his cruelty
volt in Gaul, he made an ineffectual attempt to and overweening confidence ; though we ought
remove him by assassination. During the two perhaps to make some deduction from the un-
following years, which preceded the breaking out favourable terms in which he is spoken of by
of the civil war, Labienus continued to hold the Caesar. Appian, however, relates (B. C. ii. 62),
chief command in the army, next to Caesar him that it was through the advice of Labienus that
self. In B. c. 51 Caesar sent him into Gallia Pompey did not follow up the success which he
Tognth, or Cisalpine Gaul, to defend the Roman had gained at Dyrrhachium, by forcing Caesar's
colonies, lest the barbarians should make any camp, which he might easily have done, and thus
sudden attack upon them; and on his return into have brought the war to a close. And the act of
Transalpine Gaul, he was again despatched against cruelty committed by Labienus after this batilo
the Treviri, whom he had conquered three years was of so public a nature, that Caesar would not
before, and whom he agnin subdued without any have ventured to record it unless it had been ac-
difficulty. So much contidence did Caesar place in tually committed. He is related to have obtained
Labienus, that when he returned into Transalpine from Pompey all Caesar's soldiers who had been
Gaul in B. c. 50, he left Labienus in command of taken prisoners in the battle, to have paraded them
Cisalpine Gaul, that the latter might in his absence before the Pompeian army, and, after taunting
still further win over the Roman citizens in his them as his “ fellow-soldiers," and upbraiding them
province to support Caesar in his attempts to gain by asking " whether veteran soldiers were accus-
the consulship for the year following. (Caes. B. G. tomed to fly," to have put them to death in the
vii. 57–62, viii. 23, 24, 25, 45, 52 ; Dion Cass. presence of the assembled troops. In the council
xl. 38, 43. )
of war held before the fatal battle of Pharsalia, he
But Caesar's confidence was misplaced.
The expressed the utmost contempt for Caesar's army,
great success which Labienus had gained under and thus contributed his share to increase that
Caesar, and which was rather due to Caesar's false confidence, which was one of the main causes
genius than to his own abilities, had greatly elated of the disastrous issue of the battle. (Caes. B. C.
his little mind, and made him fancy himself the iii. 13, 19, 71, 87. )
equal of his great general, whom he was no longer After the defeat at Pharsalia Labienus fled to
disposed to obey as heretofore. (Comp. Dion Cass. Dyrrhachium, where he found Cicero, and informed
xli. 4. ) Such conduct naturally caused Caesar to him of the news (Cic. de Div. i. 32), but at the
treat him with coolness; and the Pompeian party same time, to give some courage to his party, pre-
eagerly availed themselves of this opportunity to tended that Caesar had received a severe wound in
gain him over to their side. They entered into the engagement. (Frontin. Strat. ii. 7. § 13. )
negotiations with him in this year, while he was From Dyrrhachium Labienus repaired with Afranius
in Cisalpine Gaul, and their efforts were successful, to Corcyra, in order to join Caio ; and from thence
notwithstanding the large fortune which had been he proceeded to Cyrene (Plut. Cat. Min. 56),
bestowed upon him by Caesar (comp. Cic. ad Att. which refused to receive him, and finally he joined
vii. 7), and the other numerous marks of favour the scattered remnants of the Pompeian party in
which he had received at his hands. Accordingly, Africa. Here Scipio and Cato, two of the most
on the breaking out of the civil war in B. C. 49, celebrated leaders of the Pompeians, collected a
Labienus took an early opportunity to desert his considerable army. Labienus bad at first the
old friend and captain. The news of his defection command of an army near Ruspina, where he
was received at Rome with transport ; and Cicero fought against Caesar, in B. c. 46, at first with some
speaks of it again and again in terms of the greatest success, but was at length repulsed. Soon after
exultation. “I look upon Labienus as a hero,” he this battle Labienus united his forces with those of
writes to Atticus ; " that great man Labienus," he Scipio, under whom he served as legate during the
calls him in another letter, and speaks of the rest of the campaign. (Dion Cass. xlii. 10, xliii.
tremendous blow” (maxima plaga) which Caesar 2 ; Appian, B. C. ii. 95 ; Hirt. B. Afr. 15-19,
had received from the desertion of his chief officer. &c. )
But this “ hero" was destined to disappoint When the battle of Thapsus placed the whole of
grievously his new friends. He brought no ac- Africa in Caesar's power, Labienus fled into Spain
cession of strength to their cause ; he had not with the surviving relics of his party, in order to
sufficient influence with Caesar's veterans to induce continue the war there in conjunction with Cn.
them to forsake the general whom they idolised ; Pompey. At the battle of Munda, which was
eren the town of Cingulum, on which he had spent fought in the following year, B. C. 45, Labienus
60 much money, was one of the first to open its was destined once more to oppose his old com-
gates to Caesar (Caes. B. C. i. 15); and in war mander, and by a strange fatality to give the
his talents seem to have been rather those of an death-blow to the very party that had welcomed
officer than of a commander ; he was more fitted him with so much joy. The battle was undecided,
to execute the orders of another than to devise a and would probably have remained so, had not
plan of action for himself. In a few weeks' time Labienus quitted his ranks, to prevent Bogud,
we find Cicero speaking of him in very altered king of Mauritania, from capturing the Pompeian
language, and expressing a desire for the arrival of camp. The Pompeian troops, thinking that La-
Afranins and Petreius, as little was to be expec! ed bienus had taken to flight, lost their courage,
from Labienus. (In Labieno parum est dignitatis, wavered, and fled. Labienus himself fell in the
Cic. ad Att. viii. 2. $ 3; comp. Cic. ad Att. vii. I battle, and his head was brought to Caesar. The
1
## p. 698 (#714) ############################################
698
LABIENUS.
LABIENUS.
1
general character of Labienus has been sufficiently These successes at length roused Antony from
shown by the above sketch: he seems to have his inactivity. He sent an army into Asia Minor
been a vain, haughty, headstrong man; nothing in B. C. 39, commanded by P. Ventidius, the most
is recorded of him which exhibits him in a favour- able of bis legates, who suddenly came upon La-
able light; and with the exception of his military bienus before the latter had received any intelli-
abilities, which were not, however, of the highest gence of his approach. Not having any of his
order, he possessed nothing to distinguish him Parthian allies with him, he dared not meet Ven-
from the general mass of the Roman nobles of his tidius in the field, and, accordingly, fled with the
time. (Dion Cass. xliii. 30, 38 ; Flor. iv. 2 ; utmost haste towards Syria, to effect a junction
Appian, B. C. ii. 105 ; Auctor, B. Ilisp. 18, 31. )
with Pacorus. This, however, was prevented by
3. Q. Labienus, the son of the preceding, the mpid pursuit of Ventidius, who came up with
joined the party of Brutus and Cassius after the him by Mount Taurus, and stopped him from ad-
murder of Caesar (B. C. 44), and was sent by them vancing further. Here both parties remained for
into Parthia to seek nid from Orodes, the Parthian some days, Ventidius waiting for his heavy-armed
king. [ARSACES XIV. ) Here he remained for a troops, and Labienus the arrival of the Parthians.
considerable time, and before he could obtain any | The latter marched to his assistance, but were
definite answer from Orodcs, the news came of the defeated by Ventidius before they joined Labienus,
battle of Philippi (B. C. 42). Seeing that the whom they then deserted, and fled into Cilicia. In
triumvirs were resolved to spare none of their op- these circumstances Labienus, not daring to engage
ponents, Labienus made up his mind to continue with Ventidius, abandoned his men, and fled in
in Parthia ; but circumstances soon occurred which disguise into Cilicia. Here he remained concealed
enabled him to take revenge upon the victorious for some time, but was at length apprehended by
party. The attention of Octavian was fully en- Demetrius, a freedman of Octavian, and put to
ginged by the affairs of Italy and the war against death. It would appear, from a statement of
Sex. Pompey ; and Antony, to whom the govern- Strabo (xiv. p. 600), that this Labienus possessed
ment of the East had devolved, had retired to the same arrogance and vehemence of temper
Egypt, captivated by the charms of Cleopatra, and which distinguished his father. (Dion Cass. xlviii.
careless about every thing else. Labienus per- 24–26, 39, 40; Liv. Epit. cxxvii. ; Flor. iv. 9 ;
buaded Orodes to embrace this favourable oppor- Vell. Pat. ii. 78 ; Plut. Ant. 30, 33; Appiau,
tunity for the invasion of the Roman provinces B. C. v. 65, 133; Justin, xlii. 4. ) The coin an-
in Asia; and accordingly the Parthian king en-nexed has on the obverse the head of Labienus,
trusted to him and Pacorus a large army for the with the legend & LABIENVS PARTHICVS IMP. , and
purpose. They crossed the Euphrates, and in on the reverse a horse, which refers clearly to the
vaded Syria, in B. C. 40. At first they were celebrated cavalry of the Parthians. (Eckhel, vol.
repulsed from the walls of Apameia ; but as al. v. p. 146. )
most all the fortified places were garrisoned by the
old soldiers of Brutus and Cassius, who had joined
the army of the triumvirs after the victory of the
latter, Labienus and Pacorus met with little resist-
Most of these troops joined their banners ;
but their commander, Decidius Saxa, continued
firm in his allegiance to Antony. He was, how-
coroooo
ever, easily overcome in battle ; and as the fruit of
COIN OP Q. LABIENUS.
this victory, Labienus and the Parthians obtained
possession of the two great towns of Antioch and 4. LABIEVUS was one of those included in the
A pameia, While Pacorus remained with the proscription of the trinmvirs in B. C. 43, but we
Parthians in Syria, to complete the subjugation of know not whether he was in any way connected
the country, advancing for that object as far south with the other persons of this name. It is related
as Palestine, Labienus, with the Roman troops he of him that he had taken an active part in ap-
had collected, entered Asia Minor in pursuit of prehending and killing those who had been pro
Saxa, whom he overtook and slew in Cilicia, and scribed by Sulla ; and deeming it disgraceful not
then proceeded along the south of Asia Minor, to meet a similar fate with courage, he seated him-
receiving the submission of almost all the cities in self in front of his house, and quietly waited for
his way. The only resistance he experienced was the assassins. (Appian, B. C. iv. 26. ) Whether
from Alabanda, Mylasa, and Stratoniceia ; the two this Labienus is the same as the one whose place
former of which he took by force [compare Hy- of concealment his freedmen could be induced by
BREAS], while the latter successfully resisted all his no tortures to reveal (Macrob. Saturn, i. 11), is
efforts. " Hereupon he assumed the name of Par- doubtful : the account of Appian would imply that
thian imperator, a title which we also find upon they were two different persons, as the former did
his coins, as is mentioned below. In adopting this not seek to conceal himself.
title, Dion Cassius remarks (xlviii. 26), Labienus 5. T. LABIENUS, & celebrated orator and his-
departed from the custom of all Roman command-torian in the reign of Augustus, appears to have
ers, who were wont to take such titles from the been either the son or grandson of the Labienus
names of the people whom they conquered, of who deserted Julius Caesar. (No. 3. ) He retained
which we have examples in Scipio Africanus, Ser- all the republican feelings of his family, and, unlike
vilius Isauricus, Fabius Allobrogicus, and the like, most of his contemporaries, never became reconciled
while Labienus, on the contrary, assumed his from to the imperial government, but took every op-
the victorious nation. It was in reference to this portunity to attack Augustus and his friends. In
that Hybreas, when he was defending Mylasus, consequence of his bitterness he received the nick-
sent Labienus the taunting message that he would name of Rabienus from the imperial party. He
call himself the Carian imperator.
was an intimate friend of Cassius Severus, and an
ance.
PROCOOCOOMOCNO
00000
:
## p. 699 (#715) ############################################
LABRANDEUS.
699
LACHARES.
enemy of Asinius Pollio, whom he branded in one had at Labranda. (Herod. v. 119; Strab. xiv.
of his orations as the cusnar or parasite of Augus p. 659 ; Plut. Quest. Gr. 46. ) (L. S. )
Lus. He is represented by the elder Seneca as LABYNETUS (Aafúvntos), a name common
very poor, of an infamous character, and universally to several of the Babylonian monarchs. It seems
hated; but his oratorical talents must have been to have been a title rather than a proper name. А
very great, as Seneca justly remarks, to have ob- Labynetus is mentioned by Herodotus (i. 74) as
tained under these circumstances the remarkable mediating, in conjunction with a prince of Cilicia,
reputation which he enjoyed as an orator. In his a peace between Cyaxares and Alyattcs. From
speeches he adopted a style of oratory which par- the chronology, it is clear that this Labynetus
took of the leading characteristics both of the an- must have been identical with Nebuchadnezzar.
cient and modern schools, so that each party could Another Labynetus is mentioned by Herodotus
claim him. The history which Labienus wrote (i. 77) as a contemporary of Cyrus and Croesus,
was apparently one of his own times ; since the with the latter of whom he was in alliance. This
elder Seneca relates, that when he heard him on Labynetus is the same with the Belshazzar of the
one occasion reading his history, he passed over a prophet Daniel. By other writers he is called Na-
great part, remarking that it could only be read after bonadius or Nabonidus. He was the last king
his death ; but if the work had related merely to of Babylon. (CrRus. ) The mode in which the
past times, he probably would not have feared to have city was captured by Cyrus is described by Hero-
read it.
a
YY4
## p. 696 (#712) ############################################
696
LABIENUS.
LABIENUS.
A specimen of his style, he would rank above Te people the right of electing them. It was in con-
rence, and second only to Plautus, in dramatic sequence of this new law that Caesar obtained the
vigour, and Horace's depreciation of him (Sat. i. dignity of pontifex maximus this year. (Dion
10,6) might stand beside Pope's sneer at Chaucer, Cass. XXxvii. 26, 27, 37; Suet. Caes. 12, 13; Cic.
and “such writing as is never read. ” But there pro Rabir. passim. ) It was likewise no doubt at
is reason to infer that the diction of Laberius Caesar's suggestion, who was anxious to gratify
abounded in unauthorised words (Gell. xvi. 7) and Pompey, that Labienus and his colleague T. Am-
in antitheses and verbal jokes (Sen. Contr. 18), pius Bulbus proposed those honours to Pompey,
allowable in a farce-writer, but beneath the dig- which have been detailed elsewhere. [Vol. I. P.
nity of comedy. He was, however, evidently an 455, a] (Comp. Vell. Pat. ii. 40. )
original thinker, and made great impression on his All these services did not go unrewarded.
contemporaries. (Niebuhr, Lectures on Rom. Hist. When Caesar, after his consulship, went into his
vol. ii. p. 169. ) The fragments of Laberius are province of Transalpine Gaul in B. c. 58, he took
collected by Bothe, Poet. Soen. Lalin. vol. r. pp. Labienus with him as his legatus, and treated him
202—218. A revised text of the prologue has with distinguished favour. We find that Labienus
been published, with a new fragment by Schneide had the title of pro praetore (Caes. B. G. i. 21),
win, in the Rheinisches Museum for 1843, p. which title had doubtless been conferred upon him
632, &c. A writer of verses, named Laberius, is by Caesar's influence, that he might in the absence
mentioned by Martial ( Ep. vi. 14. ) (W. B. D. ) of the proconsul take his place, and discharge his
Q. LABERIUS DURUS, a tribune of the duties. Labienus continued with Caesar during
soldiers in Caesar's army, fell in battle in the a great part of his campaigns in Gaul, and showed
second invasion of Britain, B. C. 54. He is by himself an able and active officer. He was with
mistake called Labienus by Orosius. (Caes. B. G. Caesar throughout the whole of his first campaign
v. 15 ; Oros. vi. 9. )
(B. C. 58). According to Appian (Celt. 3, 15) and
LABE'RIUS MAXIMUS was procurator of Plutarch (Caes. 18), it was Labienus who cut to
Judaea in A. n. 73, 74, the third and fourth years pieces the Tigurini ; but Caesar ascribes the merit
of Vespasian's reign. After the destruction of this to himself (B. G. i. 12); and as he never
Jerusalem the emperor sent Laberius orders to manifests a disposition to appropriate to himself
offer for sale all the lands in Judaea. (Joseph. Bell. the exploits of his officers, his authority ought to
Jud. vii. 6, § 6. ) A Laberius Maximus, whether be preferred to that of the former writers. He
the same is uncertain, was banished by Trajan on speaks, moreover, of the services of Labienus in
suspicion of aspiring to the purple (Spartian. Ha- this campaign ; and after the conquest of the
driun. 5); and a person of the same name is men- Helvetii and the Germans we find him leaving
tioned by Martial (Ep. vi. 14) and by Pliny (Ep. Labienus in command of the troops in their
x. 16).
(W. B. D. ] winter-quarters, while he himself went into Cis-
LABIE'NUS, the name of a Roman family, alpine Gaul to discharge his civil duties in this
which does not occur in history till the last cen- province. (Caes. B. G. i. 10, 22, 54. )
tury of the republic. Most modern writers say As we have no further mention of Labienus in
that Labienus was a cognomen of the Atia gens, Gaul for the next three years, it is probable that
but there is no authority for this in any ancient he quitted the army when Caesar returned to in
author. The name was first assigned to this gens after the winter of B. c. 58. His absence was sup-
by P. Manutius, but apparently on conjecture ; plied by P. Crassus, the son of the triumvir; but
and although Spanheim (De Praest. et Usu Numism. when the latter left Gaul, in B. c. 54, in order to
vol. ii. pp. 11, 12) pointed out that there was no join his father in the fatal expedition against the
authority for this, the error has been continued Parthians, Caesar may perhaps have sent for La-
down to the present day, as, for instance, in bienus, or the prospect of honour and rewards may
Orelli's Onomasticon Tullianum.
have again attracted him to the camp of his patron.
1. Q. LABIENUS, the uncle of T. Labienus However this may be, we find Labienus again in
(No. 2], joined Saturninus when he seized the Gaul in B. c. 54, in the winter of which year be
capitoi in B. c. 100, and perished along with the was stationed with a legion among the Remi, on
other conspirators on that occasion. It was under the confines of the Treviri. Here he defeated the
the pretence of avenging his death that his nephew latter people, who had come under the command of
accused Rabirius of the crime of perduellio. (Cic. Induciomarus, to attack his camp, and their leader
pro Rubir. 5, 7. )
fell in the battle. Still later in the winter La-
2. T. Labienus was tribune of the plebs in B. c. bienus gained another great battle over the Treviri,
63, the year of Cicero's consulship; and, under and reduced the people to submission. (Caes.
pretence of avenging his uncle's death, as is men- B. G. v. 24, 53—58, vi 7, 8; Dion Cass. xl. 11,
tioned above, he accused Rabirius of perduellio. The 31. )
real reason, however, of his undertaking this ac- In the great campaign against Vercingetorix in
cusation was to please Julius Caesar, whose motives B. c. 52, which was the most arduous but at the
for bringing the aged Rabirius to trial have been same time the most brilliant of all Caesar's cam-
mentioned elsewhere. (Caesar, p. 541. ) Ra-paigns in Gaul, Labienus played a distinguished
birius was defended by Cicero, who was then ex- part. He was sent by Caesar with four legions
erting himself to please the senatorial party, and against the Senones and Parisii, and took up his
who consequently speaks of the tribune with great head-quarters at Agendicum. From this place he
contempt, and heaps upon him no measured terms marched against Lutetia, which was burnt at his
of abuse. Being entirely devoted to Caesar's in- approach ; and in his subsequent retreat to Agen-
terests, Labienus introduced and carried a ple- dicum, which was rendered necessary by the revolt
biscitum, repealing the enactment of Sulla, which of the Aedui and the rising of the Bellovaci, his
gave the college of pontiffs the power of electing conduct is greatly praised by Caesar. He sub
its members by co-optation, and restoring to the sequently reached Agendicum in safety, after
## p. 697 (#713) ############################################
LABIENUS.
697
LABIENUS.
gnining a complete victory over Camulogenus, who 11, 12, 13, en b. 15, 16, ad Fan. . xiv. 14, xvi.
commanded the enemy. During the winter of this 12. )
year he was left in command of the troops, while In the following year (B. C. 48) Labienas tok
Caesar repaired, according to his usual cristom, to an active part as one of Pompey's legates in the
Cisalpine Gaul; and finding that Commius, the campaign in Greece. Here he distinguished himself,
Atrebatian, was endeavouring to excite a new re- like many others of Pompey's officers, by his cruelty
volt in Gaul, he made an ineffectual attempt to and overweening confidence ; though we ought
remove him by assassination. During the two perhaps to make some deduction from the un-
following years, which preceded the breaking out favourable terms in which he is spoken of by
of the civil war, Labienus continued to hold the Caesar. Appian, however, relates (B. C. ii. 62),
chief command in the army, next to Caesar him that it was through the advice of Labienus that
self. In B. c. 51 Caesar sent him into Gallia Pompey did not follow up the success which he
Tognth, or Cisalpine Gaul, to defend the Roman had gained at Dyrrhachium, by forcing Caesar's
colonies, lest the barbarians should make any camp, which he might easily have done, and thus
sudden attack upon them; and on his return into have brought the war to a close. And the act of
Transalpine Gaul, he was again despatched against cruelty committed by Labienus after this batilo
the Treviri, whom he had conquered three years was of so public a nature, that Caesar would not
before, and whom he agnin subdued without any have ventured to record it unless it had been ac-
difficulty. So much contidence did Caesar place in tually committed. He is related to have obtained
Labienus, that when he returned into Transalpine from Pompey all Caesar's soldiers who had been
Gaul in B. c. 50, he left Labienus in command of taken prisoners in the battle, to have paraded them
Cisalpine Gaul, that the latter might in his absence before the Pompeian army, and, after taunting
still further win over the Roman citizens in his them as his “ fellow-soldiers," and upbraiding them
province to support Caesar in his attempts to gain by asking " whether veteran soldiers were accus-
the consulship for the year following. (Caes. B. G. tomed to fly," to have put them to death in the
vii. 57–62, viii. 23, 24, 25, 45, 52 ; Dion Cass. presence of the assembled troops. In the council
xl. 38, 43. )
of war held before the fatal battle of Pharsalia, he
But Caesar's confidence was misplaced.
The expressed the utmost contempt for Caesar's army,
great success which Labienus had gained under and thus contributed his share to increase that
Caesar, and which was rather due to Caesar's false confidence, which was one of the main causes
genius than to his own abilities, had greatly elated of the disastrous issue of the battle. (Caes. B. C.
his little mind, and made him fancy himself the iii. 13, 19, 71, 87. )
equal of his great general, whom he was no longer After the defeat at Pharsalia Labienus fled to
disposed to obey as heretofore. (Comp. Dion Cass. Dyrrhachium, where he found Cicero, and informed
xli. 4. ) Such conduct naturally caused Caesar to him of the news (Cic. de Div. i. 32), but at the
treat him with coolness; and the Pompeian party same time, to give some courage to his party, pre-
eagerly availed themselves of this opportunity to tended that Caesar had received a severe wound in
gain him over to their side. They entered into the engagement. (Frontin. Strat. ii. 7. § 13. )
negotiations with him in this year, while he was From Dyrrhachium Labienus repaired with Afranius
in Cisalpine Gaul, and their efforts were successful, to Corcyra, in order to join Caio ; and from thence
notwithstanding the large fortune which had been he proceeded to Cyrene (Plut. Cat. Min. 56),
bestowed upon him by Caesar (comp. Cic. ad Att. which refused to receive him, and finally he joined
vii. 7), and the other numerous marks of favour the scattered remnants of the Pompeian party in
which he had received at his hands. Accordingly, Africa. Here Scipio and Cato, two of the most
on the breaking out of the civil war in B. C. 49, celebrated leaders of the Pompeians, collected a
Labienus took an early opportunity to desert his considerable army. Labienus bad at first the
old friend and captain. The news of his defection command of an army near Ruspina, where he
was received at Rome with transport ; and Cicero fought against Caesar, in B. c. 46, at first with some
speaks of it again and again in terms of the greatest success, but was at length repulsed. Soon after
exultation. “I look upon Labienus as a hero,” he this battle Labienus united his forces with those of
writes to Atticus ; " that great man Labienus," he Scipio, under whom he served as legate during the
calls him in another letter, and speaks of the rest of the campaign. (Dion Cass. xlii. 10, xliii.
tremendous blow” (maxima plaga) which Caesar 2 ; Appian, B. C. ii. 95 ; Hirt. B. Afr. 15-19,
had received from the desertion of his chief officer. &c. )
But this “ hero" was destined to disappoint When the battle of Thapsus placed the whole of
grievously his new friends. He brought no ac- Africa in Caesar's power, Labienus fled into Spain
cession of strength to their cause ; he had not with the surviving relics of his party, in order to
sufficient influence with Caesar's veterans to induce continue the war there in conjunction with Cn.
them to forsake the general whom they idolised ; Pompey. At the battle of Munda, which was
eren the town of Cingulum, on which he had spent fought in the following year, B. C. 45, Labienus
60 much money, was one of the first to open its was destined once more to oppose his old com-
gates to Caesar (Caes. B. C. i. 15); and in war mander, and by a strange fatality to give the
his talents seem to have been rather those of an death-blow to the very party that had welcomed
officer than of a commander ; he was more fitted him with so much joy. The battle was undecided,
to execute the orders of another than to devise a and would probably have remained so, had not
plan of action for himself. In a few weeks' time Labienus quitted his ranks, to prevent Bogud,
we find Cicero speaking of him in very altered king of Mauritania, from capturing the Pompeian
language, and expressing a desire for the arrival of camp. The Pompeian troops, thinking that La-
Afranins and Petreius, as little was to be expec! ed bienus had taken to flight, lost their courage,
from Labienus. (In Labieno parum est dignitatis, wavered, and fled. Labienus himself fell in the
Cic. ad Att. viii. 2. $ 3; comp. Cic. ad Att. vii. I battle, and his head was brought to Caesar. The
1
## p. 698 (#714) ############################################
698
LABIENUS.
LABIENUS.
1
general character of Labienus has been sufficiently These successes at length roused Antony from
shown by the above sketch: he seems to have his inactivity. He sent an army into Asia Minor
been a vain, haughty, headstrong man; nothing in B. C. 39, commanded by P. Ventidius, the most
is recorded of him which exhibits him in a favour- able of bis legates, who suddenly came upon La-
able light; and with the exception of his military bienus before the latter had received any intelli-
abilities, which were not, however, of the highest gence of his approach. Not having any of his
order, he possessed nothing to distinguish him Parthian allies with him, he dared not meet Ven-
from the general mass of the Roman nobles of his tidius in the field, and, accordingly, fled with the
time. (Dion Cass. xliii. 30, 38 ; Flor. iv. 2 ; utmost haste towards Syria, to effect a junction
Appian, B. C. ii. 105 ; Auctor, B. Ilisp. 18, 31. )
with Pacorus. This, however, was prevented by
3. Q. Labienus, the son of the preceding, the mpid pursuit of Ventidius, who came up with
joined the party of Brutus and Cassius after the him by Mount Taurus, and stopped him from ad-
murder of Caesar (B. C. 44), and was sent by them vancing further. Here both parties remained for
into Parthia to seek nid from Orodes, the Parthian some days, Ventidius waiting for his heavy-armed
king. [ARSACES XIV. ) Here he remained for a troops, and Labienus the arrival of the Parthians.
considerable time, and before he could obtain any | The latter marched to his assistance, but were
definite answer from Orodcs, the news came of the defeated by Ventidius before they joined Labienus,
battle of Philippi (B. C. 42). Seeing that the whom they then deserted, and fled into Cilicia. In
triumvirs were resolved to spare none of their op- these circumstances Labienus, not daring to engage
ponents, Labienus made up his mind to continue with Ventidius, abandoned his men, and fled in
in Parthia ; but circumstances soon occurred which disguise into Cilicia. Here he remained concealed
enabled him to take revenge upon the victorious for some time, but was at length apprehended by
party. The attention of Octavian was fully en- Demetrius, a freedman of Octavian, and put to
ginged by the affairs of Italy and the war against death. It would appear, from a statement of
Sex. Pompey ; and Antony, to whom the govern- Strabo (xiv. p. 600), that this Labienus possessed
ment of the East had devolved, had retired to the same arrogance and vehemence of temper
Egypt, captivated by the charms of Cleopatra, and which distinguished his father. (Dion Cass. xlviii.
careless about every thing else. Labienus per- 24–26, 39, 40; Liv. Epit. cxxvii. ; Flor. iv. 9 ;
buaded Orodes to embrace this favourable oppor- Vell. Pat. ii. 78 ; Plut. Ant. 30, 33; Appiau,
tunity for the invasion of the Roman provinces B. C. v. 65, 133; Justin, xlii. 4. ) The coin an-
in Asia; and accordingly the Parthian king en-nexed has on the obverse the head of Labienus,
trusted to him and Pacorus a large army for the with the legend & LABIENVS PARTHICVS IMP. , and
purpose. They crossed the Euphrates, and in on the reverse a horse, which refers clearly to the
vaded Syria, in B. C. 40. At first they were celebrated cavalry of the Parthians. (Eckhel, vol.
repulsed from the walls of Apameia ; but as al. v. p. 146. )
most all the fortified places were garrisoned by the
old soldiers of Brutus and Cassius, who had joined
the army of the triumvirs after the victory of the
latter, Labienus and Pacorus met with little resist-
Most of these troops joined their banners ;
but their commander, Decidius Saxa, continued
firm in his allegiance to Antony. He was, how-
coroooo
ever, easily overcome in battle ; and as the fruit of
COIN OP Q. LABIENUS.
this victory, Labienus and the Parthians obtained
possession of the two great towns of Antioch and 4. LABIEVUS was one of those included in the
A pameia, While Pacorus remained with the proscription of the trinmvirs in B. C. 43, but we
Parthians in Syria, to complete the subjugation of know not whether he was in any way connected
the country, advancing for that object as far south with the other persons of this name. It is related
as Palestine, Labienus, with the Roman troops he of him that he had taken an active part in ap-
had collected, entered Asia Minor in pursuit of prehending and killing those who had been pro
Saxa, whom he overtook and slew in Cilicia, and scribed by Sulla ; and deeming it disgraceful not
then proceeded along the south of Asia Minor, to meet a similar fate with courage, he seated him-
receiving the submission of almost all the cities in self in front of his house, and quietly waited for
his way. The only resistance he experienced was the assassins. (Appian, B. C. iv. 26. ) Whether
from Alabanda, Mylasa, and Stratoniceia ; the two this Labienus is the same as the one whose place
former of which he took by force [compare Hy- of concealment his freedmen could be induced by
BREAS], while the latter successfully resisted all his no tortures to reveal (Macrob. Saturn, i. 11), is
efforts. " Hereupon he assumed the name of Par- doubtful : the account of Appian would imply that
thian imperator, a title which we also find upon they were two different persons, as the former did
his coins, as is mentioned below. In adopting this not seek to conceal himself.
title, Dion Cassius remarks (xlviii. 26), Labienus 5. T. LABIENUS, & celebrated orator and his-
departed from the custom of all Roman command-torian in the reign of Augustus, appears to have
ers, who were wont to take such titles from the been either the son or grandson of the Labienus
names of the people whom they conquered, of who deserted Julius Caesar. (No. 3. ) He retained
which we have examples in Scipio Africanus, Ser- all the republican feelings of his family, and, unlike
vilius Isauricus, Fabius Allobrogicus, and the like, most of his contemporaries, never became reconciled
while Labienus, on the contrary, assumed his from to the imperial government, but took every op-
the victorious nation. It was in reference to this portunity to attack Augustus and his friends. In
that Hybreas, when he was defending Mylasus, consequence of his bitterness he received the nick-
sent Labienus the taunting message that he would name of Rabienus from the imperial party. He
call himself the Carian imperator.
was an intimate friend of Cassius Severus, and an
ance.
PROCOOCOOMOCNO
00000
:
## p. 699 (#715) ############################################
LABRANDEUS.
699
LACHARES.
enemy of Asinius Pollio, whom he branded in one had at Labranda. (Herod. v. 119; Strab. xiv.
of his orations as the cusnar or parasite of Augus p. 659 ; Plut. Quest. Gr. 46. ) (L. S. )
Lus. He is represented by the elder Seneca as LABYNETUS (Aafúvntos), a name common
very poor, of an infamous character, and universally to several of the Babylonian monarchs. It seems
hated; but his oratorical talents must have been to have been a title rather than a proper name. А
very great, as Seneca justly remarks, to have ob- Labynetus is mentioned by Herodotus (i. 74) as
tained under these circumstances the remarkable mediating, in conjunction with a prince of Cilicia,
reputation which he enjoyed as an orator. In his a peace between Cyaxares and Alyattcs. From
speeches he adopted a style of oratory which par- the chronology, it is clear that this Labynetus
took of the leading characteristics both of the an- must have been identical with Nebuchadnezzar.
cient and modern schools, so that each party could Another Labynetus is mentioned by Herodotus
claim him. The history which Labienus wrote (i. 77) as a contemporary of Cyrus and Croesus,
was apparently one of his own times ; since the with the latter of whom he was in alliance. This
elder Seneca relates, that when he heard him on Labynetus is the same with the Belshazzar of the
one occasion reading his history, he passed over a prophet Daniel. By other writers he is called Na-
great part, remarking that it could only be read after bonadius or Nabonidus. He was the last king
his death ; but if the work had related merely to of Babylon. (CrRus. ) The mode in which the
past times, he probably would not have feared to have city was captured by Cyrus is described by Hero-
read it.
