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Acilius Glabrio, Manius

ELIZABETH KOSMETATOU

M. Acilius Glabrio was a general and statesman

of the Roman Republic. He was a plebeian, a
homo novus (Livy 35.57.1012), and a protege
of SCIPIO AFRICANUS, the continuation of whose
command in Africa he supported in his capacity as tribune of the plebs in Rome in 201.
He thereafter rose in power, becoming one of
the decemviri sacrorum in 200, aedilis in
197, while as praetor he suppressed a slave
rebellion in Etruria in 196 (Livy 33.36.13).
Glabrio was elected consul alongside P. Scipio
Nasica in 191 and, despite his relatively limited
military experience, was given command of the
east during the Antiochene War in Greece (Livy
36.1.536.2.1). The same year, he defeated
ANTIOCHOS III MEGASs troops at Thermopylai
and engaged in rigorous diplomatic and further
military activities for which he made liberal use
of T. Quinctius Flamininus advice (Livy
36.34.636.35.2; Plut. Flam. 15.416.2). As
punishment for their support of Antiochos
III, Glabrio fought the Aitolians, besieged
Amphissa and Naupaktos, and liberated
DELPHI from the control of the AITOLIAN LEAGUE.
He also reproached the Boiotians for honoring
Antiochos III with a statue, a sign of lack of
gratitude for Romes beneficia (Livy 36.20.4;
cf. 36.22.2). Like Flamininus, Glabrio opposed
the expansionism of the ACHAIAN LEAGUE and
attended negotiations that secured the
Roman acquisition of the island of Zakynthos,
but dealt unsuccessfully with the return of
Spartan exiles to their native city after their
expulsion by NABIS (Livy 33.1617; 36.35.7;
Plut. Phil. 17.4). Glabrio cultivated the image
of liberator of the Greeks, a long-standing
slogan Roman leaders had inherited from the
Hellenistic kings since Flamininus, while in the
same breath he would also boast of the dawn of
a new era of Roman dominion stretching from
Gades to the Red Sea and ruling the entire world
(Livy 36.17.1415).

Immediately after the Battle of Thermopylai

of 191, Glabrio authorized the priests at
Delphi to fix the boundaries of their sacred
land (CID IV 119E; Rousset 2002: 8591
no. 6, 13743, 25069) and also restored or
donated to the sanctuary properties that had
been seized from Aitolians (Syll.3 60910).
His interest in Delphi continued the following
year during his tenure as proconsul. The
Delphians hoped to regain exclusive control
over the sanctuary and the Pythian Games
and to prevent the restoration of the old
AMPHICTYONY that once controlled the sanctuary
of Apollo at Delphi. In a surviving letter to
the city, Glabrio pledged his assistance to the
city, promising autonomy, safeguarding of
ancestral privileges (Syll.3 609), and protection
from all foes, a ruling that was upheld, thanks
to his influence, by senatorial decree in 189,
guaranteeing Delphic freedom, autonomy,
self-government, and non-tributary status
(Syll.3 612). Glabrios activities at Delphi can
be reconstructed on the basis of the epigraphic
evidence that is associated with the base of
the statue, which the grateful city set up in his
honor.
For his military successes in Greece, Glabrio
was awarded a TRIUMPH in 190, which he duly
celebrated with great pomp (Livy 37.46.26).
In 189, he attempted to run for CENSOR but was
forced to withdraw his candidature after being
accused by tribunes of having appropriated
part of the spoils from the war, when his
legates testified against him and the nobiles did
not support him (Livy 37.57.915). Glabrio
has been credited with introducing the Lex
Acilia de intercalando that gave the pontifices
power over intercalation of the calendar (see
CALENDAR, ROMAN).
SEE ALSO: Flamininus, Titus Quinctius;
Freedom (eleutheria).

REFERENCES AND SUGGESTED READINGS

Gruen, E. (1984) The Hellenistic world and the
coming of Rome. Berkeley.

The Encyclopedia of Ancient History, First Edition. Edited by Roger S. Bagnall, Kai Brodersen, Craige B. Champion, Andrew Erskine,
and Sabine R. Huebner, print pages 4647.
2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Published 2013 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
DOI: 10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah09005

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Habicht, C. (1987) The role of Athens in the
re-organization of the Delphic Amphictiony
after 189 BC. Hesperia 56:
5971.

Michaud, J.-P. (1977) Nouvelle inscription de la

base de M Acilius. Etudes delphiqiues: 12536.
Rousset, D. (2002) Le territoire de Delphes et la
terre dApollon. Paris.