Titus Annius Milo

Titus Annius Milo Papianus was a Roman political agitator, the son of Gaius Papius Celsus, but adopted by his maternal grandfather, Titus Annius Luscus. In 52 BC he probably murdered Publius Clodius Pulcher and was later unsuccessfully defended by his friend Marcus Tullius Cicero in the "Pro Milone" speech.

Life

Political life

He joined the Pompeian party, and organized bands of armed slaves and gladiators to support the cause by public violence in opposition to Clodius, who gave similar support to the populares. Milo was tribune of the plebs in 57 BC. He took a prominent part in bringing about the recall of Cicero from exile, in spite of the opposition of Clodius.

On 23 January 57 BC, Clodius tried to use a force of gladiators to block a move to recall Cicero from exile, but Milo arrested Clodius' gladiators. He was subsequently attacked by Clodius' gangs and attempted to prosecute Clodius for violence. He was unsuccessful at doing so, and recruited gangs of his own. Later that year he tried to prosecute Clodius again, but Clodius escaped this by being elected aedile in 56, thus being immune from prosecution.

Milo became praetor in 54 BC, and in that year married Fausta, daughter of the dictator Lucius Cornelius Sulla and ex-wife of Gaius Memmius.

Murder of Clodius

In 53 BC, when Milo was candidate for the consulship (against Quintus Metellus Scipio and Publius Plautius Hypsaeus, nominees of Pompey) and Clodius for the praetorship, Milo set out for Lanuvium in order to appoint a priest. Meanwhile Clodius was returning to Rome, after he had heard that Cyrus the architect had died. The two leaders met by accident on the Via Appia at Bovillae and Clodius was murdered (January 18, 52 BC) by one of Milo's slaves, probably on his orders.

Trial and death

After the body of Clodius was burnt in the Curia by his followers, Milo returned to Rome, ventured abroad and proceeded with his canvass. Marcus Caelius Rufus supported Milo, and both of them claimed that Clodius had set a trap for Milo, who then killed him in self-defence. However, Milo was soon impeached and his enemies took every means of intimidating his supporters and his judges. Cicero was afraid to speak, and the extant "Pro Milone" is an expanded form of the unspoken defence. Milo was condemned by 38 votes to 13 [Asconius, "Pro Milone", 53C] and went into exile at Massilia (today Marseille), and his property was sold by auction. In his absence he was convicted on three different accounts: of using bribery in his campaign for consulship under the "lex Pompeia de ambitu", of malpractice under the law on illegal association ("lex Licinia de sodaliciis") and of Clodius' murder under the ordinary violence law ("lex Plautia de vi").

Cassius Dio states that when Cicero had finished writing up his speech, he sent a copy to Milo in exile. Milo wrote back that it was lucky for him that the same speech had not been made in court, because otherwise he would "not now be enjoying the delicious red mullet of Massilia" [Dio, 40.54.3] . He joined Marcus Caelius Rufus in 48 in his rising against Caesar, but he died at Compsa, near Thurii in Lucania, killed by a stone thrown from the city walls.

In popular culture

Titus Annius Milo appears as a recurring character in John Maddox Roberts' "SPQR series" of novels. These historical mysteries are presented as memoirs of fictional Decius Caecilius Metellus the Younger; Milo is a trusted friend of Metellus.

Milo also appears as a character in "A Murder on the Appian Way" and "A Mist of Prophecies", in the Roma Sub Rosa series of historical mystery novels by Steven Saylor.

Milo appears in Conn Iggulden's book "The Field of Swords", the third in the series "Emperor", as a street gangster who wages a private war with Publius Clodius.

Milo is a character in Colleen McCollough's Caesar.

References

* Uwe Homola: "Untersuchungen zu Titus Annius Milo". Diss. Mannheim 1997 (Microfiche).
* W.J. Tatum, "The Patrician Tribune. Publius Clodius Pulcher", Chapel Hill 1999.
* L. Fezzi, "Il tribuno Clodio", Roma-Bari 2008