Marcus Junius Pera

Marcus Junius Pera came from the Roman Plebejergeschlecht the Junier. He was consul 230 BC, 225 BC and censor in 216 BC dictator.

Life

Both the father and the grandfather of Marcus Junius Pera led, according to the Fasti Capitolini Filiationsangabe of the praenomen Decimus. Thus, Marcus Junius Pera was the son of the consul of 266 BC, Decimus Junius Pera. The lower offices of his career are not known; he is BC mentioned in the sources until 230, when he held the consulate together with Marcus Aemilius Barbula. Both consuls of the fight against the trunk of the Ligurians was transferred. The next stop of Junius Pera cursus honorum was the censorship, which he exerted in 225 BC, with his colleague Gaius Claudius Centho was.

After the Romans in 216 BC suffered in the Second Punic War, the disastrous defeat at the Battle of Cannae against Hannibal, were in the summer of the same year Junius Pera dictator warfare ( rei gerundae causa ) and appointed Tiberius Gracchus to his master equitum. He should worry mainly through a comprehensive mobilization that decimated the Roman troops were fresh forces. To fulfill its task, he recruited very young, not conscript men from the age of 17 years, further offenders and even 8000 slaves who ransomed the Roman state for this purpose. Meanwhile, Hannibal sent ten men to Rome, who were among the numerous after the defeat at Cannae got into the Carthaginian captivity Romans to ask for their ransom. They were accompanied by Hannibal's authorized representative Carthalo, which should explain the Punic peace terms. In his capacity as a dictator Junius Pera was but ask Carthalo to leave Rome again immediately. He negotiated in the Senate with the envoys of the trapped Romans, but in the end it was decided not to ransom the imprisoned compatriots.

While Capua fell to Hannibal, made ​​the nearby, the crossing of the Apennines flow Volturnus dominant Casilinum ( in its place today stands Capua ) the Punic commander resolute opposition. Therefore Junius Pera moved in the fall of 216 BC with his new levies troops to Campania to get Casilinum belonged to the Romans. While he temporarily again went to Rome to renew the auspices Casilinum fell, according to the representation of the Roman historian Livy into enemy hands. Other authors also report that Livy did not mention detail that Junius Pera a stratagem of Hannibal went into the trap and had to suffer a military defeat during a robbery. This defeat was probably also responsible for the fact that the Romans Casilinum could not say. The ancient historian Friedrich Munzer believes that the small successes of Junius Pera probably gave rise to resentment and caused, quite contrary to the usual practice at the end of Marcus Fabius Buteo the second dictator to make ( with the remit of the Senate supplement ) and never a dictator rei gerundae causa to appoint.

For the second time Junius Pera finally traveled to the capital to conduct the elections for the next year. The command of his troops was then taken over by the new consuls. From this point Junius Pera is no longer mentioned.