72 BC

72 BC in various calendars
Gregorian calendar72 BC
LXXII BC
Ab urbe condita682
Ancient Egypt eraXXXIII dynasty, 252
- PharaohPtolemy XII Auletes, 9
Ancient Greek Olympiad (summer)177th Olympiad (victor)¹
Assyrian calendar4679
Balinese saka calendarN/A
Bengali calendar−665 – −664
Berber calendar879
Buddhist calendar473
Burmese calendar−709
Byzantine calendar5437–5438
Chinese calendar戊申年 (Earth Monkey)
2626 or 2419
    — to —
己酉年 (Earth Rooster)
2627 or 2420
Coptic calendar−355 – −354
Discordian calendar1095
Ethiopian calendar−79 – −78
Hebrew calendar3689–3690
Hindu calendars
 - Vikram Samvat−15 – −14
 - Shaka SamvatN/A
 - Kali Yuga3029–3030
Holocene calendar9929
Iranian calendar693 BP – 692 BP
Islamic calendar714 BH – 713 BH
Javanese calendarN/A
Julian calendarN/A
Korean calendar2262
Minguo calendar1983 before ROC
民前1983年
Nanakshahi calendar−1539
Seleucid era240/241 AG
Thai solar calendar471–472
Tibetan calendarས་ཕོ་སྤྲེ་ལོ་
(male Earth-Monkey)
55 or −326 or −1098
    — to —
ས་མོ་བྱ་ལོ་
(female Earth-Bird)
56 or −325 or −1097
Map of Spartacus's movements of 72 BC, according to Appian's version.


Year 72 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Publicola and Lentulus (or, less frequently, year 682 Ab urbe condita). The denomination 72 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years

Events

By place

Roman Republic

  • Third Servile War: Spartacus moves with his followers northward to the Po Valley. Roman forces under Lucius Gellius Publicola defeat a group of slaves (30,000 men) led by Crixus near Mount Gargano. He kills two-thirds of the rebels, including Crixus himself.[1]
  • Summer – Spartacus and his followers defeat the Roman forces under Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Clodianus and Gellius, forcing the Roman legions to retreat in disarray. Both consuls are recalled to Rome in disgrace and relieved of their duties.[2]
  • Spartacus moves north again, to cross the Alps into Gaul and then to Thracia. Outside Mutina on the plain of the River Po he defeats the Roman forces under Gaius Cassius Longinus, governor of Gallia Cisalpina.
  • Autumn – Spartacus and his followers withdraw to the Bruttium peninsula. At one juncture he contemplates attacking Rome – but moves south. The Senate sends Marcus Licinius Crassus against Spartacus.[3]
  • Winter – Spartacus decides to camp near Thurii. Marcus Licinius Crassus with 10 Roman legions tries to trap the rebels in the toe of Italy. He builds a trench and a low earth rampart (with a fortified palisade).
  • Battle of Cabira: Lucius Lucullus defeats King Mithridates VI and overruns Pontus. Mithridates flees to Armenia, ruled by his son-in-law Tigranes, who refuses to turn his father-in-law in to Lucius Lucullus.
  • On the Iberian Peninsula (part of the Roman Republic) rebel leader Quintus Sertorius is assassinated by some of his own lieutenants (lead by Marcus Perperna).[a] Perperna takes command of the rebel army.
  • Perperna is defeated by Pompey the Great at the Battle of Osca, ending the Sertorian War in Spain.

Europe

  • The Suebi and other tribes under King Ariovistus invade Gaul.


Deaths

References

  1. ^ Appian, Civil Wars, 1.117; Plutarch, Crassus 9:7; Livy, Periochae 96. Livy reports that troops under the (former) praetor Quintus Arrius killed Crixus and 20,000 of his followers.
  2. ^ Nic Fields (2009). Spartacus and the Slave War 73–71 BC: A gladiator rebels against Rome, p. 62. ISBN 978-1-84603-353-7.
  3. ^ Shaw, Brent D (2001). Spartacus and the Slave Wars. New York: Bedford/St. Martins, pp 178–79.

Notes

  1. ^ the year of his assassination is disputed – the debate is whether he was assassinated in 73 or 72 BCE
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