place
Syria
Roman province organised by Pompey in 64 BC; assigned to Crassus by the lex Trebonia of February 55 BC for his five-year proconsulship.
Reading notes
- Ad Atticum 1.16 §8 Syria, betrothed to him already
The consul Piso (M. Pupius Piso) expected Syria as his proconsular province; Cicero boasts of having maneuvered to deny it to him as punishment for mishandling the Clodius affair.
- Ad Familiares 12.17 §1 From Syria some rather disquieting news
The unrest in Syria is the revolt of Q. Caecilius Bassus, who had seized the province from Caesar's governor; it threatened the neighbouring command Cornificius was about to take up.
- Ad Familiares 12.19 §1 Caesar has assigned the province of Syria to you
As dictator, Caesar allotted provincial commands directly; here he sends Cornificius to Syria to deal with the revolt of Caecilius Bassus and the Parthian threat on the eastern frontier.
- Ad Familiares 13.57 §1 the war in Syria is a great one
After the destruction of Crassus's army at Carrhae (53 BC) Parthian incursions threatened Syria and the neighbouring province of Cilicia. The military pressure is Cicero's stated reason for recalling his experienced legate during his own proconsulship.
- On the Nature of the Gods §3.39 the Syrians venerate a fish
Cotta cites the animal-worship of the Syrians (a sacred fish of the goddess Atargatis) and the Egyptians as examples of what the ignorant believe, to embarrass the philosophers who multiply the gods. The point is that the learned are no better than the crowd.