Middle Roman Republic, Northern Border (201-146 BC): Liguria (201-154 BC)

In 201 BC the consul ⁰¹Aelius Paetus agreed a treaty with the Ingauni by which the Romans secured control over the ports of Luna and Genoa. In 197 BC the consul ⁰⁵Minucius Rufus campaigned in Ligurian territory. In 195 BC the praetor ⁰³Porcius Laeca was assigned to Pisa so that he could attack the Ligurians from the rear. In 194 BC the consul ⁰⁸Sempronius Longus fought the Gauls and Ligurians. In 193 BC the consul ⁰⁶Minucius Thermus (fl.202-188 BC) waged war from his base at Pisa against the Ligurians. The following year his command was extended and he defeated the Ligurians near Pisa. ⁰⁸Quinctius Flamininus (fl.201-170 BC) followed this success with an offensive against the Ligurian castella (hill-forts) that were menacing Placentia. In 189 BC the praetor ⁰²Baebius Dives, while taking an army overland to Spain, was ambushed and died at Massilia from his injuries. In 187 BC the consul Flaminius (2) (fl.210-187 BC) took an army into the territory of the Ligurian Friniati (near the source of the Scultenna, Panaro) and forced them to surrender.

The Apuani were probably the most powerful group in southeastern Liguria. From here they threatened Bononia to the east and Pisa to the southwest. In 187 BC they raided both and the consul ¹⁰Aemilius Lepidus (c.78; fl.216-152 BC) responded by taking the war into the enemy’s territory. A systematic destruction of their settlements in the valley and on the edge of the plain forced the Apuani down from the mountains and they were defeated in a regular battle. Aemilius built the Via Aemilia Minor from Ariminum on the Adriatic coast to Placentia at the confluence of the Trebia and the Po.

In 186 BC ⁰⁶Marcius Philippus went into Apuani territory and was destroyed in a pass that received his name, Saltus Marcius. In the next year the consul ⁰⁹Sempronius Tuditanus (fl.193-185 BC) ravaged Apuani territory and his colleague ¹³Claudius Pulcher (fl.197-176 BC) confronted the Ingauni in the northwest. Both consuls for each of the next three years were assigned to Liguria but the tribesmen kept to the mountains. In 181 BC the Ingauni surprised and besieged the proconsul ¹¹Aemilius Paullus (c.69; fl.193-160 BC) in his camp, but he won a great victory after which the Ingauni submitted and the other Ligurians sent peace envoys to Rome.

When one of the consuls for 180 BC died, public business was suspended. The two consuls of the previous year, ²⁵Cornelius Cethegus and ⁰³Baebius Tamphilus, had their imperium prorogued and they marched against the Apuani. Not expecting an attack while negotiating a peace, the Apuani were defeated. Some forty-seven thousand of these tribesmen were forcibly relocated to territory which formerly belonged to the Samnites and which was now ager publicus. This action was designed to reduce the Apuanian threat to the security of the Republic. In the territory thus vacated the Romans established a Latin colony at Luca (180 BC), and Roman colonies at Luna (177 BC) and Dertona (123-118 BC).

In 166 BC the consuls ⁰⁵Sulpicius Gallus (fl.168-164 BC) and ¹⁶Claudius Marcellus (fl.166-148 BC) took the legions across the Maritime Alps to subdue the Gauls and Ligurians that had settled on the western slopes. In 154 BC the consul Opimius (1) was sent to deal with the Ligurian Oxybians who had descended to the Mediterranean coast and attacked Antipolis (=Antibes) and Nicaea (=Nice), two cities subject to Massilia, an ally of Rome. To counter the threat from other rebels, a fort known as Castrum Canois was constructed on a hill in what is now Cannes.