Supriya Ghosh (Editor)

121 BC

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Year 121 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Opimius and Allobrogicus (or, less frequently, year 633 Ab urbe condita). The denomination 121 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.

Contents

Roman Republic

  • The Roman Senate passes the motion senatus consultum ultimum, which the consul Lucius Opimius interprets as giving him unlimited power to preserve the Republic. He gathers an armed force of Senators and their supporters to confront Gaius Gracchus. A pitched battle is fought inside Rome, resulting in the death of Gracchus and many of his followers.
  • A tribunal is established in Rome that executes 3,000 followers of Gracchus.
  • Consul Quintus Fabius Maximus, allied with the Aedui, defeated the Arverni and Allobroges in Transalpine Gaul, thus establishing the province for Rome.
  • The finest vintage of Falernian wine, known as the Opimian vintage, was bottled from vines grown on Mt Falernus between Latium and Campania.

    • Asia

  • Led by General Ho Chu-ping, the Chinese defeat the Xiongnu.

    • Births

  • Publius Sulpicius Rufus, tribune of the plebs (d. 88 BC)
  • Sertorius, Roman general (d. 72 BC)

    • Deaths

  • Gaius Gracchus, Roman reformer (b. 154 BC)
  • M. Fulvius Flaccus (b. 154 BC)
  • Cleopatra Thea (failed attempt to poison her stepson) (b. c. 164 BC)

    • References

    121 BC Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA