Crime & Justice in the 1st century BC

28 sourced entries, 97 BCE to 2 BCE, oldest first. Also see Crime & Justice across every century or everything else in the 1st century BC.

• 97 BCEThe Han generals Li Guangli, Gongsun Ao, Han Yue and Lu Bode lead armies into Xiongnu territory. The campaign achieves little, and Gongsun Ao suffers a defeat. Emperor Wu of Han condemns him to death due to his troops suffering heavy losses, but he escapes by feigning his death. He is eventually discovered and executed during the witchcraft trials of 91 BC.source
• 94 BCELucius Cornelius Sulla is elected praetor urbanus.source
• 90 BCELi Guangli and his in-law Prime Minister Liu Qumao seek to recommend Liu Bo, Li Guangli's nephew, as the new Crown Prince, and while Li Guangli is on campaign, Liu Qumao and his wife are executed and Li Guangli's wife imprisoned, having been charged with cursing the emperor and seeking to replace him with Liu Bo.source
• 89 BCEThe former Han General-in-Chief Li Guangli, now the son-in-law of Hulugu Chanyu, is arrested and sacrificed to the gods to restore the health of Hulugu's mother.source
• 88 BCEAugust: The consul Lucius Cornelius Sulla becomes the first Roman commander to march on Rome with his army and to capture the city by force. This extraordinary act is prompted by his desire to maintain his proconsular command for the First Mithridatic War in Asia Minor. Sulla then murdered his enemy P. Sulpicius Rufus and forced Gaius Marius to flee to Africa.source
• 82 BCENovember 3: Sulla passes his proscription through a popular assembly; he publishes a list of 520 senators and equites to be murdered on sight.source
• 80 BCEPtolemy XI marries Berenice III, but murders his bride for unknown reasons.source
• 80 BCERoman artists begin to extend the space of a room visually with painted scenes of figures on a shallow stage or with a landscape or cityscape.source
• 78 BCEThe Senate sends Publius Servilius Vatia to Cilicia as governor, where he fights a successful campaign against the Piracy in southern Anatolia (Lycia, Pamphylia and Isauria), he is thereafter known by the agnomen Isauricus.source
• 75 BCEJulius Caesar travels to Rhodes to study under Apollonius Molon. On his way across the Aegean Sea, he is kidnapped by Cilician pirates and held prisoner in the Dodecanese islet of Pharmacusa. The young Caesar is held for a ransom of twenty talents, but he insists they ask for fifty. After his release Caesar raises a fleet at Miletus, pursues and crucifies the pirates in Pergamon.source
• 70 BCEAugust – In Rome, Cicero prosecutes former governor Verres; Verres exiles himself to Marseille before the trial is over.source
• 64 BCEKing Antiochus XIII Asiaticus is deposed and killed by the Syrian chieftain Sampsiceramus I – this is considered by some the end of the Seleucid dynasty.source
• 60 BCEThe Seleucid Empire comes to an end with the last two emperors being murdered on orders from Rome.source
• 56 BCEClodia accuses her former lover Marcus Caelius Rufus of trying to poison her. The trial ends with the defendant acquitted thanks to the Pro Caelio speech of Cicero. There is no more reference to the formerly well-known Clodia.source
• 56 BCEThis year, or possibly the following year, the king of the Trinovantes called Imanuentius, is overthrown and killed by his rival Cassivellaunus. His son Mandubracius flees to Gaul and appeals to Julius Caesar for help.source
• 53 BCEAt Cenabum (modern Orléans) Roman merchants are massacred by the Carnutes.source
• 52 BCEMilo is tried for the murder of Clodius. Despite Cicero's legal defence (Pro Milone) he is found guilty and exiled in Massilia (modern Marseille).source
• 44 BCEMarch 20 – Caesar's funeral is held. Marcus Antony gives a eulogy and in his speech he makes accusations of murder and ensures a permanent breach with the conspirators against Caesar. He snatches Caesar's bloody tunic and purple toga to show the crowd the stab wounds; the citizens tear apart the forum and cremate their Caesar on a makeshift pyre. Antony becomes the highest ranking politician in Rome.source
• 43 BCEAugust 19 – Octavian takes office as consul. He's prevailed to pass the lex Pedia, a law establishing the murder of Caesar as a capital crime.source
• 43 BCEDecember 7 – The orator Cicero is killed in Formiae in a litter going to the seaside, by a party led by Herennius (a centurion) and Popilius (a military tribune). His head and hands are displayed on the Rostra in the Forum Romanum.source
• 43 BCEAntony marches to Parma (which is sacked) and Placentia. He then crosses the Ligurian Alps to Vada Sabatia, 50 km 0 south-west of Genoa, and joins with Aemilius Lepidus, soon after Decimus Brutus is killed by brigands. The Senate declares Antony a hostis, an enemy of the state. Sextus Pompey becomes supreme commander of the Roman navy and Gaius Cassius proconsul of Syria.source
• 41 BCEMark Antony meets Cleopatra VII in Tarsus (Cilicia) and forms an alliance. He returns to Alexandria with her and they become lovers in the winter of 41–40 BC. To safeguard herself and Caesarion, she has Antony order the execution of her (half) sister Arsinoe IV, who is living at the temple of Artemis in Ephesus.source
• 40 BCEAthenodorus, a philosopher, encounters a ghost in Athens. This popular story is one of the first poltergeist stories in history.source
• 32 BCEZacynthus is held by Gaius Sosius, and Methone (Messenia) by Bogud of the royal house of Mauretania, driven into exile by his brother Bocchus II.source
• 29 BCEMarcus Licinius Crassus campaigns successfully in the Balkans, killing the king of the Bastarnae by his own hand, but is denied the right to dedicate the spolia opima by Octavian.source
• 26 BCEDioteimus Alaieus is one of the Archons of Athens.source
• 18 BCELex Iulia de Ambitu penalised bribery when acquiring political offices.source
• 2 BCEPhraates V and his mother Musa become rulers of the Parthian Empire following the murder of Phraates IV.source