GABINIUS, AULUS

died 47 BC, Salonae, Dalmatia [now Split, Croatia] Roman politician and a supporter of Pompey the Great. As tribune in 67 BC Gabinius proposed a law that gave Pompey command of the Mediterranean and all the land within 50 miles (81 km) of its coast as a means of controlling the depredations of pirates. Another Gabinian measure checked the lending of money to foreign ambassadors at Rome. Its object was to prevent the bribing of senators. As consul (58), Gabinius helped to procure the exile of Cicero. As proconsul of Syria (5754) he reinstated Hyrcanus as high priest at Jerusalem, suppressed revolts, introduced administrative changes in Judaea, and rebuilt several towns. He was sent by Pompey to Egypt, without the consent of the Senate, to restore Ptolemy XII Auletes to his kingdom. During his absence disturbances arose in Syria and Palestine, which he suppressed with some difficulty. He incurred the hostility of the publicani (tax collectors), and on his return to Rome he first had to face a charge of treason, on which he was acquitted; he was then condemned for extortion and sent into exile (54). Recalled by Julius Caesar in 49, he fought for him in Illyricum (4847) but died at Salonae (near modern Split).