72 BC

Year 72 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Publicola and Lentulus (or, less frequently, year 682 Ab urbe condita). The denomination 72 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.

Millennium:	1st millennium BC
Centuries:	2nd century BC 1st century BC 1st century
Decades:	90s BC 80s BC 70s BC 60s BC 50s BC
Years:	75 BC 74 BC 73 BC 72 BC 71 BC 70 BC 69 BC

72 BC in various calendars

Gregorian calendar	72 BC LXXI BC
Ab urbe condita	682
Ancient Egypt era	XXXIII dynasty, 252
- Pharaoh	Ptolemy XII Auletes, 9
Ancient Greek era	177th Olympiad (victor)¹
Assyrian calendar	4679
Balinese saka calendar	N/A
Bengali calendar	−664
Berber calendar	879
Buddhist calendar	473
Burmese calendar	−709
Byzantine calendar	5437–5438
Chinese calendar	戊申年 (Earth Monkey) 2625 or 2565     — to — 己酉年 (Earth Rooster) 2626 or 2566
Coptic calendar	−355 – −354
Discordian calendar	1095
Ethiopian calendar	−79 – −78
Hebrew calendar	3689–3690
Hindu calendars
- Vikram Samvat	−15 – −14
- Shaka Samvat	N/A
- Kali Yuga	3029–3030
Holocene calendar	9929
Iranian calendar	693 BP – 692 BP
Islamic calendar	714 BH – 713 BH
Javanese calendar	N/A
Julian calendar	N/A
Korean calendar	2262
Minguo calendar	1983 before ROC 民前1983年
Nanakshahi calendar	−1539
Seleucid era	240/241 AG
Thai solar calendar	471–472
Tibetan calendar	阳土猴年 (male Earth-Monkey) 55 or −326 or −1098     — to — 阴土鸡年 (female Earth-Rooster) 56 or −325 or −1097

Map of Spartacus's movements of 72 BC, according to Appian's version.

Events

Roman Republic

• Third Servile War: Spartacus moves with his followers northward to the Po Valley. Roman forces under Lucius Gellius Publicola defeat a group of slaves (30,000 men) led by Crixus near Mount Gargano. He kills two-thirds of the rebels, including Crixus himself.[1]
• Summer – Spartacus and his followers defeats the Roman forces under Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Clodianus and Gellius, forcing the Roman legions to retreat in disarray. Both consuls are recalled to Rome in disgrace and relieved of their duties.[2]
• Spartacus moves north again, to cross the Alps into Gaul and then to Thracia. Outside Mutina on the plain of the River Po he defeats the Roman forces under Gaius Cassius Longinus, governor of Gallia Cisalpina.
• Autumn – Spartacus and his followers withdraw to the Bruttium peninsula. At one juncture he contemplates attacking Rome – but moves south. The Senate sends Marcus Licinius Crassus against Spartacus.[3]
• Winter – Spartacus decides to camp near Thurii. Marcus Licinius Crassus with 10 Roman legions tries to trap the rebels in the toe of Italy. He builds a trench and a low earth rampart (with a fortified palisade).
• Battle of Cabira: Lucius Lucullus defeats King Mithridates VI and overruns Pontus. Mithridates flees to Armenia, ruled by his son-in-law Tigranes, who refuses to turn his father-in-law in to Lucius Lucullus.
• Quintus Sertorius is assassinated by his subordinate, Marcus Perperna Vento, who is in turn defeated by Gnaeus Pompeius, thus ending the Sertorian War in Spain.

Europe

• The Suebi and other tribes under King Ariovistus invade Gaul.

Births

• Vercingetorix, Gaulish king and chieftain (d. 46 BC)

Deaths

• Crixus, Gaulish gladiator and military leader
• Marcus Perperna Vento, Roman statesman

References

1. Appian, Civil Wars, 1.117; Plutarch, Crassus 9:7; Livy, Periochae 96. Livy reports that troops under the (former) praetor Quintus Arrius killed Crixus and 20,000 of his followers.
2. Nic Fields (2009). Spartacus and the Slave War 73–71 BC: A gladiator rebels against Rome, p. 62. ISBN 978-1-84603-353-7.
3. Shaw, Brent D (2001). Spartacus and the Slave Wars. New York: Bedford/St. Martins, pp 178–79.