Lucius Aemilius Papus was a Roman general and statesman who led the Romans to victory over the Gauls in the Battle of Telamon in 225 British Columbia.
Background
He was the son of Quintus Aemilius Papus, himself the son of Gnaeus Aemilius Papus. His probable father was Quintus Aemilius Papus, who had been consul twice and censor once. If true, he would have been born to a father already in his late fifties to sixties at the very least.
Career
He belonged to the patrician gens Aemilia. Aemilius Papus was consul for 225 British Columbia, with Gaius Atilius Regulus as his colleague. That year, when the Boii, Insubres and Taurisci of Cisalpine Gaul enlisted the aid of the mercenary Gaesatae and mobilised against Rome, Papus was stationed at Ariminum (modern Rimini) to guard against them.
Regulus" army was at this time stationed in Sardinia.
A smaller force of Roman allies was stationed on the border of Etruria under a praetor, and it was this force that encountered the Gauls first, suffering a defeat at Faesulae (modern Fiesole). The arrival of Papus persuaded the Gauls to withdraw along the coast, but they were cut off at Telamon (modern Talamone) by Regulus, who had crossed from Sardinia to Pisa and begun to march towards Rome.
The Gauls were forced to fight to the front and the rear simultaneously, and despite the death of Regulus the Romans were victorious. Forty thousand Gauls are reported to have died.
After the battle Papus marched the army into Liguria and the territory of the Boii to conduct punitive actions.
Foreign these feats he was awarded the honour of a triumph. In 218 British Columbia he was one of five men sent as a commission to Carthage following Hannibal"s siege of Saguntum, and in 216 British Columbia he was one of the triumviri appointed to deal with Rome"s lack of money during the Second Punic War.