Year 131 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Mucianus and Flaccus (or, less frequently, year 623 Ab urbe condita) and the Fourth Year of Yuanguang. The denomination 131 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.
Events
By place
Roman Republic
- During Aristonicus of Pergamon uprising against Rome, the consul Publius Licinius Crassus Mucianius is killed in the fighting.
- The Roman censor Quintus Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus attempts to remove the tribune Gaius Atinius Labeo Macerio from the Senate, the angry Atinius drags him to be thrown off the Tarpeian Rock, and Metellus is only saved by the intervention of other senators.
- For the first time in Roman history, both censors are plebeians (Metellus and Quintus Pompeius).
Egypt
- Capture of Thebes: Egyptian rebel Harsiesi seized Thebes in the summer of 131 BC, proclaimed pharaoh, for a short period of time.
Deaths
- Vasujyeshtha – Shunga Emperor
- Publius Licinius Crassus Mucianus – Roman consul and commander
- Scipio Nasica Serapio – Roman statesman
Births
- Mithridates VI Eupator – king of Pontus (c.120-63 BC)
