Gaius Claudius Marcellus (consul 49 BC)
Gaius Claudius Marcellus (before 91 BC – c. 48 BC) was a Consul of the Roman Republic in 49 BC.[1]
Family and political career
The
Gaius Marcellus was born sometime before 91 BC.
Nothing is known of his earlier life, any military service, or his quaestorship and entry to the Senate, although he may have been the candidate in opposition to Clodius for the curule aedileship of 56 BC of whom, on 23 November, Cicero wrote "The candidate Marcellus is snoring so loud that I can hear him next door" [4] (although the other two contemporary Claudii Marcelli are also possibilities).
Marcellus must have held the praetorship at the latest in 52 BC,[5] but he could have held the office some years before – there is no mention of this in the historical record.
In 50 BC Marcellus was elected consul for the following year[6] alongside Lentulus Crus, as opponents to Caesar.[7] Both his brother Marcus and cousin Gaius (Minor) had strongly opposed Caesar during their own consulships,[8] working to have his proconsulship of Gaul terminated and to prevent Caesar from standing for election as consul of 48 BC in absentia. Caesar had blocked Marcus by working with the tribunes and the other consul, Servius Sulpicius Rufus, and then Gaius (Minor) by heavily bribing his consular colleague, Lucius Aemilius Paullus,[9] but had not yet been able to secure election to a second consulship without having to stand as a candidate in Rome and without relinquishing his proconsular command (which would expose him to prosecution[10] for illegalities in his first consulship). The election of Marcellus and Lentulus as consuls for 49 BC was within the normal framework of family connections and influences,[11] but also a snub to Caesar through his own candidate, Servius Sulpicius Galba.[12] Gaius Marcellus and Lentulus Crus continued the policy of the Claudii Marcelli in their opposition to Caesar.[13]
Civil War
Late in 50 BC, with much of the Senate wanting peace and unwilling to act against Caesar,[14] the consul Gaius Marcellus (Minor) took matters into his own hands and led a coup, without the backing of the Senate and directed against Caesar, aiming to put control of an army[15] into the hands of Pompeius.[16] Lentulus, as consul-elect certainly joined with him in this,[17] possibly Gaius Marcellus Major too.[18] Neither the Claudii Marcelli or Lentulus were particular adherents of Pompeius, a powerful magnate and general, but saw him as a tool to use against Caesar.[19]
On the
Initially Marcellus remained in Rome, with the consuls opposing any accommodation with Caesar,[27] maintaining an anti-Caesarian hysteria, and pressuring Pompeius to cross Italy and raise troops.[28] On 17 January both Marcellus and his colleague followed Pompeius in leaving Rome ahead of Caesar's advancing forces,[29] scandalously without even making the usual sacrifices before departure.[30]
They went south to Teanum where, on 22 January, Lucius Julius Caesar, a kinsman serving with Caesar, brought conciliatory proposals from the proconsul.[31] On 25 January Cicero (whose letters provide the details of these events) met with Marcellus and Lentulus in Capua, along with many other senators who had fled Rome. Cicero reported to his correspondent, Atticus, that all were anxious that Caesar should stand by his offer and they had sent messages back to him.[32] However, within a few days Cicero was reporting to Atticus that the consuls did not care for peace.[33] Lentulus was even reported to have tried to recruit gladiators at one stage, but thought better of this when criticized.[34]
The whereabouts of Marcellus was not known, even by 7 February, when he was two days late for a meeting with Lentulus and Cicero. The latter despaired, writing in frustration that the consuls were of no use and that no recruiting was being done.
In late February Caesar sent his agent,
Very little is known specifically about Marcellus after crossing to Dyrrachium, though he is addressed by the Goddess
Pompeius placed much emphasis on his fleets to prevent Caesar from crossing from Italy. One fleet, that from Rhodes, was jointly commanded by Marcellus in association with Gaius Coponius.[43] Other than this, nothing is known of Marcellus' involvement in the Civil War. The command of the Rhodian fleet at Dyrrachium was later mentioned as being under the command of Quintus Coponius[44] and was wrecked in a storm.[45] It is speculated [46] that Marcellus was a casualty of the war – at least, he was not alive a few years later when Cicero was writing or delivering his Philippics[47] (March 43 BC). Marcellus is not mentioned further.
Notes
- ^ s.a. 59BC (AUC 705): MRR II; Fasti Capitolini
- ^ Under the Cornelian lex annalis of 81 BC a minimum age of 42 was established for the consulship in the cursus honorum; to take up office in 49 BC, Marcellus must have been born in or before 92 BC
- ^ Pauly-Wissowa, RE 3:2731-32 stemma
- ^ Cicero, ad Att. iv.3
- ^ Sulla's legislation set the minimum age of 39 for praetors; for Marcellus to be consul in 49 BC this is the last year in which he could have held the praetorship
- ^ MRR II s.a. 49BC (AUC 705)
- ^ Caesar, B.G. 8.50
- ^ Caesar, B.G. 8.53; Plutarch, Caesar 29.1, 29.2; Plutarch, Pompeius 58.4, 58.6; Suetonius, Div.Iul. 28.2 Archived 30 May 2012 at archive.today, 28.3, 29.1
- ^ Plutarch, Pompeius 58.1; Plutarch, Caesar 29.3; Suetonius, Div.Iul. 29.1 Archived 30 May 2012 at archive.today
- ^ Suetonius Div.Iul. 30.3 Archived 30 May 2012 at archive.today
- ^ Gruen, p.158
- ^ Caesar, B.G. 8.50
- ^ Suetonius, Div.Iul. 29.2 Archived 30 May 2012 at archive.today; Velleius, II.49, 3
- ^ Plutarch, Pompeius 58.5
- ^ Legions were being assembled for a campaign against Parthia
- ^ Dio Cassius, XL.66; Plutarch, Pompeius 58.6
- ^ Plutarch, Pompeius 59.1
- ^ Meier p.342
- ^ Velleius, II.49, 2
- ^ Appian, II.32; Dio Cassius, XLI.1; Caesar, B.C. I.1
- ^ Appian, II.32
- ^ Dio Cassius, XLI.1; Caesar, B.C. I.2
- ^ Caesar, B.C. i.5
- ^ Dio Cassius, XLI.3; Plutarch, Caesar 31.2
- ^ Appian, II.33
- ^ Suetonius, Div.Jul 31 Archived 30 May 2012 at archive.today, 32; Plutarch Pompeius 60.2
- ^ Appian, II.37
- ^ Appian, II.36
- ^ Appian, II.37; Caesar, B.C. I.14; Dio Cassius, XLI.6
- ^ Plutarch, Caesar 34.1; Plutarch Pompeius 61.4
- ^ Caesar, B.C. I.10; Cicero, ad Att. vii.13a Archived 16 June 2016 at the Wayback Machine, vii.14 Archived 31 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Cicero, ad Att. vii.15 Archived 29 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine, vii.16 Archived 31 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Cicero, ad Att. vii.20 Archived 31 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Caesar, B.C. I.14
- ^ Cicero, ad Att. vii.21 Archived 29 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Cicero, ad Att. viii.12a Archived 14 September 2014 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Suetonius, Div.Jul 34.1 Archived 30 May 2012 at archive.today; Cicero, ad Att. viii.11c Archived 14 September 2014 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Cicero, ad Att. viii.9 Archived 29 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine, 11 Archived 29 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine; ad Fam. x.32 Archived 29 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Appian, II.39, 40; Caesar, B.C. I.25; Plutarch, Caesar 35.2; Plutarch Pompeius 62.2
- ^ Cicero, ad Att. ix.6 Archived 14 September 2014 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Cicero, ad Att. ix.9 Archived 14 September 2014 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Petronius, Satyricon, ch.124 v.288
- ^ Caesar, B.C. III.5
- ^ Caesar, B.C. III.26
- ^ Caesar, B.C. III.27; Plutarch Cicero 38.4
- ^ Smith, p.933; Pauly-Wissowa, RE 3:2736-37 "Claudius" n.217
- ^ Cicero, Philippic XIII 13.28-29 Archived 14 September 2014 at the Wayback Machine; Marcellus was Consul in 49 and did support Pompeius, making him one of the ten consulars; if Cicero is left alone then Marcellus has died.
References
Modern works
- Broughton, T. Robert S. (1952). The Magistrates of the Roman Republic, Vol. II (99 B.C.-31 B.C.). New York: American Philological Association.
- Gruen, Erich S. (1974). The Last Generation of the Roman Republic. Berkeley: University of California Press.
- Meier, Christian (1995). Caesar. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-00-255163-2.
- Pauly-Wissowa (1897–99). Pauly's Realencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft.
- Smith, William (1867). A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. Boston: Little, Brown and Co.
Ancient authors
- Appian: The Civil Wars, Book 2
- Caesar: Commentarii de Bello Civili (B.C.) "Commentaries on the Civil War" (Wikipedia)
- Caesar: Commentarii de Bello Gallico (B.G.) "Commentaries on the Gallic War" (Wikipedia)
- Cicero: Epistulae ad Atticum Archived 29 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine (Letters to Atticus)
- Cicero: Epistulae ad Familiares (Letters to his Friends)
- Cicero: Philippics
- Dio Cassius: Roman History
- Plutarch: The Life of Julius Caesar
- Plutarch: The Life of Cicero
- Plutarch: The Life of Pompeius
- Suetonius: Divus Iulius (Vitae XII Caesarum)
- Velleius Paterculus: Historia Romana (Roman History)