Marcus Cornelius Cethegus (consul 204 BC)
Marcus Cornelius Cethegus (c. 248 BC – 196 BC) was a Roman Republican consul and censor during the Second Punic War, best known as a political ally of his kinsman Scipio Africanus.
Political career
He was chosen as
In 211 BC, as
In 204 BC, he was elected consul, possibly to aid his kinsman Scipio, then in Africa. In 203 BC he was proconsul in Italia Superior, where, in conjunction with the praetor Publius Quintilius Varus, he gained a hard-won victory over Mago Barca, Hannibal's brother, at the Battle of Insubria, which forced him to retreat from Italy.[4][5]
He died in 196 BC during an epidemic in Rome.[citation needed]
Other roles
He had a great reputation as an orator, and is characterised by Ennius as the quintessence of persuasiveness (suadae medulla). Horace calls him an authority on the use of Latin words.[4][6]
References
- ^ Livy xxv.2
- ^ Livy xxv.41
- ^ Livy xxvii.11
- ^ a b public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Cethegus s.v. Marcus Cornelius Cethegus". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 5 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 775. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
- ^ Livy xxx.18
- ^ Horace Ars Poet. 50; Epistles, ii.2.117