Gaius Claudius Marcellus (before 91 BC – c. 48 BC) was a
Consul
Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throug ...
of the
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Kin ...
in 49 BC.
Family and political career
The
Claudii Marcelli
The gens Claudia (), sometimes written Clodia, was one of the most prominent patrician houses at ancient Rome. The gens traced its origin to the earliest days of the Roman Republic. The first of the Claudii to obtain the consulship was Appius ...
were a
plebeian
In ancient Rome, the plebeians (also called plebs) were the general body of free Roman citizens who were not patricians, as determined by the census, or in other words " commoners". Both classes were hereditary.
Etymology
The precise origins of ...
family, members of the ''
nobiles
The ''nobiles'' ( ''nobilis'') were members of a social rank in the Roman Republic indicating that one was "well known". This may have changed over time: in Cicero's time, one was notable if one descended from a person who had been elected Roman c ...
'' with a long history of consulships throughout the history of the Republic. Following a century without the family reaching the consulship, three Claudii Marcelli were Consuls in succession: in 51 BC
Marcus Claudius Marcellus
Marcus Claudius Marcellus (; 270 – 208 BC), five times elected as consul of the Roman Republic, was an important Roman military leader during the Gallic War of 225 BC and the Second Punic War. Marcellus gained the most prestigious award a Roma ...
(the brother of Gaius Marcellus); in 50 BC Gaius Claudius Marcellus Minor (their cousin); and in 49 BC Gaius Marcellus himself.
Gaius Marcellus was born sometime before 91 BC. His father was
M. Claudius Marcellus,
curule aedile
''Aedile'' ( ; la, aedīlis , from , "temple edifice") was an elected office of the Roman Republic. Based in Rome, the aediles were responsible for maintenance of public buildings () and regulation of public festivals. They also had powers to enf ...
of 91; his great-grandfather was
M. Claudius Marcellus who was three times consul, and whose own grandfather – also a
M. Claudius Marcellus – was five times consul and fought against
Hannibal
Hannibal (; xpu, 𐤇𐤍𐤁𐤏𐤋, ''Ḥannibaʿl''; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Puni ...
in Italy.
Nothing is known of his earlier life, any military service, or his
quaestor
A ( , , ; "investigator") was a public official in Ancient Rome. There were various types of quaestors, with the title used to describe greatly different offices at different times.
In the Roman Republic, quaestors were elected officials who ...
ship and entry to the
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
, although he may have been the candidate in opposition to
Clodius
Clodius is an alternate form of the Roman '' nomen'' Claudius, a patrician ''gens'' that was traditionally regarded as Sabine in origin. The alternation of ''o'' and ''au'' is characteristic of the Sabine dialect. The feminine form is Clodia.
R ...
for the curule aedileship of 56 BC of whom, on 23 November,
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the estab ...
wrote "The candidate Marcellus is snoring so loud that I can hear him next door" (although the other two contemporary Claudii Marcelli are also possibilities).
Marcellus must have held the
praetor
Praetor ( , ), also pretor, was the title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to a man acting in one of two official capacities: (i) the commander of an army, and (ii) as an elected '' magistratus'' (magistrate), assigned to discharge vario ...
ship at the latest in 52 BC, 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 alongside
Lentulus Crus, as opponents to
Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman people, Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caes ...
. Both his brother Marcus and cousin Gaius (Minor) had strongly opposed Caesar during their own consulships, working to have his
proconsul
A proconsul was an official of ancient Rome who acted on behalf of a consul. A proconsul was typically a former consul. The term is also used in recent history for officials with delegated authority.
In the Roman Republic, military command, or ' ...
ship of
Gaul
Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only during ...
terminated and to prevent Caesar from standing for election as consul of 48 BC ''
in absentia
is Latin for absence. , a legal term, is Latin for "in the absence" or "while absent".
may also refer to:
* Award in absentia
* Declared death in absentia, or simply, death in absentia, legally declared death without a body
* Election in absen ...
''. Caesar had blocked Marcus by working with the
tribune
Tribune () was the title of various elected officials in ancient Rome. The two most important were the tribunes of the plebs and the military tribunes. For most of Roman history, a college of ten tribunes of the plebs acted as a check on the ...
s and the other consul,
Servius Sulpicius Rufus
Servius Sulpicius Rufus (c. 105 BC – 43 BC), was a Roman orator and jurist. He was consul in 51 BC.
Biography Early life
He studied rhetoric with Cicero, accompanying him to Rhodes in 78 BC, though Sulpicius decided subsequently to pursue lega ...
, and then Gaius (Minor) by heavily bribing his consular colleague,
Lucius Aemilius Paullus, 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 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, but also a snub to Caesar through his own candidate,
Servius Sulpicius Galba Servius Sulpicius Galba may refer to:
* Servius Sulpicius Galba (consul 144 BC)
* Servius Sulpicius Galba (consul 108 BC)
* Servius Sulpicius Galba (praetor 54 BC), assassin of Julius Caesar
* Galba, born Servius Sulpicius Galba, Roman emperor fro ...
. Gaius Marcellus and Lentulus Crus continued the policy of the Claudii Marcelli in their opposition to Caesar.
Civil War
Late in 50 BC, with much of the Senate wanting peace and unwilling to act against Caesar, 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 into the hands of
Pompeius. Lentulus, as consul-elect certainly joined with him in this, possibly Gaius Marcellus Major too. 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.
On the
Kalends
The calends or kalends ( la, kalendae) is the first day of every month in the Roman calendar. The English word "calendar" is derived from this word.
Use
The Romans called the first day of every month the ''calends'', signifying the start of a n ...
1 January 49 BC, Marcellus and Lentulus entered office, and were presented at once with letters from Caesar, the tenor of which was claimed to be a declaration of war: Caesar would stand his legions down provided Pompey did as well; otherwise, he intended to retain them and "move quickly" to avenge the wrongs done against him—presumably against Rome. The Senate's response was an ultimatum: Caesar was to disband his legions or be declared a public enemy. After a week of angry exchanges, on 7 January 49 BC, the senate under Lentulus and Marcellus passed the "final decree" (
senatus consultum ultimum
The ''senatus consultum ultimum'' ("final decree of the Senate", often abbreviated to SCU) is the modern term given to resolutions of the Roman Senate lending its moral support for magistrates to use the full extent of their powers and ignore th ...
); the tribunes
Antonius
Antonius is a masculine given name, as well as a surname. Antonius is a Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Latin, Norwegian, and Swedish name used in Greenland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, part of the Republic of Karelia, Estonia, Belgium, Netherlands, ...
and
Cassius fled with Caesar's envoy, the younger
Gaius Scribonius Curio, from Rome to meet Caesar at
Ravenna
Ravenna ( , , also ; rgn, Ravèna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 408 until its collapse in 476. It then served as the cap ...
. Whilst Lentulus is recorded as the more vehement of the consuls in instigating the action that caused the tribunes to flee, Marcellus does not seem to have been aloof. On 10 January, Caesar famously crossed the
Rubicon
The Rubicon ( la, Rubico; it, Rubicone ; rgn, Rubicôn ) is a shallow river in northeastern Italy, just north of Rimini.
It was known as Fiumicino until 1933, when it was identified with the ancient river Rubicon, famously crossed by Julius Ca ...
, starting the Civil War.
Initially Marcellus remained in Rome, with the consuls opposing any accommodation with Caesar, maintaining an anti-Caesarian hysteria, and pressuring Pompeius to cross Italy and raise troops. On 17 January both Marcellus and his colleague followed Pompeius in leaving Rome ahead of Caesar's advancing forces, scandalously without even making the usual sacrifices before departure.
They went south to Teanum where, on 22 January,
Lucius Julius Caesar, a kinsman serving with Caesar, brought conciliatory proposals from the proconsul. On 25 January
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the estab ...
(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. However, within a few days Cicero was reporting to Atticus that the consuls did not care for peace. Lentulus was even reported to have tried to recruit
gladiator
A gladiator ( la, gladiator, "swordsman", from , "sword") was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gla ...
s at one stage, but thought better of this when criticized.
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. Pompeius himself wrote from Luceria on 17 February to Marcellus and Lentulus urging them to collect all the troops they could and join him at
Brundisium
Brindisi ( , ) ; la, Brundisium; grc, Βρεντέσιον, translit=Brentésion; cms, Brunda), group=pron is a city in the region of Apulia in southern Italy, the capital of the province of Brindisi, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea.
Histo ...
. By 20 February the consuls had done so.
In late February Caesar sent his agent,
Cornelius Balbus (the younger) on a secret mission to win over the consul Lentulus with the bribe of a lucrative province; there is no hint that he made any similar offers to Marcellus, which may be an indication of the latter's comparative honesty or, perhaps more likely, his comparative insignificance in Roman politics. Balbus was too late in any case: Pompeius had sent both consuls and their forces on ahead of him to
Dyrrhachium and he followed with the remainder by 4 March, narrowly evading Caesar. Cicero condemned this, as it destroyed the negotiations for peace which he claimed to be mediating.
Very little is known specifically about Marcellus after crossing to Dyrrachium, though he is addressed by the Goddess
Discordia
Eris (; grc-gre, Ἔρις ', "Strife") is the Greek goddess of strife and discord. Her Roman equivalent is Discordia, which means the same. Eris's Greek opposite is Harmonia, whose Roman counterpart is Concordia. Homer equated her with th ...
in
Petronius
Gaius Petronius Arbiter["Gaius Petronius Arbiter"]
Satyricon
The ''Satyricon'', ''Satyricon'' ''liber'' (''The Book of Satyrlike Adventures''), or ''Satyrica'', is a Latin work of fiction believed to have been written by Gaius Petronius, though the manuscript tradition identifies the author as Titus Petro ...
'', urged to hold fast to the decree which commanded Caesar to resign his proconsulship, the ''senatus consultum'' of 7 January 49 BC.
Pompeius placed much emphasis on his fleets to prevent Caesar from crossing from Italy. One fleet, that from
Rhodes
Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the So ...
, was jointly commanded by Marcellus in association with Gaius Coponius. 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 and was wrecked in a storm. It is speculated 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 A philippic ()http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/English/philippic is a fiery, damning speech, or tirade, delivered to condemn a particular political actor. The term is most famously associated with two noted orators of the ancient world: ...
''
[Cicero]
''Philippic'' XIII 13.28-29
; 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. (March 43 BC). Marcellus is not mentioned further.
Notes
References
Modern works
*
*
*
*
*
Ancient authors
* Appian
* Caesar:
' (B.C.) "Commentaries on the Civil War" (
Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a multilingual free online encyclopedia written and maintained by a community of volunteers, known as Wikipedians, through open collaboration and using a wiki-based editing system. Wikipedia is the largest and most-read refer ...
)
* Caesar:
Commentarii de Bello Gallico' (B.G.) "Commentaries on the Gallic War" (
Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a multilingual free online encyclopedia written and maintained by a community of volunteers, known as Wikipedians, through open collaboration and using a wiki-based editing system. Wikipedia is the largest and most-read refer ...
)
* Cicero:
Epistulae ad Atticum'' (Letters to Atticus)
* Cicero:
Epistulae ad Familiares' (Letters to his Friends)
* Cicero:
Philippics'
* Dio Cassius
Roman History* Plutarch
* Plutarch
* Plutarch
* Suetonius:
(Vitae XII Caesarum)''
* Velleius Paterculus:
Historia Romana' (Roman History)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Claudius Marcellus, Gaius (consul 705 AUC)
40s BC deaths
1st-century BC Roman consuls
Gaius (consul 705 AUC)
Optimates
Roman Republican praetors
Senators of the Roman Republic
Year of birth unknown