Gaius Sextius Calvinus 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 throu ...

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 Ki ...

in 124 BC. During his consulship, he joined M. Fulvius Flaccus in waging war against the

Ligures The Ligures (singular Ligur; Italian: liguri; English: Ligurians) were an ancient people after whom Liguria, a region of present-day north-western Italy, is named. Ancient Liguria corresponded more or less to the current Italian regi ...

Saluvii The Salyes or Salluvii (Greek: ) were an ancient Celto-Ligurian people dwelling between the Durance river and the Greek colony of Massalia during the Iron Age. Although earlier writers called them 'Ligurian', Strabo used the denomination 'Celto ...

, and

Vocontii The Vocontii (Gaulish: *''Uocontioi''; Greek: Οὐοκόντιοι, Οὐοκοντίων) were a Gallic people dwelling on the western foothills of the Alps during the Iron Age and the Roman period. The Vocontii settled in the region in the 3r ...

in the Mediterranean region of present-day France. He continued as

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 ...

in Gaul for 123–122. He had held office as

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 vari ...

no later than 127. Sextius is most noted for giving his name to ''Aquae Sextiae'', "the Baths of Sextius," a site of

thermal springs A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by circ ...

that is in modern-day Aix-en-Provence. There he established a garrison ('' castellum'') below the Saluvian

oppidum An ''oppidum'' (plural ''oppida'') is a large fortified Iron Age settlement or town. ''Oppida'' are primarily associated with the Celtic late La Tène culture, emerging during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, spread across Europe, stretchi ...

of Entremont. Sextius played a significant role in the military operations, concluded by Domitius Ahenobarbus and

Fabius Maximus Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus, surnamed Cunctator ( 280 – 203 BC), was a Roman statesman and general of the third century BC. He was consul five times (233, 228, 215, 214, and 209 BC) and was appointed dictator in 221 and 217 BC. He was ...

around 120 BC, that led to the annexation of

Transalpine Gaul Gallia Narbonensis (Latin for "Gaul of Narbonne", from its chief settlement) was a Roman province located in what is now Languedoc and Provence, in Southern France. It was also known as Provincia Nostra ("Our Province"), because it was the ...

as a

Roman province The Roman provinces (Latin: ''provincia'', pl. ''provinciae'') were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was rule ...

. He and Fulvius Flaccus were able to create a mile-wide line of communication linking the territory of longtime Roman ally Massilia (present-day Marseilles) to Cisalpine Gaul, already under Roman control. He was given a

triumph The Roman triumph (Latin triumphus) was a celebration for a victorious military commander in ancient Rome. For later imitations, in life or in art, see Trionfo. Numerous later uses of the term, up to the present, are derived directly or indirectl ...

for victories over the three Gallic nations in 122.

Ara Calvini

Around 92 BC, a C. Sextius Calvinus of praetorian rank restored an altar dedicated to ''sei deo sei divae'' ("whichever god or goddess"). Although most often identified as the son of the consul of 124 BC, the elder Sextius is believed by E. Badian to have been responsible for the

inscription Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the w ...

. The small altar was found near

Sant'Anastasia Sant'Anastasia ( nap, Santa Nastàsë) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Naples in the Italian region Campania, located about northeast of Naples. Sant'Anastasia borders the following municipalities: Casalnuovo di Napoli ...

on the lower west part of the Palatine Hill in 1829. Made of

travertine Travertine ( ) is a form of terrestrial limestone deposited around mineral springs, especially hot springs. It often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, cream-colored, and even rusty varieties. It is formed by a p ...

, it has the hourglass shape that came into use in Rome around the time of the Second Punic War. The ''

Ara ARA may refer to: Media and the arts * American-Romanian Academy of Arts and Sciences * '' Artistička Radna Akcija'', compilation album released in former Yugoslavia * Associate of the Royal Academy, denoting membership in the British Royal Aca ...

Calvini'' ("Altar of Calvinus"), sometimes called the ''Ara Dei Ignoti'' ("Altar of the Unknown God"), is in the collections of the Antiquario Palatino (Palatine Hill Museum).

Sources

* Diodorus Siculus 34.23 *

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 esta ...

, ''Epistulae ad familiares'' 7.2.9 *

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding in ...

, ''Periocha'' 61 *

Velleius Paterculus Marcus Velleius Paterculus (; c. 19 BC – c. AD 31) was a Roman historian, soldier and senator. His Roman history, written in a highly rhetorical style, covered the period from the end of the Trojan War to AD 30, but is most useful for the per ...

1.15.4 * Strabo 4.1.5 * '' Acta Triumphalia'' for 122 BC (

Degrassi ''Degrassi'' is a Canadian television franchise created by Kit Hood and Linda Schuyler in 1979. It is centred on a multigenerational teen drama about an ensemble cast of teenagers attending the namesake Toronto school as they navigate their ...

p. 82f., 560) * Eutropius 4.22 Broughton points out that Eutropius has confused the name of Sextius with that of Domitius, his successor, and is further incorrect in saying that Sextius's consular colleague G. Cassius Longinus took part in the Gallic war and triumph.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sextius Calvinus, Gaius Aix-en-Provence 2nd-century BC Roman consuls Calvinus, Gaius

Ara Calvini

See also

Sources

References