Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus (consul 201 BC) served as

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 ...

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 212 BC,

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 ...

and

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 ...

in 201 BC. His brother Lucius Cornelius Lentulus was also consul in 199 BC. Gnaeus was possibly the son of L. Cornelius L. f. L. n. Lentulus Caudinus, curule aedile in 209 BC, though the presence of the praenomen Gnaeus, along with the absence of the agnomen Caudinus, are opposed to this connection.

Career

He wished for the province of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, that he might conclude the war with

Carthage Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classi ...

; but this well-earned glory was reserved for

Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus (, , ; 236/235–183 BC) was a Roman general and statesman, most notable as one of the main architects of Rome's victory against Carthage in the Second Punic War. Often regarded as one of the best military com ...

by 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 ...

. Lentulus had the command of the fleet on the coast of

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, with orders to pass over to Africa if necessary. Scipio used to say, that but for Lentulus' greediness he should have destroyed Carthage. Cn. Lentulus was proconsul in Hither Spain in 199 BC, and received an ovation for his services. In Book 18 of ''The Histories'', Greek historian

Polybius Polybius (; grc-gre, Πολύβιος, ; ) was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic period. He is noted for his work , which covered the period of 264–146 BC and the Punic Wars in detail. Polybius is important for his analysis of the mixed ...

mentions a journey undertaken by Gnaeus Lentulus to meet with King Philip so as to encourage an alliance with Rome.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cornelius Lentulus, Gnaeus 3rd-century BC Roman augurs 3rd-century BC Roman consuls 2nd-century BC Roman augurs Curule aediles Roman patricians Roman quaestors Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown