Gaius Memmius was a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

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 ...

and a soldier of the Late Roman Republic. His father was probably Gaius Memmius Mordax, the tribune of 111. He was married to Pompeia, the older sister of

Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey or Pompey the Great, was a leading Roman general and statesman. He played a significant role in the transformation of ...

, making him Pompey's brother-in-law. They likely had a son by the same name whom became a moneyer. He is recorded to have served Pompey during his Sicilian command in 81 BC at the end of

Sulla's civil war Sulla's civil war was fought between the Roman general Lucius Cornelius Sulla and his opponents, the Cinna-Marius faction (usually called the Marians or the Cinnans after their former leaders Gaius Marius and Lucius Cornelius Cinna), in the y ...

. When Pompey sailed to Africa, to fight the remnants of the Cinna-

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faction under Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus, he put Memmius in command on Sicily. During the

Sertorian War The Sertorian War was a civil war fought from 80 to 72 BC between a faction of Roman rebels ( Sertorians) and the government in Rome (Sullans). The war was fought on the Iberian Peninsula (called ''Hispania'' by the Romans) and was one of the ...

Memmius first served the proconsul

Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius (c. 128 – 63 BC) was a Roman politician and general. Like the other members of the influential Caecilii Metelli family, he was a leader of the Optimates, the conservative faction opposed to the Populares during ...

who was given the command against the Roman rebel

Quintus Sertorius Quintus Sertorius (c. 126 – 73 BC) was a Roman general and statesman who led a large-scale rebellion against the Roman Senate on the Iberian peninsula. He had been a prominent member of the populist faction of Cinna and Marius. During the l ...

on the

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. He probably went with Metellus's army when Metellus marched to Iberia in 79 BC. When Pompey was sent to support Metellus against Sertorius in 76 BC, Memmius was transferred to Pompey's army and served his brother-in-law as a

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 ...

.John Leach, ''Pompey the Great'', p.45. Pompey sent Memmius, accompanied by the Spaniard Balbus, with a fleet to try and take New Carthage, secure it as a base, and from there move up the coast. Memmius and his force were immediately blockaded in the city, probably by Sertorius's pirate allies, and was unable to play his part in the campaign. In 75 BC at the

Battle of Saguntum The Battle of Saguntum (25 October 1811) saw the Imperial French Army of Aragon under Marshal Louis Gabriel Suchet fighting a Spanish army led by Captain General Joaquín Blake. The Spanish attempt to raise the siege of the Sagunto Castle f ...

he was killed during the early stages of the battle when Sertorius launched an

ad hominem ''Ad hominem'' (), short for ''argumentum ad hominem'' (), refers to several types of arguments, most of which are fallacious. Typically, this term refers to a rhetorical strategy where the speaker attacks the character, motive, or some othe ...

attack at Pompey trying to decapitate the Pompeian army; Pompey survived the attack, Memmius died defending his brother-in-law. Plutarch called him 'the most capable of Pompey's lieutenants'.Philip Matyszak, ''Sertorius and the Struggle for Spain'', p.126; Plutarch, ''Life of Sertorius'', 21.

Sources

*Plutarch, ''Parallel Lives, Life of Sertorius'', 11 and 19. *Plutarch, ''Parallel Lives, Life of Pompey'', 21.

Notes and references

{{Reflist 1st-century BC Romans Ancient Romans killed in action Military personnel killed in action Pompey Year of birth unknown