Marcus Antonius Creticus (flourished 1st century BC), a member of the Antonius family, was a Roman politician during the Late Roman Republic. He is best known for his failed pirate hunting career and being the father of the general Mark Antony.

Biography

Early life

Creticus was the son of

Marcus Antonius Marcus Antonius (14 January 1 August 30 BC), commonly known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and general who played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic from a constitutional republic into the autoc ...

(famous for his oratory). He had a sister named

Antonia Antonia may refer to: People * Antonia (name), including a list of people with the name * Antonia gens, a Roman family, any woman of the gens was named ''Antonia'' * Antônia (footballer) * Antônia Melo Entertainment * '' Antonia's Line'', or ...

and a younger brother named

Gaius Antonius Hybrida Gaius Antonius Hybrida (flourished 1st century BC) was a politician of the Roman Republic. He was the second son of Marcus Antonius and brother of Marcus Antonius Creticus; his mother is unknown. He was also the uncle of the famed triumvir M ...

Career

He was elected

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 ...

in 74 BC and received an extraordinary commission, similar to that bestowed upon triumvir Pompey by the

Gabinian law The ''lex Gabinia'' (Gabinian Law), ''lex de uno imperatore contra praedones instituendo'' (Law establishing a single commander against raiders) or ''lex de piratis persequendis'' (Law on pursuing the pirates) was an ancient Roman special law pas ...

7 years later in 67 BC, and that conveyed on his father three decades before in 102 BC, to clear the Mediterranean Sea of the threat of piracy, and thereby assist the operations against King

Mithridates VI of Pontus Mithridates or Mithradates VI Eupator ( grc-gre, Μιθραδάτης; 135–63 BC) was ruler of the Kingdom of Pontus in northern Anatolia from 120 to 63 BC, and one of the Roman Republic's most formidable and determined opponents. He was an e ...

. Creticus not only failed in the task, but plundered the provinces he was supposed to protect from robbery. He attacked the Cretans, who had made an alliance with the pirates, but was totally defeated, most of his ships being sunk.

Diodorus Siculus Diodorus Siculus, or Diodorus of Sicily ( grc-gre, Διόδωρος ; 1st century BC), was an ancient Greek historian. He is known for writing the monumental universal history ''Bibliotheca historica'', in forty books, fifteen of which su ...

states that he only saved himself by a disgraceful treaty. As a result of this defeat he was mockingly given the cognomen ''Creticus'', which means "conqueror of

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cypru ...

", and also "man made of chalk", when translated from Latin. He died soon afterwards (72 BC -71 BC) in Crete. Most authorities are agreed as to his avarice and incompetence, but the biographer Plutarch describes him as a friendly, honest and generous man. Plutarch, ''Life of Antony'', 1

Family

Antonius was married to a woman named Numitoria, a daughter of Quintus Numitorius Pullus, they had no known children. Afterwards he married Julia with whom he had three sons:

(the Triumvir), Gaius Antonius and

Lucius Antonius Lucius Antonius is a combination of ''praenomen'' and family name ''( nomen)'' used by ancient Roman men from a plebeian branch of the '' gens Antonia,'' including: * Lucius Antonius (brother of Mark Antony) * Lucius Antonius (grandson of Mark Ant ...

, as well as a daughter named

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Antonius Creticus, Marcus Roman Republican praetors Senators of the Roman Republic Ancient Roman generals 1st-century BC Romans Creticus, Marcus 70s BC deaths Year of birth unknown Family of Mark Antony