Marcus Domitius Calvinus (or possibly Lucius Domitius Calvinus)Domitius’ praenomen is given as Marcus in

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 ...

and Lucius in Eutropius, while the

cognomen A ''cognomen'' (; plural ''cognomina''; from ''con-'' "together with" and ''(g)nomen'' "name") was the third name of a citizen of ancient Rome, under Roman naming conventions. Initially, it was a nickname, but lost that purpose when it became here ...

Calvinus is Broughton’s correction of

Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for hi ...

’s text – see Broughton, pg. 85 (died 79 BC) was an ancient Roman politician and military commander who was killed during the early stages of 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 ...

Career

Domitius Calvinus was a member of the plebeian gens Domitia, who 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 vari ...

, serving in the office around the year 80 BC.The dates of his praetorship and subsequent career are uncertain. It is possible that Domitius Calvinus was praetor in 81 BC, with the date of his propraetorship and death dated to 80 BC – see Broughton, ''The Magistrates of the Roman Republic, Vol III'' (1986), pg. 84 For the following year (79 BC) he was assigned the propraetorian

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

of Hispania Citerior. His tenure coincided with the outbreak of the

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 ...

, an opponent of the

dictator A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a small clique. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to rule the republic in tim ...

Lucius Cornelius Sulla Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (; 138–78 BC), commonly known as Sulla, was a Roman general and statesman. He won the first large-scale civil war in Roman history and became the first man of the Republic to seize power through force. Sulla ha ...

, had landed in

Hispania Ulterior Hispania Ulterior (English: "Further Hispania", or occasionally "Thither Hispania") was a region of Hispania during the Roman Republic, roughly located in Baetica and in the Guadalquivir valley of modern Spain and extending to all of Lusitania ( ...

, and defeated its propraetor, Lucius Fufidius. Sertorius then took control of Hispania Ulterior while his legate and quaestor Hirtuleius marched on Domitius Calvinus in Hispania Citerior. In the meantime, the Senate decided that a more experienced commander was required. Therefore, they turned Hispania Ulterior into a proconsular province and sent the proconsul

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 t ...

as its new governor, and also gave him the command of the war against Sertorius. It was around this time, with Metellus Pius on his way, that Domitius Calvinus crossed over into Hispania Ulterior, but found his passage blocked by the army of Hirtuleius who had fortified Consabura. Hirtuleius wore down Domitius Calvinus’s army by guerrilla warfare. Eventually a battle was fought at the Anas river; here, the two forces engaged each other, with the end result that Domitius’ army was defeated. Domitius Calvinus either died in battle or was killed by his own troops as a peace-offering by his own troops who defected to the rebels. Metellus Pius, unaware of the disaster, had already sent a

legate Legate may refer to: *Legatus, a higher ranking general officer of the Roman army drawn from among the senatorial class :*Legatus Augusti pro praetore, a provincial governor in the Roman Imperial period *A member of a legation *A representative, ...

named Thorius to provide assistance to Domitius Calvinus, but he too was defeated, this time by Sertorius. Calvinus’ replacement as governor was Quintus Calidius.Brennan, pg. 506

Footnotes

References

Sources

* Brennan, T. Corey, ''The Praetorship in the Roman Republic, Volume 2'' (2000) * Broughton, T. Robert S., ''The Magistrates of the Roman Republic'', Vol II (1951) * Smith, William, ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', Vol I (1867). {{DEFAULTSORT:Domitius Calvinus, Marcus 79 BC deaths 1st-century BC Romans Ancient Romans killed in action Calvinus, Marcus Roman governors of Hispania Citerior Roman Republican praetors Year of birth unknown