Gaius Flavius Fimbria, according to

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 estab ...

, rose to the highest honours in the republic through his own merit and talent. In 105 BC, he was a candidate for the

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 ...

ship, and the people gave him the preference to his competitor,

Quintus Lutatius Catulus Quintus Lutatius Catulus (149–87 BC) was a consul of the Roman Republic in 102 BC. His consular colleague was Gaius Marius. During their consulship the Cimbri and Teutones marched south again and threatened the Republic. While Marius marched ag ...

; and accordingly, Fimbria was the colleague of

Gaius Marius Gaius Marius (; – 13 January 86 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. Victor of the Cimbric and Jugurthine wars, he held the office of consul an unprecedented seven times during his career. He was also noted for his important refor ...

in his second consulship, 104 BC. Fimbria must have acquired his popularity about that time, for previously he had been an unsuccessful candidate for the

tribune Tribune () was the title of various elected officials in ancient Rome. The two most important were the tribunes of the plebs and the military tribunes. For most of Roman history, a college of ten tribunes of the plebs acted as a check on the ...

ship. What province he obtained after his consulship is unknown, but he seems to have been guilty of extortion during his administration, for M. Gratidius brought an action of repetundae against him, and was supported by the evidence of Marcus Aemilius Scaurus; but Fimbria was nevertheless acquitted. During the revolt of

Saturninus Saturninus may refer to: * Lucius Appuleius Saturninus (died 100 BC), tribune, legislator * Gaius Sentius Saturninus, consul 19 BC, military officer, governor * Marcus Aponius Saturninus (1st century AD), governor of Moesia, and partisan of first ...

in 100 BC, Fimbria, with other consulars, took up arms to defend the public good. Cicero describes him as a clever jurist; as an orator he had considerable power, but was bitter and vehement in speaking. Cicero, in his boyhood, read the speeches of Fimbria; but they soon fell into oblivion, for, at a later time, Cicero says that they were scarcely to be found anywhere.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flavius Fimbria, Gaius 2nd-century BC Roman consuls Fimbria, Gaius Senators of the Roman Republic