Gaius Norbanus Flaccus 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 lette ...

politician and general during the 1st century BC. Of

Etruscan __NOTOC__ Etruscan may refer to: Ancient civilization *The Etruscan language, an extinct language in ancient Italy *Something derived from or related to the Etruscan civilization **Etruscan architecture **Etruscan art **Etruscan cities ** Etrusca ...

descent, Flaccus was the grandson of

Gaius Norbanus Gaius Norbanus (died 82 BC) was a Roman politician who was elected consul in 83 BC alongside Lucius Cornelius Scipio Asiaticus. He committed suicide in exile at Rhodes after being proscribed by Lucius Cornelius Sulla shortly after the latter's vi ...

. His family had suffered under the proscriptions of

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 ...

, but had found favour under the regime of

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, ...

. With Caesar's death, his allegiance passed to

Octavianus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...

, Caesar's adopted son. Norbanus was first elected as

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 ...

in 43 BC. With the establishment of the Second Triumvirate and the launching of the civil war against the

Liberatores Julius Caesar, the Roman dictator, was assassinated by a group of senators on the Ides of March (15 March) of 44 BC during a meeting of the Senate at the Curia of Pompey of the Theatre of Pompey in Rome where the senators stabbed Caesar 23 ti ...

, in 42 BC Norbanus and another general, Decidius Saxa, were sent by Marcus Antonius and Octavianus with eight legions into Macedonia against the assassins of Julius Caesar. Ordered to march quickly to

Thrace Thrace (; el, Θράκη, Thráki; bg, Тракия, Trakiya; tr, Trakya) or Thrake is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe, now split among Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey, which is bounded by the Balkan Mountains to ...

and hold the mountain passes, thus cutting off the

Via Egnatia The Via Egnatia was a road constructed by the Romans in the 2nd century BC. It crossed Illyricum, Macedonia, and Thracia, running through territory that is now part of modern Albania, North Macedonia, Greece, and European Turkey as a continu ...

, Norbanus and Saxa met the combined advancing troops of

Gaius Cassius Longinus Gaius Cassius Longinus (c. 86 BC – 3 October 42 BC) was a Roman senator and general best known as a leading instigator of the plot to assassinate Julius Caesar on 15 March 44 BC. He was the brother-in-law of Brutus, another leader of the co ...

and Marcus Junius Brutus in the neighborhood of Philippi. As they were outnumbered, Norbanus and Saxa occupied a position near Philippi which prevented the republicans advancing any further. Determined to find a way through, Brutus and Cassius managed to make Norbanus leave this dominating position, but Norbanus discovered the trap in time to recover it. When Brutus and Cassius managed to outflank them, Norbanus and Saxa retreated towards

Amphipolis Amphipolis ( ell, Αμφίπολη, translit=Amfipoli; grc, Ἀμφίπολις, translit=Amphipolis) is a municipality in the Serres regional unit, Macedonia, Greece. The seat of the municipality is Rodolivos. It was an important ancient Gr ...

. When Marcus Antonius and the bulk of the triumvirs' troops arrived, they found Amphipolis well-guarded and Norbanus was left in command of the town. After the

Battle of Philippi The Battle of Philippi was the final battle in the Wars of the Second Triumvirate between the forces of Mark Antony and Octavian (of the Second Triumvirate) and the leaders of Julius Caesar's assassination, Brutus and Cassius in 42 BC, at ...

, Octavianus placed Norbanus in charge of his camp. With the victory at Philippi, Norbanus enjoyed the prestige that came with being part of the successful campaign. In reward for his service, in 38 BC Octavianus nominated Norbanus as

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 throu ...

with Appius Claudius Pulcher. They were the first consuls to have two

Quaestors 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 ...

each. He then held the post of

proconsul A proconsul was an official of ancient Rome who acted on behalf of a consul. A proconsul was typically a former consul. The term is also used in recent history for officials with delegated authority. In the Roman Republic, military command, or ...

in Spain from 36 - 34 BC, for which he celebrated a

triumph The Roman triumph (Latin triumphus) was a celebration for a victorious military commander in ancient Rome. For later imitations, in life or in art, see Trionfo. Numerous later uses of the term, up to the present, are derived directly or indirectl ...

on October 12, 34 BC. This was then followed by an appointment as proconsul of

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

shortly after the

Battle of Actium The Battle of Actium was a naval battle fought between a maritime fleet of Octavian led by Marcus Agrippa and the combined fleets of both Mark Antony and Cleopatra VII Philopator. The battle took place on 2 September 31 BC in the Ionian Sea, ...

in 31 BC. Norbanus was married to a daughter of

Lucius Cornelius Balbus the Younger Lucius Cornelius Balbus (fl. 1st century BC) was a Roman politician and general of Punic origin from Gades. Although from a family of naturalized foreigners (he received Roman citizenship at the same time as his uncle, around 72 BC) he did valua ...

Syme, pg. 325 and had at least one son, also named

Gaius Norbanus Flaccus Gaius Norbanus Flaccus was a Roman Republic, Roman politician and general during the 1st century BC. Of Etruscan civilization, Etruscan descent, Flaccus was the grandson of Gaius Norbanus. His family had suffered under the proscriptions of Lucius C ...

Sources

* T. Robert S. Broughton, ''The Magistrates of the Roman Republic, Vol II'' (1952). * Syme, Ronald, ''The Roman Revolution'', Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1939 * Holland, Richard, ''Augustus: Godfather of Europe'', Sutton Publishing, 2005

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