Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Marcellinus (''c.'' 90 BC – ''c.'' 48 BC) 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 letter ...

statesman and consul of 56 BC. He was married at least twice. His first wife is unknown but his second wife was probably Scribonia, at least twenty years his junior, who later became the second wife of

Augustus 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 Pri ...

Biography

Early life

He was the son of Cornelia (the daughter of Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica) and

Publius Cornelius Lentulus Marcellinus Publius Cornelius Lentulus Marcellinus (fl. 1st century BC – 1st century AD) was a Roman Senator who was elected Roman consul in 18 BC, with Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus as his colleague. During his consulship, the Senate and the Roman assembly aga ...

Career

We know several offices Marcellinus held over the course of his life. First, he was

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 ...

the same year his brother Publius was quaestor for the province of

Cyrenaica Cyrenaica ( ) or Kyrenaika ( ar, برقة, Barqah, grc-koi, Κυρηναϊκή ��παρχίαKurēnaïkḗ parkhíā}, after the city of Cyrene), is the eastern region of Libya. Cyrenaica includes all of the eastern part of Libya between ...

. After serving as a

plebeian tribune Tribune of the plebs, tribune of the people or plebeian tribune ( la, tribunus plebis) was the first office of the Roman state that was open to the plebeians, and was, throughout the history of the Republic, the most important check on the power of ...

, Marcellinus appears in the historical record as 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, ...

of Pompey in 67 BC. After his praetorship, Marcellinus was appointed governor of

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

for the term 59/58 BC. Around 55 BC he issued

denarii The denarius (, dēnāriī ) was the standard Roman silver coin from its introduction in the Second Punic War to the reign of Gordian III (AD 238–244), when it was gradually replaced by the antoninianus. It continued to be minted in very sm ...

celebrating his famous ancestor,

Marcus Claudius Marcellus Marcus Claudius Marcellus (; 270 – 208 BC), five times elected as consul of the Roman Republic, was an important Roman military leader during the Gallic War of 225 BC and the Second Punic War. Marcellus gained the most prestigious award a Roma ...

Family

By his first wife he was the father of Lentulus Marcellinus, Caesar's

put in command of his fortifications at Dyrrhachium in 48 BC. By Scribonia he was father of two children, a boy and a girl. The boy was Cornelius Marcellinus. Some authorities, such as

Ronald Syme Sir Ronald Syme, (11 March 1903 – 4 September 1989) was a New Zealand-born historian and classicist. He was regarded as the greatest historian of ancient Rome since Theodor Mommsen and the most brilliant exponent of the history of the Roman ...

, believed Cornelius Marcellinus died young; however,

John Scheid John Scheid (born 1946 in Luxembourg under the first name Jean) is a French historian. A specialist of ancient Rome, he has been a professor at the Collège de France since 2001. Biography After his secondary studies in Luxembourg, John Scheid ...

has persuasively argued that he should be identified with

, consul of 18 BC. The girl was Cornelia, who married

Paullus Aemilius Lepidus Paullus Aemilius LepidusLightman, ''A to Z of Ancient Greek and Roman Women'', p. 205 (c. 77 BC – after 11 BC) was a Roman senator. Biography He was a grandson of Marcus Aemilius Lepidus and Appuleia through their son Lucius Aemilius Pau ...

(suffect consul in 34 BC), only to die the year her brother ascended to the consulate.

Sextus Propertius Sextus Propertius was a Latin elegiac poet of the Augustan age. He was born around 50–45 BC in Assisium and died shortly after 15 BC. Propertius' surviving work comprises four books of ''Elegies'' ('). He was a friend of the poets Gallus a ...

, IV.11 Marcellinus died before 47 BC. Scribonia remarried Augustus and became mother to his only child,

Julia the Elder Julia the Elder (30 October 39 BC – AD 14), known to her contemporaries as Julia Caesaris filia or Julia Augusti filia (Classical Latin: IVLIA•CAESARIS•FILIA or IVLIA•AVGVSTI•FILIA), was the daughter and only biological child of August ...

References

Primary sources

Suetonius Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (), commonly referred to as Suetonius ( ; c. AD 69 – after AD 122), was a Roman historian who wrote during the early Imperial era of the Roman Empire. His most important surviving work is a set of biographies ...

, Life of Augustus (62.) *

Appian Appian of Alexandria (; grc-gre, Ἀππιανὸς Ἀλεξανδρεύς ''Appianòs Alexandreús''; la, Appianus Alexandrinus; ) was a Greek historian with Roman citizenship who flourished during the reigns of Emperors of Rome Trajan, Hadr ...

, The Syrian Wars (8.51)

Secondary sources

* Fantham, Elaine, ''Julia Augusti'', Routledge * Schied, John
"Scribonia Caesaris et les Cornelii Lentuli"
''

Bulletin de Correspondance Hellénique Bulletin or The Bulletin may refer to: Periodicals (newspapers, magazines, journals) * Bulletin (online newspaper), a Swedish online newspaper * ''The Bulletin'' (Australian periodical), an Australian magazine (1880–2008) ** Bulletin Debate, ...

'', 100 (1976), pp. 485–491. * Syme, Ronald, ''The Roman Revolution'', (Oxford: 1986) {{DEFAULTSORT:Cornelius Lentulus Marcellinus, Gnaeus 1st-century BC Roman governors of Syria 1st-century BC Roman consuls Senators of the Roman Republic Marcellinus, Gnaeus 90s BC births 48 BC deaths Year of birth uncertain Year of death uncertain Roman quaestors Tribunes of the plebs Roman legates