Lucius Aurelius Cotta (fl. 2nd century 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 ...

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

and military commander who was elected

Roman consul A consul held the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic ( to 27 BC), and ancient Romans considered the consulship the second-highest level of the ''cursus honorum'' (an ascending sequence of public offices to which politic ...

in 119 BC.

Biography

Not much is known about the early career of Cotta, who was born into the

Plebeian In ancient Rome, the plebeians (also called plebs) were the general body of free Roman citizens who were not patricians, as determined by the census, or in other words " commoners". Both classes were hereditary. Etymology The precise origins of ...

'' gens Aurelia''. By 122 BC, he had been elected to the rank of

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 ...

, and this was followed by his election 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 ...

in 119 BC. During his tenure in office, he, along with his colleague

Lucius Caecilius Metellus Dalmaticus Lucius Caecilius Metellus Delmaticus (born ) was a Roman politician and general. He was a son of Lucius Caecilius Metellus Calvus and brother of Quintus Caecilius Metellus Numidicus. He was consul in 119 BC; during his year, he opposed Gaius M ...

, opposed the passage of a law proposed by

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 ...

, then 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 o ...

, which was meant to reform the configuration of the voting booths, thereby reducing the influence of the so-called

Optimates Optimates (; Latin for "best ones", ) and populares (; Latin for "supporters of the people", ) are labels applied to politicians, political groups, traditions, strategies, or ideologies in the late Roman Republic. There is "heated academic dis ...

. He asked the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

to order Marius to present himself before them; when they did so, Marius responded by threatening to have Cotta imprisoned. After Cotta's colleague Metellus was imprisoned on Marius’ orders, Cotta and the Senate backed down and allowed the passage of Marius’ law. During his year in office, Cotta may have fought alongside Metellus in the campaign against the

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see #Name, names in other languages) is one of the four historical region, historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of ...

ns; the remaining sources are unclear if he actually participated or not.Smith, pg. 867;Broughton, pg. 525

Family

His father of the same name was consul in 144 BC. He had at least two children: one son with the same name who then become the consul in 65 BC and one daughter,

Aurelia Cotta Aurelia ( – July 31, 54 BC) was the mother of the Roman general and statesman Julius Caesar. Family Aurelia was a daughter of Rutilia and Lucius Aurelius Cotta or his brother, Marcus Aurelius Cotta.'Aurelia' in William Smith, ed., ''Dictionar ...

, who later was married to

Gaius 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, and ...

and bore him three children, two of which were the dictator

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, and ...

and Julia Minor, the first Roman emperor

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 ...

's maternal grandmother.

References

Sources

* Broughton, T. Robert S., ''The Magistrates of the Roman Republic'', Vol I (1951) * Smith, William, ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', Vol I (1867) {{DEFAULTSORT:Aurelius Cotta, Lucius 2nd-century BC Roman consuls Senators of the Roman Republic Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown

Lucius Lucius ( el, Λούκιος ''Loukios''; ett, Luvcie) is a male given name derived from '' Lucius'' (abbreviated ''L.''), one of the small group of common Latin forenames ('' praenomina'') found in the culture of ancient Rome. Lucius derives from ...

Family of Julius Caesar