Quintus Cornificius (died 42 BC) was an ancient Roman of

senatorial 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 e ...

rank from the '' gens''

Cornificia Cornificia (c. 85 BCc. 40 BC) was a Roman poet and writer of epigrams of the 1st century BC. Life Cornificia belongs to the last generation of the Roman Republic.Stevenson, Jane: ''Women Latin Poets: Language, Gender, and Authority from Antiqu ...

. He was a general, orator and poet, a friend of

Catullus Gaius Valerius Catullus (; 84 - 54 BCE), often referred to simply as Catullus (, ), was a Latin poet of the late Roman Republic who wrote chiefly in the neoteric style of poetry, focusing on personal life rather than classical heroes. His ...

and a correspondent of

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 esta ...

. He was also an augur. He wrote a now lost

epyllion A sleeping Ariadne's abandonment by Theseus is the topic of an elaborate ecphrasis">Theseus.html" ;"title="Ariadne's abandonment by Theseus">Ariadne's abandonment by Theseus is the topic of an elaborate ecphrasis in Catullus 64, the most famous e ...

titled ''Glaucus''.Theodore John Cadoux and Robin J. Seager, "Cornificius, Quintus", in Simon Hornblower and Antony Spawforth, eds., ''The Oxford Classical Dictionary'', 3rd rev. ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005). During the Roman civil war of 49–45 BC, Cornificius sided with

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, ...

against Gnaeus Pompeius. As ''

quaestor pro praetore The executive magistrates of the Roman Empire were elected individuals of the ancient Roman Empire. During the transition from roman kingdom, monarchy to roman republic, republic, the constitutional balance of power shifted from the executive (the ...

'' for Illyricum in 48 BC, he recovered the province and defended it against the attacks of Pompeius' fleet. In 46, he was sent to

Cilicia Cilicia (); el, Κιλικία, ''Kilikía''; Middle Persian: ''klkyʾy'' (''Klikiyā''); Parthian: ''kylkyʾ'' (''Kilikiyā''); tr, Kilikya). is a geographical region in southern Anatolia in Turkey, extending inland from the northeastern coa ...

, probably as ''

legatus pro praetore A ''legatus'' (; anglicised as legate) was a high-ranking Roman military officer in the Roman Army, equivalent to a modern high-ranking general officer. Initially used to delegate power, the term became formalised under Augustus as the office ...

'', and then to Syria, where he prosecuted the war against Quintus Caecilius Bassus. In 45 BC, he was made a ''

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 ...

'' and in the summer of 44 BC, after the assassination of Caesar, he was appointed governor of the province of

Africa Vetus Africa Proconsularis was a Roman province on the northern African coast that was established in 146 BC following the defeat of Carthage in the Third Punic War. It roughly comprised the territory of present-day Tunisia, the northeast of Algeria, ...

by the senate. Later in 44 BC, the senate, under the influence of Marcus Antonius, appointed Gaius Calvisius Sabinus governor of Africa Vetus, but Cornificius refused to give up the province. In 43 BC, the Second Triumvirate, including Antonius, had him proscribed and his province given to

Titus Sextius Titus Sextius ( BC) was a Roman soldier as well as a governor in Africa. Sextius' origins are obscure. He belonged to '' gens'' Sextia and may have been an Ostian. Some of his descendants achieved consular rank and took the cognomen ...

. He was defeated and killed in battle near Utica in 42 BC. A monument in Rome to Cornificius' sister

, also a poet, reads: CORNIFICIA Q. F. CAMERI Q. CORNIFICIUS Q. F. FRATER PR. AUGUR (Cornificia, the daughter of Quintus, wife of Camerius, her brother Quintus Cornificius, son of Quintus, praetor and augur).'' Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum'', vol. VI, 1300a

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cornificius, Quintus 42 BC deaths 1st-century BC Roman augurs 1st-century BC Roman praetors 1st-century BC writers Quintus Year of birth unknown