Sextus Julius Caesar 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 lett ...

statesman, and the first member of the Julii Caesares to hold the

consulship 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 ...

, which he attained in 157 BC.''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', vol. I, pp. 536, 537.Broughton, vol. I. pp. 446, 447.

Family

From his

filiation Filiation is the legal term for the recognized legal status of the relationship between family members, or more specifically the legal relationship between parent and child. As described by the Government of Quebec: Filiation is the relationship ...

, we know that Sextus' father was also named ''Sextus'', and that his grandfather was named ''Lucius''. In his reconstruction of the family, classical scholar

Wilhelm Drumann Wilhelm Karl August Drumann (11 June 1786, in Danstedt – 29 July 1861, in Königsberg) was a German classical historian. From 1805 he studied theology and philosophy at the University of Halle, receiving his doctorate at Helmstedt in 1810. Fol ...

assumed that he was the son of Sextus Julius Caesar, one of the

military tribune A military tribune (Latin ''tribunus militum'', "tribune of the soldiers") was an officer of the Roman army who ranked below the legate and above the centurion. Young men of Equestrian rank often served as military tribune as a stepping stone ...

s of 181 BC, and the grandson of an otherwise unknown Lucius Julius Caesar, who would have been the son of

Sextus Sextus is an ancient Roman ''praenomen'' or "first name". Its standard abbreviation is Sex., and the feminine form would be Sexta. It is one of the numeral ''praenomina'', like Quintus ("fifth") and Decimus ("tenth"), and means "sixth". Although i ...

, praetor in 208 BC.Drumann, p. 113. However, more recent scholarship has concluded that the military tribune and the consul were the same person, and that his father was the praetor of 208. Sextus had at least one brother,

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 ...

, who was praetor in 183 BC, and probably a second, Gaius, who was a

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 the great-grandfather of Gaius Julius Caesar, the

dictator A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a small clique. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to rule the republic in time ...

. He had two sons: Sextus, who was praetor ''urbanus'' in 123 BC, and Lucius, by whom he was the grandfather of Lucius Julius Caesar, consul in BC 90, (and through him the great-grandfather of

Mark Antony Marcus Antonius (14 January 1 August 30 BC), commonly known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and general who played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic from a constitutional republic into the au ...

) and the orator

Gaius Julius Caesar Strabo Gaius Julius Caesar Strabo "Vopiscus" (c. 131 – 87 BC) was the younger son of Lucius Julius Caesar and his wife Popillia, and younger brother of Lucius Julius Caesar, consul in 90 BC. His cognomen 'Strabo' indicates he was possibly cross-eyed, ...

Career

In 181 BC, Sextus served as a military tribune under

Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus (c. 229 – 160 BC) was a two-time consul of the Roman Republic and a general who conquered Macedon, putting an end to the Antigonid dynasty in the Third Macedonian War. Family Paullus' father was Luciu ...

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 ' ...

Liguria Liguria (; lij, Ligûria ; french: Ligurie) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is ...

. In 170, he was one of the legates sent 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 ...

in order to restore liberty to the people of Abdera, and to seek out and return those who had been sold into

slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

. In 165, Sextus was one of the curule aediles. At the Megalesian Games, he and his colleague, Gnaeus Cornelius Dolabella, gave the first, unsuccessful presentation of

Terence Publius Terentius Afer (; – ), better known in English as Terence (), was a Roman African playwright during the Roman Republic. His comedies were performed for the first time around 166–160 BC. Terentius Lucanus, a Roman senator, brought ...

's comedy, ''

Hecyra ''Hecyra'' (''The Mother-in-Law'') is a comedic Latin play by the early Roman playwright Terence. The story concerns a young man, Pamphilus, who has a girlfriend, the courtesan Bacchis, but is forced by his father to marry a neighbour's daughter ...

''. Sextus subsequently held the praetorship; the exact year is uncertain, but it was no later than 160. In BC 157, Sextus became the first of the Julii Caesares to obtain the consulship. His colleague was Lucius Aurelius Orestes. Their year of office was largely uneventful; Ariarathes, who had been deposed as King of

Cappadocia Cappadocia or Capadocia (; tr, Kapadokya), is a historical region in Central Anatolia, Turkey. It largely is in the provinces Nevşehir, Kayseri, Aksaray, Kırşehir, Sivas and Niğde. According to Herodotus, in the time of the Ionian Revo ...

the previous year, was at Rome seeking support for his subsequent restoration, and Sextus is named as a witness to a decree of the senate to the people of

Tibur Tivoli ( , ; la, Tibur) is a town and in Lazio, central Italy, north-east of Rome, at the falls of the Aniene river where it issues from the Sabine hills. The city offers a wide view over the Roman Campagna. History Gaius Julius Solin ...

. Ten years after their consulship, in 147 BC, Orestes was sent as part of an ambassadorial mission to arbitrate in a dispute between the

Achaean League The Achaean League ( Greek: , ''Koinon ton Akhaion'' "League of Achaeans") was a Hellenistic-era confederation of Greek city states on the northern and central Peloponnese. The league was named after the region of Achaea in the northwestern P ...

and the Lacedaemonians. Following the senate's instructions, he removed several important towns from the League, leading to riots at

Corinth Corinth ( ; el, Κόρινθος, Kórinthos, ) is the successor to an ancient city, and is a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese, which is located in south-central Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it has been part ...

, and an attack on the ambassadors. In response, his former colleague was dispatched at the head of a second delegation with instructions to censure the Achaeans and continue negotiating the dispute. Sextus' attempt to resolve the dispute was frustrated by the Achaean general

Critolaus Critolaus (; el, Κριτόλαος ''Kritolaos''; c. 200 – c. 118 BC) of Phaselis was a Greek philosopher of the Peripatetic school. He was one of three philosophers sent to Rome in 155 BC (the other two being Carneades and Diogenes of Babylon) ...

. The following year, the League rose against Rome, and was decisively defeated in the Achaean War. The League was dissolved, and most of mainland Greece was incorporated into the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Ki ...

.''Cambridge Ancient History'', vol. VIII². p. 322.

References

Bibliography

* Titus Livius (

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding in ...

), ''Ab Urbe Condita'' (History of Rome), book xl. * Gaius Plinius Secundus (

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic ' ...

), ''

Naturalis Historia The ''Natural History'' ( la, Naturalis historia) is a work by Pliny the Elder. The largest single work to have survived from the Roman Empire to the modern day, the ''Natural History'' compiles information gleaned from other ancient authors. ...

'' (Natural History), book xxxiii. *

Polybius Polybius (; grc-gre, Πολύβιος, ; ) was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic period. He is noted for his work , which covered the period of 264–146 BC and the Punic Wars in detail. Polybius is important for his analysis of the mixed ...

, '' The Histories'', book xxxii. * Lucius Cassius Dio Cocceianus (

Cassius Dio Lucius Cassius Dio (), also known as Dio Cassius ( ), was a Roman historian and senator of maternal Greek origin. He published 80 volumes of the history on ancient Rome, beginning with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy. The volumes documented the ...

), ''Roman History'', ''fragmenta''. * Wilhelm Drumann, ''Geschichte Roms in seinem Übergang von der republikanischen zur monarchischen Verfassung, oder: Pompeius, Caesar, Cicero und ihre Zeitgenossen'', Königsberg (1834–1844).
"Caesar" and "Sextus Julius Caesar" (nos. 4 & 6)
in the ''

Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology The ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'' (1849, originally published 1844 under a slightly different title) is an encyclopedia/ biographical dictionary. Edited by William Smith, the dictionary spans three volumes and 3,700 ...

'', William Smith, ed., Little, Brown and Company, Boston (1849). * T. Robert S. Broughton, ''The Magistrates of the Roman Republic'', American Philological Association (1952). * ''

The Cambridge Ancient History ''The Cambridge Ancient History'' is a multi-volume work of ancient history from Prehistory to Late Antiquity, published by Cambridge University Press. The first series, consisting of 12 volumes, was planned in 1919 by Irish historian J. B. Bur ...

'',

Frank Adcock Sir Frank Ezra Adcock, (15 April 1886 – 22 February 1968) was a British classical historian who was Professor of Ancient History at the University of Cambridge between 1925 and 1951. In addition to his academic work, he also served as a c ...

and S. A. Cook, eds., Cambridge University Press (1924–1939), vol. VIII. {{DEFAULTSORT:Julius Caesar, Sextus (consul 597 AUC) 2nd-century BC diplomats 2nd-century BC Roman consuls 2nd-century BC Roman praetors Curule aediles Sextus (consul 597 AUC)

Family

Career

See also

References

Bibliography