Gaius Claudius Marcellus (88 BC – May 40 BC) was a Roman senator who served 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 50 BC. He was a friend to Roman senator

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 ...

and an early opponent 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, an ...

. He was also noteworthy for marrying the sister of the future 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 Pr ...

Octavia the Younger Octavia the Younger ( la, Octavia Minor; c. 66 BC – 11 BC) was the elder sister of the first Roman Emperor, Augustus (known also as Octavian), the half-sister of Octavia the Elder, and the fourth wife of Mark Antony. She was also the great-gra ...

, with whom he fathered M. Marcellus, who was for a while Augustus' intended heir.

Biography

Early life

He was a direct descendant of consul

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 ...

. His grandfather was also named Marcus; his father was Gaius and his mother was named Junia.

Family

54 BC __NOTOC__ Year 54 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Appius and Ahenobarbus (or, less frequently, year 700 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 54 BC for this year has bee ...

Marcellus had married

, a great-niece of

(and sister of future emperor

), in an arranged ceremony. Octavia bore Marcellus three known surviving children: a son, Marcus, and two daughters and

Claudia Marcella Major Claudia Marcella Major (''PIR2'' C 1102; born some time before 40 BC) was the senior niece of Roman emperor Augustus, being the eldest daughter of his sister Octavia the Younger and her first husband Gaius Claudius Marcellus. She became the sec ...

and

Claudia Marcella Minor Claudia Marcella Minor (''PIR2'' C 1103, born some time before 39 BC) was a niece of the first Roman emperor Augustus. She was the second surviving daughter of the emperor's sister Octavia the Younger and her first husband Gaius Claudius Marcellu ...

, born in Rome. However, according to the anonymous '' Περὶ τοῦ καισαρείου γένους'' Octavia bore Marcellus four sons and four daughters. Because of Marcellus relatively advanced age at the time of his marriage to Octavia, it has been suspected by Ronald Syme that he might have been married before to a woman who is not attested. Christian Settipani has speculated that Marcellus might have had a daughter who married the Roman senator Sextus Quinctilius Varus (who served as a

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 ...

in 49 BC) by an earlier wife. This Claudia Marcella would then have became mother of

Publius Quinctilius Varus Publius Quinctilius Varus ( Cremona, 46 BC – Teutoburg Forest, AD 9) was a Roman general and politician under the first Roman emperor Augustus. Varus is generally remembered for having lost three Roman legions when ambushed by Germanic tribe ...

and his three sisters.

Opposition to Julius Caesar

In 54 BC the great-uncle of Octavia, Julius Caesar, was said to be anxious for Octavia to divorce Marcellus so that she could marry

Pompey Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey or Pompey the Great, was a leading Roman general and statesman. He played a significant role in the transformation of ...

, his rival and son-in-law who had just lost his wife Julia (daughter of Caesar and thus Octavia's cousin once removed). However, Pompey apparently declined the proposal and Octavia's husband continued to oppose Julius Caesar, culminating in the crucial year of his consulship in 50 BC when he tried to recall Julius Caesar from his ten-year governorship in

Gaul Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only during ...

two years early, without his army, in an attempt to save 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 ...

. Failing this, he called unsuccessfully upon Caesar to resign. He also obstructed Caesar from standing for a second consulship ''in absentia'', insisting that he should return to Rome to stand, thereby forgoing the protection of his armies in Gaul. When Caesar finally invaded Italy in 49 BC, Marcellus, unlike his brother and nephew, did not take up arms against him. Caesar subsequently pardoned him.

Later years

In 46 BC, with the help of other senators including

(in the latter's ''

Pro Marcello ''Pro Marcello'' is a speech by Marcus Tullius Cicero. It is Latin for ''On behalf of Marcellus''. Background Marcus Claudius Marcellus was descended from an illustrious Roman family, and had been Consul with Servius Sulpicius Rufus, in which o ...

''), Gaius was able to intercede with Caesar for his cousin

M. 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 ...

, a former consul of 51 BC and a fervent anti-Caesarian, who was at the time living in exile in Mytilene. Gaius died in May 40 BC; five months later, his widow, Octavia, married the triumvir

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 ...

References

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External links

Roman coinage of Gaius Claudius Marcellus
{{DEFAULTSORT:Claudius Marcellus, Gaius (consul 704 AUC) 88 BC births 40 BC deaths 1st-century BC Roman consuls Gaius (consul 704 AUC) Optimates Senators of the Roman Republic