Gaius Scribonius Curio ( – 49 BC) was the son of Gaius Scribonius Curio and consul in 76 BC. His political allegiances changed over the course of the 50s BC until his tribunate, when he sided with

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 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 Caesar's civil wa ...

after possibly receiving a massive bribe. During the

civil war A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

, he sided with Caesar and led Caesarian troops to Sicily and then to Africa, where he was killed in battle.

Biography

Early life

Curio was the son of his homonymous father and his wife Memmia, born around 84 BC. Curio and

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

had a close friendship, which was denounced by their political enemies as immoral or possibly an affair. In a defamatory speech against Anthony,

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...

accused Antony of being Curio's lover, claiming that after the two youths had been banned from seeing each other by Curio's father, Curio smuggled Antony in through his father's roof.

Opponent of Caesar

His first recorded political activity was, with his father, to support

Publius Clodius Pulcher Publius Clodius Pulcher ( – 18 January 52 BC) was a Roman politician and demagogue. A noted opponent of Cicero, he was responsible during his plebeian tribunate in 58 BC for a massive expansion of the Roman grain dole as well as Cic ...

in the senate and the courts during the

Bona Dea Bona Dea (; 'Good Goddess') was a List of Roman deities, goddess in Religion in ancient Rome, ancient Roman religion. She was associated with chastity and fertility among married Women in ancient Rome, Roman women, healing, and the protection of t ...

affair. Clodius had been accused of sacrilege; Curio's father vigorously opposed a senatorial resolution establishing a court for prosecution and the younger Curio fought the law that was correspondingly proposed in the assemblies. He and his father became opponents of Caesar and the

First Triumvirate The First Triumvirate was an informal political alliance among three prominent politicians in the late Roman Republic: Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, Marcus Licinius Crassus, and Gaius Julius Caesar. The republican constitution had many veto points. ...

in 59 BC. For their efforts, they were applauded in public and at the games. He was implicated in the Vettius affair – allegations, possibly masterminded by Caesar, that Curio was part of a conspiracy to assassinate Pompey – but the allegations were unbelieved and Vettius was found dead shortly thereafter. A few years later, in 54 BC, he served as quaestor in

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

and stayed there for a few years. Around this time, his father died (he received a letter of condolence from Cicero). Upon his return to Rome in 52, he gave magnificent funeral games commemorating his father in collaboration with Marcus Favonius, an ally of Cato who was then serving as aedile. He also married the widow of his friend Clodius,

Fulvia Fulvia (; d. 40 BC) was an aristocratic Roman woman who lived during the late Roman Republic. Fulvia's birth into an important political dynasty facilitated her relationships and, later on, marriages to Publius Clodius Pulcher, Gaius Scribo ...

, who had been killed in a street battle with

Titus Annius Milo Titus Annius Milo (died 48 BC) was a Roman politician and agitator. The son of Gaius Papius Celsus, he was adopted by his maternal grandfather, Titus Annius Luscus. In 52 BC, he was prosecuted for the murder of Publius Clodius Pulcher and exile ...

that January. This helped his public image among Clodius supporters and gave him the support of Clodius' gangs. His and Fulvia's son Scribonius Curio was born soon after.

Plebeian tribunate

In the year 51 BC, he prepared to stand for the aedileship the following year. But after the conviction of one of the

plebeian tribunes Tribune of the plebs, tribune of the people or plebeian tribune () 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 the Roman Senate ...

-elect in July, he took the opportunity to stand as that tribune's replacement. The same year, he was elected to the pontificate. His political position had been firmly anti-Caesarian and he was expected to support Caesar's removal from Gaul without honours, block a possible second consulship, and repeal Caesar's agrarian legislation in 59. However, Curio changed his views, possibly because he resented the senate's refusal to insert an intercalary month, or after receiving a massive bribe from Caesar. However, it did not become clear that he had become an ally of Caesar for some months; Curio continued his anti-Caesarian proposals until his tribunician proposals – including for annexation of Mauritania – were rejected by the senate. Only in March, when the question of Caesar's command was mooted before the senate, did Curio's position become more clear when he demanded that if Caesar were to be removed in Gaul, Pompey must also be removed in Spain. Through the year, Curio vetoed any other discussion of Caesar's command. The proposal was widely praised by the general population as an acceptable compromise that would avoid civil war, giving Curio tremendous popularity, but at the same time winning Curio the enmity of

Pompey Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey ( ) or Pompey the Great, was a Roman general and statesman who was prominent in the last decades of the Roman Republic. ...

. The proposal also won the approval of many senators, who viewed it as "more attractive... than the rhetoric of inflexible confrontation". In December 50, one of the then-censors, Appius Claudius Pulcher, attempted to have him removed from the senate, a proposal which the senate rejected at Curio's urging. At a following debate on Curio's motion that both Caesar and Pompey should step down, the senate voted hugely in favour (370 to 22). This motion, however, was vetoed by the consul, who then extrajudicially called upon Pompey to raise men to fight Caesar. Upon the expiration of his tribunate on 9 December 50 (tribunes took office on 10 December rather than 1 January), he complained to the people about Pompey and consul Marcellus and promptly fled to Caesar in Ravenna. As the year drew to a close, relations between Caesar and Pompey drew to a breaking point: a last-minute proposal brought by Curio and two of the tribunes for that year (Mark Antony and

Quintus Cassius Longinus Quintus Cassius Longinus, the brother or cousin of Cassius (the assassin of Julius Caesar), was a governor in Hispania (the Iberian Peninsula, comprising modern Spain and Portugal) for Caesar. Cassius was one of the '' tresviri monetales'' of the ...

) on 1 January 49 BC was rejected and the senate – at the urging of the hardliners – voted to remove Caesar from his command (Curio and

Marcus Caelius Rufus Marcus Caelius Rufus (died 48 BC) was an orator and politician in the late Roman Republic. He was born into a wealthy equestrian family from Interamnia Praetuttiorum, on the central east coast of Italy. He is best known for his prosecut ...

were the only dissenting votes) and moved the ''

senatus consultum ultimum ("final decree of the Senate", often abbreviated to SCU) is the modern term given to resolutions of the Roman Senate lending its moral support for magistrates to use the full extent of their powers and ignore the laws to safeguard the state. ...

'' against Caesar. In response, Curio, Antony, Cassius, and Caelius fled the city to Caesar, and he then took up arms against the senate.

Civil war

Around 10 January, the

started when Caesar crossed the Rubicon and invaded Italy proper. The cities and communities of northern Italy quickly fell or surrendered to Caesar and he ordered the recruitment of additional soldiers. Curio was put in charge of the recruiting operation. When Caesar reached

Corfinium Corfinium (Greek: ) was an ancient city now near modern Corfinio, in the province of L'Aquila (Abruzzo region). During the Social War (91-87 BC), Corfinium served as the headquarters of the Italic socii who fought for the extension of Rom ...

, Curio brought twenty-two cohorts of recruits to assist in the siege. After Pompey's flight to Greece with about a third of the senate, Curio was put in command of three legions to take Sicily and Africa. Arriving in Sicily on 24 April 49 BC, he forced Cato from the province without bloodshed. Curio's success in Sicily also secured its grain supply and strategic position, allowing Caesar to feed the city and gain control of the central Mediterranean. In August 49, he set sail from Lilybaeum and landed near Anquillaria on Cape Bon in Africa. There, he faced Attius Varus and King Juba I of Numidia, who had sided with Pompey. Although he won the Battle of Utica, he was forced to withdraw and eventually defeated by Saburra, Juba's general, at the Battle of the Bagradas River where he fought to the death, along with his army, rather than attempting to flee to his camp.

Marriages

By his marriage to

, the widow of

Publius Clodius Publius Clodius Pulcher ( – 18 January 52 BC) was a Roman politician and demagogue. A noted opponent of Cicero, he was responsible during his plebeian tribunate in 58 BC for a massive expansion of the Roman grain dole as well as Ci ...

and a granddaughter of

Gaius Gracchus Gaius Sempronius Gracchus ( – 121 BC) was a reformist Roman politician and soldier who lived during the 2nd century BC. He is most famous for his tribunate for the years 123 and 122 BC, in which he proposed a wide set of laws, i ...

, he got a step-daughter, Claudia; a step-son,

; and an eponymous son. His eponymous son was later executed by

Octavian Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in ...

after the

Battle of Actium The Battle of Actium was a naval battle fought between Octavian's maritime fleet, led by Marcus Agrippa, and the combined fleets of both Mark Antony and Cleopatra. The battle took place on 2 September 31 BC in the Ionian Sea, near the former R ...

for having supported

Legacy

Curio built Rome's first permanent

amphitheatre An amphitheatre (American English, U.S. English: amphitheater) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ('), meani ...

, in his father's memory and celebrated funeral games there with seating built on a pivot that could move the entire audience.Tom Holland, ''Rubicon'', p. 295; cf. Plin. nat. hist. 36, 117.

References

Citations

Sources

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Scribonius Curio, Gaius 80s BC births 49 BC deaths 1st-century BC Romans Roman Republican generals Ancient Roman rhetoricians Husbands of Fulvia Ancient Roman generals killed in action Curio, Gaius Senators of the Roman Republic Tribunes of the plebs People of Caesar's civil war Year of birth uncertain