Marcus Furius Camillus (c. 26 BC – after AD 18) was a Roman senator and a close friend of the emperor

Tiberius Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus ( ; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was Roman emperor from AD 14 until 37. He succeeded his stepfather Augustus, the first Roman emperor. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC to Roman politician Tiberius Cl ...

. Despite being without previous military experience, he enjoyed several successes against the Numidian rebel Tacfarinas while serving as governor of Africa, and was even praised in public by the Emperor and awarded triumphal honours. The historian

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. Tacitus’ two major historical works, ''Annals'' ( ...

, in his ''

Annales Annals are a concise form of historical writing which record events chronologically, year by year. The equivalent word in Latin and French is ''annales'', which is used untranslated in English in various contexts. List of works with titles contai ...

'' (published AD 109), joked that Camillus subsequently lived invisibly enough to survive this great honour (an allusion to the endless series of executions of prominent senators on spurious treason charges under Tiberius).

Early life

He was a member of the

gens In ancient Rome, a gens ( or , ; : gentes ) was a family consisting of individuals who shared the same ''nomen gentilicium'' and who claimed descent from a common ancestor. A branch of a gens, sometimes identified by a distinct cognomen, was cal ...

Furia, whose origin had been in the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

city of

Tusculum Tusculum is a ruined Classical Rome, Roman city in the Alban Hills, in the Latium region of Italy. Tusculum was most famous in Roman times for the many great and luxurious patrician country villas sited close to the city, yet a comfortable dist ...

. An early member of this family was

Marcus Furius Camillus Marcus Furius Camillus (; possibly – ) was a Roman statesman and politician during the early Roman republic who is most famous for his capture of Veii and defence of Rome from Gallic sack after the Battle of the Allia. Modern scholars are dub ...

(c. 446 - 365 BC), who was known as the ''Second Founder of

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

'' for his victory over the

Gauls The Gauls (; , ''Galátai'') were a group of Celts, Celtic peoples of mainland Europe in the Iron Age Europe, Iron Age and the Roman Gaul, Roman period (roughly 5th century BC to 5th century AD). Their homeland was known as Gaul (''Gallia''). Th ...

during the Gallic siege of Rome. The family had declined over the centuries and by the time of

Augustus 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 A ...

they were relatively unimportant.

Career

Information about his early career is not known but if he had followed the ''

cursus honorum The , or more colloquially 'ladder of offices'; ) was the sequential order of public offices held by aspiring politicians in the Roman Republic and the early Roman Empire. It was designed for men of senatorial rank. The comprised a mixture of ...

'' he would probably have been 33 years old at the time of his consulship in 8 AD. This was the normal age for a man of patrician rank to become consul under the

Principate The Principate was the form of imperial government of the Roman Empire from the beginning of the reign of Augustus in 27 BC to the end of the Crisis of the Third Century in AD 284, after which it evolved into the Dominate. The principate was ch ...

as opposed to during the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( ) was the era of Ancient Rome, classical Roman civilisation beginning with Overthrow of the Roman monarchy, the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with the establis ...

when the minimum age was 40. From this information we can guess that he had been a

Quaestor A quaestor ( , ; ; "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 officia ...

(1 BC), an

Aedile Aedile ( , , from , "temple edifice") was an elected office of the Roman Republic. Based in Rome, the aediles were responsible for maintenance of public buildings () and regulation of public festivals. They also had powers to enforce public orde ...

(2 AD),

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 disch ...

(5 AD) and a

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

of a small province before becoming Consul. In 17 AD he was named

Proconsul A proconsul was an official of ancient Rome who acted on behalf of a Roman consul, 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 ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

and inherited a war against the

Numidia Numidia was the ancient kingdom of the Numidians in northwest Africa, initially comprising the territory that now makes up Algeria, but later expanding across what is today known as Tunisia and Libya. The polity was originally divided between ...

n insurgent Tacfarinas. The war proved to be a difficult one because the tribes of this region did not live in towns which the Romans could attack. Camillus then had to fight a tough campaign of

guerrilla warfare Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include recruited children, use ambushes, sabotage, terrori ...

against the tribes who were very adept at this type of war and would not be easily subdued. The revolt seems to have erupted over the construction of a

road A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. Th ...

through the tribal areas. The coalition included the

Gaetuli Gaetuli was the Romanised name of an ancient Berber tribe inhabiting ''Getulia''. The latter district covered the large desert region south of the Atlas Mountains, bordering the Sahara. Other documents place Gaetulia in pre-Roman times along the M ...

(from who the revolt was named) Cinithians (who

asserts were unwilling participants),

Garamantes The Garamantes (; ) were ancient peoples, who may have descended from Berbers, Berber tribes, Toubous, Toubou tribes, and Saharan Pastoral period, pastoralists that settled in the Fezzan region by at least 1000 BC and established a civilization t ...

Moors The term Moor is an Endonym and exonym, exonym used in European languages to designate the Muslims, Muslim populations of North Africa (the Maghreb) and the Iberian Peninsula (particularly al-Andalus) during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a s ...

and Musulanians themselves and was the largest revolt against

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 Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

rule in

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

during the whole of the Roman occupation. The revolt was in two parties. The main body of the revolt was under command of Tacfarinas (d. 24 AD),

Roman auxiliary The (; ) were introduced as non-citizen troops attached to the citizen Roman legion, legions by Augustus after his reorganisation of the Imperial Roman army from 27 BC. By the 2nd century, the contained the same number of infantry as the ...

soldier of Roman North Africa, who led the Musulamii, a tribe that inhabited the southern regions of

Africa Proconsularis Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

along the northern fringe of the

Sahara desert The Sahara (, ) is a desert spanning across North Africa. With an area of , it is the largest hot desert in the world and the list of deserts by area, third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Ar ...

. Tacitus describes him as having the rudiments of Roman training, which he used in his army. Camillus engaged Tacfarinas, according to Tacitus, with a significantly smaller army of one legion and using conventional Roman tactics was able to destroy Tacfarinas larger army, of

Berbers Berbers, or the Berber peoples, also known as Amazigh or Imazighen, are a diverse grouping of distinct ethnic groups indigenous to North Africa who predate the arrival of Arab migrations to the Maghreb, Arabs in the Maghreb. Their main connec ...

. Tacfarinas himself escaped and fought on till being defeated in 24AD. Mazippas role in the revolt was said by Tacitus to have ''ravaged the country and marked his way with fire and sword.'' The cleanup of Mazipps' army took some months. Tacitus describes his conservative victory as

amillus''... once more revived the glory of his ancestors; but he did it without their talents.''

In 18 AD, Camillus was replaced by Lucius Apronius as proconsul of Africa. On his return to Rome, Tiberius lavished triumphal ornaments, on him – a rare achievement for someone outside of the

Julio-Claudian dynasty The Julio-Claudian dynasty comprised the first five Roman emperors: Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero. This line of emperors ruled the Roman Empire, from its formation (under Augustus, in 27 BC) until the last of the line, Emper ...

. The historian

wrote about him: "for the first time in centuries, a member of the Furius family had achieved military fame".

Reputation

Unlike other senators who fell after plotting against the imperial dynasty, Camillus was deemed totally unambitious and of no danger to the emperor Tiberius:

''His moderation, and the simplicity of his manners, screened him from envy. He enjoyed his honors with impunity.''Cornelius Tacitus, Arthur Murphy, The Historical Annals of Cornelius Tacitus: With Supplements, Volume 1 (D. Neall, 1829), p114.

Family

He was the father of Livia Medullina Camilla who was betrothed to

Claudius Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; ; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54), or Claudius, was a Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Nero Claudius Drusus, Drusus and Ant ...

allegedly at Tiberius's instigation to reward a loyal friend; however, Livia died the day of her wedding, in 9 AD or 10 AD. Camillus was also the father of Lucius Arruntius Camillus Scribonianus, consul of 32. Scribonianus was the instigator of the first major attempted coup of Claudius' reign, while governor of

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; ; ) is a historical region located in modern-day Croatia and Montenegro, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. Through time it formed part of several historical states, most notably the Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Croatia (925 ...

in 42.

Footnotes

References

* Levick, Barbara. ''Claudius'' Yale University Press. New Haven. *Stuart, M. "The Date of the Inscription of Claudius on the Arch of Ticinum" ''Am. J. Arch.'' 40 (1936). 314–322. *Suetonius ''The Twelve Caesars'' "Life of Claudius" {{DEFAULTSORT:Furius Camillus, Marcus 20s BC births 1st-century BC Romans 1st-century Romans Camillus, Marcus Imperial Roman consuls Roman governors of Africa Year of birth uncertain Year of death unknown