Quintus Caecilius Metellus Balearicus (born c. 170 BC) 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 Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

statesman and general who was elected

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 thro ...

for the year 123 BC.

Career

Quintus Caecilius Metellus was the eldest son of

Quintus Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus Quintus Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus (c. 188 BC – 116 BC/115 BC) was a statesman and general of the Roman Republic during the second century BC. He was praetor in 148 BC, consul in 143 BC, the Proconsul of Hispania Citerior in 142 BC an ...

, the

Roman consul The consuls were the highest elected public officials of the Roman Republic ( to 27 BC). Romans considered the consulship the second-highest level of the ''cursus honorum''an ascending sequence of public offices to which politicians aspire ...

of 143 BC, and a member of the

plebeian In ancient Rome, the plebeians or plebs were the general body of free Roman citizens who were not patricians, as determined by the census, or in other words "commoners". Both classes were hereditary. Etymology The precise origins of the gro ...

'' gens Caecilia''. It is suspected that he served under his father in

Hispania Citerior Hispania Citerior (English: "Hither Iberia", or "Nearer Iberia") was a Roman province in Hispania during the Roman Republic. It was on the eastern coast of Iberia down to the town of Cartago Nova, today's Cartagena in the autonomous community of ...

during 143-142 BC. By 126 BC, he had been elected to the office of

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 ...

. He was then elected to the

consulship The consuls were the highest elected public officials of the Roman Republic ( to 27 BC). Romans considered the consulship the second-highest level of the ''cursus honorum''an ascending sequence of public offices to which politicians aspire ...

in 123 BC, serving alongside

Titus Quinctius Flamininus Titus Quinctius Flamininus (229 – 174 BC) was a Roman politician and general instrumental in the Roman conquest of Greece. Family background Flamininus belonged to the minor patrician ''gens'' Quinctia. The family had a glorious place in ...

. During his consulship, he was awarded the command of the campaign against the pirates of the

Balearic Islands The Balearic Islands are an archipelago in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago forms a Provinces of Spain, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain, ...

. His campaign continued into 122 BC, and when his consulship ended, he was granted a

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 ...

command Command may refer to: Computing * Command (computing), a statement in a computer language * command (Unix), a Unix command * COMMAND.COM, the default operating system shell and command-line interpreter for DOS * Command key, a modifier key on A ...

. By 121 BC, he had defeated the pirates and conquered Mallorca and Menorca, the Balearics, for which he earned his

cognomen A ''cognomen'' (; : ''cognomina''; from ''co-'' "together with" and ''(g)nomen'' "name") was the third name of a citizen of ancient Rome, under Roman naming conventions. Initially, it was a nickname, but lost that purpose when it became hereditar ...

''Balearicus'' and the honours of a Triumph. In the aftermath of the victory, he established at Palma and Pollentia two

colonies A colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule, which rules the territory and its indigenous peoples separated from the foreign rulers, the colonizer, and their '' metropole'' (or "mother country"). This separated rule was often or ...

of 3,000 Romans from Iberia. In 120 BC, he was appointed Censor, during which time he and his censorial colleague probably reappointed Publius Cornelius Lentulus as ''

Princeps senatus The ''princeps senatus'' ( ''principes senatus''), in English the leader of the senate, was the first member by precedence on the membership rolls of the Roman Senate. Although officially out of the ''cursus honorum'' and possessing no ''imperium ...

''.Broughton I, pg. 523

Family

He was the father of: * Quintus Caecilius Metellus Nepos * Caecilia Metella, possible wife of Appius Claudius Pulcher.Caecilia Metella was the name of all women of the Caecilii Metelli.

Footnotes

References

Sources

* Broughton, T. Robert S., ''The Magistrates of the Roman Republic'', Vol I (1952) * Broughton, T. Robert S., ''The Magistrates of the Roman Republic'', Vol III (1986) * Smith, William, ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', Vol II (1867) {{DEFAULTSORT:Caecilius Metellus Balearicus, Quintus 2nd-century BC births 2nd-century BC Roman consuls Balearicus, Quintus History of the Balearic Islands Optimates Ancient Roman censors Year of birth uncertain Year of death unknown

Career

Family

See also

Footnotes

References

Sources