Owner Comments:
Lentulus and Marcellus were the Consuls when Caesar crosses the Rubicon and were staunch Pompien’s and enemies of Caesar. The biographies of each are listed below. This coin was minted by a military mint in Asia moving with Pompey.
Lucius Cornelius Lentulus Crus (before 97 BC – 48 BC) was Consul of the Roman Republic in 49 BC, an opponent of Caesar and supporter of Pompeius in the Civil War during 49 to 48 BC.
Family and political career
Born sometime before 97 BC, son of a Publius Lentulus, his origins are otherwise unknown, though he was most likely a member of the patrician Cornelii Lentuli branch of the gens Cornelia.
Details of Crus' younger years are not known. In 72 BC, Caesar's man Balbus acquired his Roman citizenship for service under Pompeius against Quintus Sertorius in Spain. On the basis of the Roman names he took – Lucius Cornelius Balbus – and on the basis of later letters to Cicero, it is possible[5] that both Balbus major and minor obtained citizenship with the sponsorship of L. Cornelius Lentulus Crus, who may then have been serving with Pompeius as a legate (Pompeius was there 76 BC to 71 BC; had Crus been born c. 98 BC, he would have been between the ages of 22 and 27 at the time).
In 61 BC he was the chief prosecutor of Publius Clodius Pulcher at a quaestio extraordinaria over the latter's violation of the mysteries of the Bona Dea, along with two other Cornelii Lentuli, in which he failed to secure a conviction due in large part to the bribes which Clodius spread amongst the jurors.
Lentulus' rise through the cursus honorum of political office is not now known prior to his election, during the consulship of Caesar and Bibulus, as Praetor for 58 BC.[10] During his term of office Clodius, now a tribune of the people, moved against his enemy Cicero on the basis that the latter, as consul of 63 BC, had put Roman citizens to death without trial. Cicero hoped for Lentulus' aid against Clodius; although the praetor did, with other senior figures, attempt to persuade Pompeius to act to protect Cicero, this failed, as Pompeius refused to act against an elected tribune on his own authority.
In 51 BC he stood for election to the prestigious priestly board of fifteen men in charge of the Sibylline Books (Quindecimviri sacris faciundis),[13] but was defeated by Publius Cornelius Dolabella (to the amusement of Cicero's correspondent, Marcus Caelius Rufus.
In 50 BC he was elected consul for the following year alongside G. Claudius Marcellus, as opponents to Caesar, and was an active and vocal participant in the increasingly hysterical scenes in the senate in late 50 and January 49 as Caesar sought to secure a safe consulship whilst a reactionary group of senators sought to have him stripped of command. Finally, on 7 January 49 BC, the senate under Lentulus and Marcellus passed the “final decree” (senatus consultum ultimum);[18] the tribunes Mark Antony and Cassius fled with Caesar's envoy, the younger Curio, from Rome to meet Caesar at Ravenna. On the 10th, Caesar famously crossed the Rubicon, starting the Civil War.
Civil War
Initially Lentulus remained in Rome but left, with many senators, ahead of Caesar's advancing forces. He recruited troops for Pompeius in Capua (even gladiators at one stage, before thinking better of this[20]). Caesar sent his agent, the younger Balbus, on a mission to win over Lentulus[21] – possibly Crus was patronus to the Cornelii Balbi, uncle and nephew, if he had been their sponsor when they were granted Roman citizenship under Pompeius in 72, and Caesar hoped that Balbus would have some influence with the consul. However, by 3 March Cicero reported[22] to Atticus that the Consuls had crossed over from Brundisium to the shore of Greece.
Lentulus recruited two legions in the province of Asia for Pompeius[23] - a decree of his in July 49 BC exempted the Jews of Asia Minor from military service.[24] He was with Pompeius, as Proconsul, in his defeat at the Battle of Pharsalus on 9 August 48 BC,[25] where he commanded the Pompeian left wing.[26] On his flight from the battlefield Lentulus was denied refuge in Antioch[27] and instead followed Pompeius to Egypt. He was taken prisoner on 4 September by the order of King Ptolemy XIII and executed whilst in prison.[28]
Caesar himself placed a great deal of blame on Lentulus for the events of late 50/early 49 which brought about the civil war, commenting on the magnitude of Lentulus' debts and his hopes for control of an army and rich provinces, and going so far as to claim that the Consul was aiming to make himself master of Rome, a second Sulla.[29] He was also seen as duplicitous, warning the senate in the debates of January 49 that if they did not declare against Caesar then he, Lentulus, had his own means of regaining Caesar's favour. Cicero, in a characteristically cutting remark, described Lentulus as being averse to the trouble of thinking.[30] Writing of the private interests and personal ambitions of Pompeius' followers, he seems to give support to Caesar's claims,[31] and his later acerbic comments that Lentulus promised himself Hortensius' town house, Caesar's suburban villa, and an estate at Baiae as spoils of the civil war do bear out Lentulus' reputation for avarice.
Gaius Claudius Marcellus (before 91 BC – c. 48 BC) was a Consul of the Roman Republic in 49 BC.[1]
This article is about the consul in 49 BC. For his cousin and consul of 50 BC, see Gaius Claudius Marcellus (consul 50 BC).
Family and political career
The Claudii Marcelli were a plebeian family, members of the nobiles with a long history of consulships throughout the history of the Republic. Following a century without the family reaching the consulship, three Claudii Marcelli were Consuls in succession: in 51 BC Marcus Claudius Marcellus (the brother of Gaius Marcellus); in 50 BC Gaius Claudius Marcellus Minor (their cousin); and in 49 BC Gaius Marcellus himself.
Gaius Marcellus was born sometime before 91 BC.[2] His father was M. Claudius Marcellus, curule aedile of 91;[3] his great-grandfather was M. Claudius Marcellus who was three times consul, and whose own grandfather – also a M. Claudius Marcellus – was five times consul and fought against Hannibal in Italy.
Nothing is known of his earlier life, any military service, or his quaestorship and entry to the Senate, although he may have been the candidate in opposition to Clodius for the curule aedileship of 56 BC of whom, on 23 November, Cicero wrote "The candidate Marcellus is snoring so loud that I can hear him next door" [4] (although the other two contemporary Claudii Marcelli are also possibilities).
Marcellus must have held the praetorship at the latest in 52 BC,[5] but he could have held the office some years before – there is no mention of this in the historical record.
In 50 BC Marcellus was elected consul for the following year[6] alongside Lentulus Crus, as opponents to Caesar.[7] Both his brother Marcus and cousin Gaius (Minor) had strongly opposed Caesar during their own consulships,[8] working to have his proconsulship of Gaul terminated and to prevent Caesar from standing for election as consul of 48 BC in absentia. Caesar had blocked Marcus by working with the tribunes and the other consul, Servius Sulpicius Rufus, and then Gaius (Minor) by heavily bribing his consular colleague, Lucius Aemilius Lepidus Paullus,[9] but had not yet been able to secure election to a second consulship without having to stand as a candidate in Rome and without relinquishing his proconsular command (which would expose him to prosecution[10] for illegalities in his first consulship). The election of Marcellus and Lentulus as consuls for 49 BC was within the normal framework of family connections and influences,[11] but also a snub to Caesar through his own candidate, Servius Sulpicius Galba.[12] Gaius Marcellus and Lentulus Crus continued the policy of the Claudii Marcelli in their opposition to Caesar.[13]
Civil War
Late in 50 BC, with much of the Senate wanting peace and unwilling to act against Caesar,[14] the consul Gaius Marcellus (Minor) took matters into his own hands and led a coup, without the backing of the Senate and directed against Caesar, aiming to put control of an army[15] into the hands of Pompeius.[16] Lentulus, as consul-elect certainly joined with him in this,[17] possibly Gaius Marcellus Major too.[18] Neither the Claudii Marcelli or Lentulus were particular adherents of Pompeius, a powerful magnate and general, but saw him as a tool to use against Caesar.[19]
On the Kalends 1 January 49 BC, Marcellus and Lentulus entered office, and were presented at once with letters from Caesar, the tenor of which was claimed to be a declaration of war: Caesar would stand his legions down provided Pompey did as well;[20] otherwise, he intended to retain them and "move quickly" to avenge the wrongs done against him—presumably against Rome.[21] The Senate's response was an ultimatum: Caesar was to disband his legions or be declared a public enemy.[22] After a week of angry exchanges, on 7 January 49 BC, the senate under Lentulus and Marcellus passed the "final decree" (senatus consultum ultimum);[23] the tribunes Antonius and Cassius fled with Caesar's envoy, the younger Gaius Scribonius Curio, from Rome to meet Caesar at Ravenna. Whilst Lentulus is recorded as the more vehement of the consuls in instigating the action that caused the tribunes to flee,[24] Marcellus does not seem to have been aloof.[25] On 10 January, Caesar famously crossed the Rubicon,[26] starting the Civil War.
Initially Marcellus remained in Rome, with the consuls opposing any accommodation with Caesar,[27] maintaining an anti-Caesarian hysteria, and pressuring Pompeius to cross Italy and raise troops.[28] On 17 January both Marcellus and his colleague followed Pompeius in leaving Rome ahead of Caesar's advancing forces,[29] scandalously without even making the usual sacrifices before departure.[30]
They went south to Teanum where, on 22 January, Lucius Julius Caesar, a kinsman serving with Caesar, brought conciliatory proposals from the proconsul.[31] On 25 January Cicero (whose letters provide the details of these events) met with Marcellus and Lentulus in Capua, along with many other senators who had fled Rome. Cicero reported to his correspondent, Atticus, that all were anxious that Caesar should stand by his offer and they had sent messages back to him.[32] However, within a few days Cicero was reporting to Atticus that the consuls did not care for peace.[33] Lentulus was even reported to have tried to recruit gladiators at one stage, but thought better of this when criticized.[34]
The whereabouts of Marcellus was not known, even by 7 February, when he was two days late for a meeting with Lentulus and Cicero. The latter despaired, writing in frustration that the consuls were of no use and that no recruiting was being done.[35] Pompeius himself wrote from Luceria on 17 February to Marcellus and Lentulus urging them to collect all the troops they could and join him at Brundisium.[36] By 20 February the consuls had done so.[37]
In late February Caesar sent his agent, Cornelius Balbus (the younger) on a secret mission to win over the consul Lentulus with the bribe of a lucrative province;[38] there is no hint that he made any similar offers to Marcellus, which may be an indication of the latter's comparative honesty or, perhaps more likely, his comparative insignificance in Roman politics. Balbus was too late in any case: Pompeius had sent both consuls and their forces on ahead of him to Dyrrhachium[39] and he followed with the remainder by 4 March, narrowly evading Caesar.[40] Cicero condemned this, as it destroyed the negotiations for peace which he claimed to be mediating.[41]
Very little is known specifically about Marcellus after crossing to Dyrrachium, though he is addressed by the Goddess Discordia in Petronius' Satyricon, urged to hold fast to the decree which commanded Caesar to resign his proconsulship,[42] the senatus consultum of 7 January 49 BC.
Pompeius placed much emphasis on his fleets to prevent Caesar from crossing from Italy. One fleet, that from Rhodes, was jointly commanded by Marcellus in association with Gaius Coponius.[43] Other than this, nothing is known of Marcellus' involvement in the Civil War. The command of the Rhodian fleet at Dyrrachium was later mentioned as being under the command of Quintus Coponius[44] and was wrecked in a storm.[45] It is speculated [46] that Marcellus was a casualty of the war – at least, he was not alive a few years later when Cicero was writing or delivering his Philippics[47] (March 43 BC). Marcellus is not mentioned further.