- See Gaius Claudius Marcellus
Gaius Claudius Marcellus was the name of several men in ancient Rome. Two of the most prominent bearers of this name were first cousins and held the consulship in successive years ....
for other men of this name, or Gaius Claudius Marcellus MaiorGaius Claudius Marcellus Maior was a Roman consul in 49 BC.He is frequently confused with his cousin of the same name, Gaius Claudius Marcellus Minor, a consul a year before in 50 BC. Gaius was also the brother of the Marcus Claudius Marcellus, the consul of 51 BC.Little is known of him before his...
for his cousin, consul of 49 BC.
Gaius Claudius Marcellus Minor, (88 BC – May 40 BC) was a member of the distinguished
ClaudiusThe gens Claudia was one of the oldest patrician families in ancient Rome. For several centuries its members were regularly leaders of the city and empire. In the names assigned to periods by historians, the Julio-Claudian dynasty of initial Roman emperors derives in part from the gens Claudia. Any...
family and a direct descendant of the consul
Marcus Claudius MarcellusMarcus Claudius Marcellus , 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...
. His father was also named Marcus, and his mother was named Junia.
Marcellus married in an arranged ceremony
Octavia MinorOctavia Minor , also known as Octavia the Younger or simply Octavia, was the sister of the first Roman Emperor, Augustus , half sister of Octavia Major, and fourth wife of Mark Antony....
, a great-niece of
Julius CaesarGaius Julius Caesar , , was a Roman military and political leader. He played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
and sister of
OctavianGaius Julius Caesar Augustus was the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in AD 14.
[These are the contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian after 45 BC...]
.
- See Gaius Claudius Marcellus
Gaius Claudius Marcellus was the name of several men in ancient Rome. Two of the most prominent bearers of this name were first cousins and held the consulship in successive years ....
for other men of this name, or Gaius Claudius Marcellus MaiorGaius Claudius Marcellus Maior was a Roman consul in 49 BC.He is frequently confused with his cousin of the same name, Gaius Claudius Marcellus Minor, a consul a year before in 50 BC. Gaius was also the brother of the Marcus Claudius Marcellus, the consul of 51 BC.Little is known of him before his...
for his cousin, consul of 49 BC.
Gaius Claudius Marcellus Minor, (88 BC – May 40 BC) was a member of the distinguished
ClaudiusThe gens Claudia was one of the oldest patrician families in ancient Rome. For several centuries its members were regularly leaders of the city and empire. In the names assigned to periods by historians, the Julio-Claudian dynasty of initial Roman emperors derives in part from the gens Claudia. Any...
family and a direct descendant of the consul
Marcus Claudius MarcellusMarcus Claudius Marcellus , 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...
. His father was also named Marcus, and his mother was named Junia.
Marcellus married in an arranged ceremony
Octavia MinorOctavia Minor , also known as Octavia the Younger or simply Octavia, was the sister of the first Roman Emperor, Augustus , half sister of Octavia Major, and fourth wife of Mark Antony....
, a great-niece of
Julius CaesarGaius Julius Caesar , , was a Roman military and political leader. He played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
and sister of
OctavianGaius Julius Caesar Augustus was the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in AD 14.
[These are the contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian after 45 BC...]
. They had three children: two daughters, both named
Claudia MarcellaClaudia Marcella was the name of the two daughters of Octavia Minor, the sister of Emperor Augustus, by her first husband, the consul Gaius Claudius Marcellus Minor. According to Suetonius, they were known as The Marcellae sisters. The sisters were born in Rome. Between 40 BC-36 BC, they lived with...
, and a son,
MarcusMarcus Claudius Marcellus was the eldest son of Octavia Minor, sister of Augustus, and Gaius Claudius Marcellus Minor, a former consul...
,
born in
RomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated municipality , with over 2.7 million residents in , while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat to be 3.46 million. The metropolitan area of Rome is estimated by OECD to have a population of 3.7 million...
.
In 54 BC, Octavia's great-uncle Julius Caesar was said to be anxious for Octavia to divorce Marcellus so that she could marry
PompeyGnaeus Pompeius Magnus, also known as Pompey /'pɑmpi/, Pompey the Great or Pompey the Triumvir , was a military and political leader of the late Roman Republic...
, his rival and son-in-law who had just lost his wife
JuliaJulia Caesaris , 83 or 82 BC-54 BC, was the daughter of Gaius Julius Caesar the dictator, by his first wife, Cornelia Cinna, and his only child in marriage. Julia became the fourth wife of Pompey the Great and was renowned for her beauty and virtue.-Life:Julia was born around 83 BC–82 BC...
(Caesar's daughter, 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
GaulGaul is a historical name used in the context of the Roman Empire in references to the region of Western Europe approximating present day France and Belgium, but also sometimes including the Po Valley, western Switzerland, and the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the west bank of the River...
two years early, without his army, in an attempt to save the
Roman RepublicThe Roman Republic was the phase of the ancient Roman civilization characterized by a republican form of government. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, c...
. 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.
In 47 BC he was able to intercede with Caesar for his cousin and namesake
Gaius Claudius Marcellus MaiorGaius Claudius Marcellus Maior was a Roman consul in 49 BC.He is frequently confused with his cousin of the same name, Gaius Claudius Marcellus Minor, a consul a year before in 50 BC. Gaius was also the brother of the Marcus Claudius Marcellus, the consul of 51 BC.Little is known of him before his...
, also a former consul (49 BC), then living in exile. He died in May 40 BC. Five months later, his widow married
Mark AntonyMarcus Antonius , known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and General. He was an important supporter and the loyal friend of Gaius Julius Caesar as a military commander and administrator, being Caesar's second cousin, once removed, by his mother Julia Antonia...
. He was a friend to Roman senator
CiceroMarcus Tullius Cicero was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. Cicero is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.Cicero is generally perceived to be one of the most versatile minds of ancient Rome...
. The Roman general
Publius Quinctilius VarusPublius Quinctilius Varus was a Roman politician and general under emperor Augustus, mainly remembered for having lost three Roman legions and his own life when attacked by Germanic leader Arminius in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest.-Life:His paternal grandfather was senator Sextus Quinctilius...
and his two sisters were grandchildren from his first marriage.
Roman coinage of Gaius Claudius Marcellus Minor can be seen at
http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/sear5/s0409.html