Marcus Claudius Marcellus (; 270 – 208 BC) was a Roman general and politician in the 3rd century BC who was elected consul of the Roman Republic five times (222, 215, 214, 210, and 208 BC). Marcellus gained the most prestigious award a Roman general could earn, the spolia opima, for killing the Gallic king Viridomarus in single combat in 222 BC at the Battle of Clastidium. Furthermore, he is noted for having conquered the fortified city of Syracuse in a protracted siege during which Archimedes, the famous mathematician, scientist, and inventor, was killed, despite Marcellus ordering the soldiers under his command not to harm him. Marcus Claudius Marcellus died in battle in 208 BC, leaving behind a legacy of military conquests and a reinvigorated Roman legend of the spolia opima.

Early life

Little is known of Marcus Claudius Marcellus' early years, since ancient historians and biographers were more concerned with the military exploits which came at the apex of his career. The fullest extant account is Plutarch's "Life of Marcellus", which focuses on warfare and political attainments and largely skips over events before 225 BC, beyond some general information about Marcellus' youth. Marcellus' exact birth date is unknown, yet scholars are certain he was born prior to 268 BC because he had to be over 42 when elected consul in 222 BC and he was elected to a fifth (and final) consulship for 208 BC, after he was 60. He was said by Poseidonius to have been the first in his family to take on the cognomen of Marcellus, yet there are genealogical records of his family line tracing the cognomen back to 331 BC. According to Plutarch, Marcellus was a skilled fighter in his youth and was raised with the purpose of entering military service. Marcellus invaded Insubrian lands up to the Po River, just as the previous consuls had done. From here, the Gauls sent 10,000 men across the Po and attacked Clastidium, a Roman stronghold, to divert the Roman attacks. This inconsistency indicates that Plutarch's story may have been exaggerated for dramatic effect, causing discrepancies. Furthermore, Plutarch had probably written the account to glorify Marcellus as a hero of Rome, instead of as a record of history. The considerably earlier account of Polybius (Polyb. 2.34) does not at all mention the spolia opima in relation to Marcellus.

Following the death of Viridomarus, the outnumbered Romans broke the siege of Clastidium, won the battle and proceeded to push the Gallic army all the way back to their primary headquarters at Mediolanum. Here, following another defeat, the Gauls surrendered to the Romans. By the orders of the Senate, Marcellus was forced to dispatch 1,500 of his men to Rome to protect the city after the terrible defeat by Hannibal of Carthage. With his remaining army, along with remnants of the army from Cannae (who were considered to have been disgraced by the defeat and by surviving it), Marcellus camped near Suessula, a city in the region of Campania in southern Italy. At this point, part of the Carthaginian army began to make a move for the city of Nola. Marcellus repelled the attacks and managed to keep the city from the grasp of Hannibal. Although the battle at Nola was rather unimportant in regards to the Second Punic War as a whole, the victory was “important from its moral effect, as the first check, however slight, that Hannibal had yet received.”]]

Following his victory at Casilinum, Marcellus was sent to Sicily, upon which Hannibal had set his sights. Upon arrival, Marcellus found the island in disarray. Hieronymus, the new ruler of the Roman-ally Kingdom of Syracuse, had recently come to the throne on his grandfather's death and fallen under the influence of the Carthaginian agents Hippocrates and Epicydes. He then declared war against the Romans after the Carthaginian victory at the Battle of Cannae. However, Hieronymus was soon deposed; the new Syracusan leaders attempted a reconciliation with Rome, but could not quell their suspicions and then aligned themselves with the Carthaginians. In 214 BC, the same year that he was sent to Sicily, Marcellus attacked the city of Leontini, where the two Syracusan rulers were residing. After successfully storming the city, Marcellus had 2,000 Roman deserters (who had been hiding in the city) killed, and moved to lay siege to Syracuse itself. At this point, several cities in the province of Sicily rose in rebellion against Roman rule. The siege lasted for two years, partly because the Roman effort was thwarted by the military machines of the famous inventor Archimedes. Meanwhile, leaving the bulk of the Roman legion in the command of Appius Claudius at Syracuse, Marcellus and a small army roamed Sicily, conquering opponents and taking such rebellious cities as Helorus, Megara, and Herbessus.

After Marcellus returned and continued the siege, the Carthaginians attempted to relieve the city, but were driven back. Overcoming formidable resistance and the ingenious devices of Archimedes, the Romans finally took the city in the summer of 212 BC. Plutarch wrote that Marcellus, when he had previously entered the city for a diplomatic meeting with the Syracusans, had noticed a weak point in its fortifications. He made his attack at this fragile spot, using a night attack by a small group of hand-picked soldiers to storm the walls and open the gates. Plutarch writes that the Romans rampaged through the city, taking much of the plunder and artwork they could find. This has significance because Syracuse was a Greek city filled with Greek culture, art and architecture. Much of this Greek art was taken to Rome, where it was one of the first major impacts of Greek influence on Roman culture.

In 209 BC, Marcellus was named as a proconsul and retained control of his army. During that year, the Roman army under Marcellus faced Hannibal's forces in a series of skirmishes and raids, without being drawn into open battle - Marcellus' particular strategy. Marcellus defended his actions and tactics in front of the senate and he was named a consul for the fifth time for the year 208 BC. After entering his fifth consulship Marcellus re-entered the field and took command of the army at Venusia. While on a reconnaissance mission with his colleagues Titus Quinctius Crispinus and Manius Aulius, and a small band of 220 horsemen, the group was ambushed and nearly completely slaughtered by a much larger Carthaginian force of Numidian horsemen.

References

Bibliography

  • Flower, Harriet I., "The Tradition of the Spolia Opima: M. Claudius Marcellus and Augustus", Classical Antiquity, Apr. 2000: 37.
  • Lendering, Jona. "Marcus Claudius Marcellus", Livius: Articles on Ancient History , 26 Nov. 2008.
  • McCall, Jeremiah (2012).The Sword of Rome: A Biography of Marcus Claudius Marcellus. Pen&Sword 2012.
  • Plutarch's "Life of Marcellus", The Parallel Lives, 30 Apr. 2008, 26 Nov. 2008 (Plutarch's "Life of Marcellus" Mirror at Massachusetts Institute of Technology)