Marcus Antonius (orator)
Marcus Antonius (died 87 BC) was a Roman politician of the Antonius family and one of the most distinguished Roman orators of his time. He was also the grandfather of the famous general and triumvir, Mark Antony.
Contents
Career
He started his cursus honorum as quaestor in 113 BC and in 102 BC he was elected praetor with proconsular powers for the province of Cilicia. During his term, Antonius fought the pirates with such success that the Senate voted a naval triumph in his honor. He was then elected consul in 99 BC, together with Aulus Postumius Albinus, and in 97 BC, he was elected censor. He held a command in the Social War in 90 BC. During the civil war between Gaius Marius and Lucius Cornelius Sulla, Antonius supported the latter. This cost him his life; Gaius Marius and Lucius Cornelius Cinna executed him when they obtained possession of Rome in 87 BC.[1]
Throughout his political career, he continued to appear as a mediative defender or an accuser in Roman courts of law. Antonius' modern reputation for eloquence derives from the authority of Cicero, since none of his speeches survive. He is one of the chief speakers in Cicero's De Oratore.[1]
Family
His father was named Gaius Antonius.
Antonius had a daughter, Antonia, and two sons, Marcus Antonius Creticus and Gaius Antonius Hybrida. Marcus Antonius Creticus was the father of the triumvir Mark Antony.
In 100 BC, Marcus Antonius obtained a triumph, because he had fought successfully against the Cilician pirates. Some time later his daughter Antonia was kidnapped by pirates from his villa near Misenum and was only released after the payment of a large ransom.[2]
References
- Attribution
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- Marcus Velleius Paterculus ii. 22
- Appian, Bell. Civ. i. 72
- Dio Cassius xlv. 47
- Plutarch, Marius, 44
- Cicero, Orator, 5, Brutus, 37
- Quintilian, Instit. iii. 1, 19
- O. Enderlein, De M. Antonio oratore (Leipzig, 1882)
External links
- Details of the paternal ancestors of Antonius can be found in the Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, Volume 1, pages 213 and 214.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Consul of the Roman Republic with Aulus Postumius Albinus 99 BC |
Succeeded by Quintus Caecilius Metellus Nepos and Titus Didius |
- Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica with Wikisource reference
- 2nd-century BC births
- 87 BC
- Roman Republican consuls
- Roman Republican praetors
- Roman censors
- Senators of the Roman Republic
- Antonii
- Ancient Roman generals
- 2nd-century BC Romans
- 1st-century BC Romans
- 87 BC deaths
