Quintus Caecilius Metellus Numidicus
Quintus Caecilius Metellus Numidicus († around 91 BC) was a Roman politician and general of the late republic.
The son of Lucius Caecilius Metellus Calvus ( consul 142 BC) was born in 109 BC. Elected consul himself. At the same time he was given the command of the Roman troops in the war against Jugurtha , the Numid king. So far, since 111 BC Chr. Ongoing Yugurthin war was not very successful. Metellus reformed his army, occupied Vaga and won on the Muthul . As proconsul he defeated Jugurtha in 108 BC. And conquered Thala . A battle at Zama remained without result. He owed his honorary title Numidicus to these conquests in Numidia . 107 BC His military command was transferred to the legate Gaius Marius , who had been able to acquire this office through intrigues against Metellus. Metellus then broke off his operations and returned to Rome.
Metellus was also faced with the decision to be an Optimat or one of the Populars , in the end he decided in favor of the Optimates and became a resolute opponent of the Populars. One reason was probably that his enemy Gaius Marius was a supporter of the Populares, but he also began to act against his allies Lucius Appuleius Saturninus and Gaius Servilius Glaucia .
In 102 BC He became a censor and tried by virtue of his office to oust Saturninus and Servilius from the Senate , which was unsuccessful. However, he did not give up, and so he began to boycott the Saturninus bills. In the year 100 BC In BC, he refused to approve Saturninus' agricultural laws in the Senate, as they were supposed to benefit the veterans who had fought under Gaius Marius. Gaius Marius received tons of clients in this way , which increased his power considerably. In the same year, Saturninus successfully applied for Metellus to be banished. Numidicus went to Rhodes voluntarily and was then formally banished. 99 BC He was allowed to return, but no longer appeared in public. Cicero valued him as a speaker.
swell
- Plutarch : Marius. In: Plutarch: Great Greeks and Romans (= dtv. 2073). Volume 6. (Translated from the Greek, introduced and explained by Konrat Ziegler ). Deutscher Taschenbuch-Verlag, Munich 1980, ISBN 3-7608-3611-9 ( English translation ).
- Sallust : Bellum Iugurthinum. = The war with Jugurtha. Latin / German. Edited, translated and commented by Josef Lindauer . Artemis and Winkler, Düsseldorf 2003, ISBN 3-7608-1374-7 .
literature
- Karl-Ludwig Elvers : Caecilius [I 30]. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 2, Metzler, Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-476-01472-X , Sp. 890.
- Michèle Duclos: Caeclius Metellus Numidicus (Q.). In: Richard Goulet (ed.): Dictionnaire des philosophes antiques. Volume 2, CNRS Éditions, Paris 1994, ISBN 2-271-05195-9 , pp. 146-147
- Werner Suerbaum : Q. Caecilius Metellus Numidicus. In: Werner Suerbaum (Ed.): The archaic literature. From the beginnings to Sulla's death (= Handbook of the Latin Literature of Antiquity. Volume 1). CH Beck, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-406-48134-5 , p. 514 f.
- Friedrich Münzer : Caecilius 97 . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume III, 1, Stuttgart 1897, Col. 1218-1221.
Remarks
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Caecilius Metellus Numidicus, Quintus |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Numidicus, Quintus Caecilius Metellus; Metellus Numidicus, Quintus Caecilius |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Roman consul 109 BC Chr. |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 2nd century BC Chr. |
| DATE OF DEATH | around 91 BC Chr. |