Gaius Aurelius Cotta (Consul 75 BC)
Gaius Aurelius Cotta (* around 124 BC; † 74 or 73 BC) was a Roman politician and speaker from the plebeian family of the Aurelians .
92 BC He defended his uncle Publius Rutilius Rufus , whose sister Rutilia Cotta's mother was and who was now charged with extortion in the province of Asia . He was a close friend of the tribune Marcus Livius Drusus , who lived in 91 BC. Was murdered, and in the same year himself a failed candidate for the tribunate. Shortly afterwards he was persecuted under the lex Varia , which was directed against all who supported the Italian allies in the fight against Rome, and therefore went into exile.
Cotta returned to Rome in 82. Maybe he fought in 80 BC Unsuccessful as a propaetor against Quintus Sertorius . It must be no later than 78 BC. Chr. Praetor have been because he v for the year 75. Was elected consul . He introduced a law according to which tribunes were allowed to hold other offices, which Sulla had forbidden to them , and concluded a treaty with King Hiempsal of Numidia . After his consulate Cotta was 74 BC. BC Proconsul of the province of Gallia Cisalpina . He died at the end of that year or the beginning of the following before he could celebrate a triumph .
Cotta was pontiff from an unspecified time until his death ; his successor in the college was Gaius Iulius Caesar . His brothers Marcus and Lucius Aurelius Cotta also became consuls.
After Cicero , Publius Sulpicius Rufus and Cotta were the best orators among the young men of their time. In Cicero's dialogues De oratore (I 25ff.) And De natura deorum (I 57-124; III 10-93) Cotta appears as a co-speaker, in the latter as a representative of the “new” academy .
literature
- Michèle Ducos: Cotta (C. Aurelius). In: Richard Goulet (ed.): Dictionnaire des philosophes antiques. Volume 2, CNRS Éditions, Paris 1994, ISBN 2-271-05195-9 , p. 480 f.
- Jürgen Malitz : C. Aurelius Cotta cos. 75 and his speech in Sallust's histories. In: Hermes 100, 1972, pp. 359–386 ( online, PDF; 1.2 MB )
- Elimar Klebs : Aurelius 96) . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume II, 2, Stuttgart 1896, Sp. 2482-2484.
Remarks
- ↑ Plutarch , Sertorius 12.3 ; but it could also have been his brother Marcus.
- ↑ Cicero, Brutus 182-183.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Aurelius Cotta, Gaius |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Cotta, Gaius Aurelius |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Roman politician and speaker |
| DATE OF BIRTH | around 124 BC Chr. |
| DATE OF DEATH | 74 BC BC or 73 BC Chr. |