Gaius Claudius Marcellus (Maior)

Reading notes

• Ad Atticum 15.3 §1 Marcellus and others are taking themselves off

  A Marcellus (probably C. Claudius Marcellus, consul 50 BC) who, like others of the optimate camp, was now withdrawing from Rome in spring 44 BC; the precise identity is uncertain among the several living Marcelli.

• Ad Atticum 15.12 §2 Marcellus does admirably

  Gaius Claudius Marcellus, consul of 50 BC and husband of Octavian's sister Octavia; Cicero approves of his guiding the young heir, whom Octavian appears to trust. (Identification not fixed by the project roster; bound here to the cos. 50 brother-in-law as the figure best fitting the context.)

• Ad Atticum 16.15 §5 when Marcellus is

  C. Claudius Marcellus (consul 50 BC), Octavian's brother-in-law; Cicero observes that if so prominent a man can stay safely in the country, so can he.

• Ad Familiares 4.4 §3 C. Marcellus had thrown himself at Caesar's feet

  C. Claudius Marcellus, consul of 50 BC and cousin of the exile, dramatically prostrated himself before Caesar in the Senate to plead for the pardon. Falling at a ruler's feet as a suppliant was a striking gesture for a Roman ex-consul, marking how far the Republic had bent toward monarchy.

• Ad Familiares 4.7 §6 Gaius Marcellus, your splendid brother

  C. Claudius Marcellus, consul 50 BC, here called Marcellus's "brother" (frater, in fact his cousin); it was his tearful intercession in the Senate, supported by the whole house, that moved Caesar to pardon the exile in September 46 BC (the occasion of Cicero's speech Pro Marcello).

• Ad Familiares 4.9 §2 when your brother held the consulship from the strength of your authority

  C. Claudius Marcellus, consul 50 BC (Marcellus's cousin, called "brother"), succeeded M. Marcellus in office; Cicero's point is that Caesar ignored even the counsel of these consuls when they were in power, so he is hardly likely to heed defeated men's opinions now.

• Ad Familiares 4.11 §1 When my brother Gaius Marcellus, who loves me most warmly

  C. Claudius Marcellus, consul 50 BC (his cousin, called frater), had pleaded for the recall both by counsel and by his famous tearful supplication of Caesar in the Senate; yet Marcellus says even that did not persuade him until Cicero's letters tipped the balance.

• Ad Familiares 8.9 §2 Marcellus, consul-designate

  C. Claudius Marcellus, elected consul for 50 BC and so 'consul-designate' in late 51; an obstruction by him stalled the debate on the consular provinces.

• Ad Familiares 15.7 §1 you had been made consul

  C. Claudius Marcellus was returned consul-designate for 50 BC at the elections of summer 51 BC (the salutation styles him cos. desig.). Cicero, then proconsul on his way to Cilicia, writes to congratulate him as soon as the news reached him.

• Ad Familiares 15.8 §1 C. Marcello conlegae

  Greeting in the augural register: 'colleague' refers to the augural college, into which Cicero had been co-opted in 53 BC after Crassus's death, and to which the Marcelli of this generation belonged.

• Ad Familiares 15.8 §1 your Marcellus has been made consul

  A familiar third-person address: the addressee himself was returned consul for 50 BC at the elections of summer 51 BC. Cicero, on his way out to Cilicia, sends his congratulations the moment news catches him.

• Ad Familiares 15.11 §1 as consul, you proved the very man in adorning and amplifying my standing

  C. Claudius Marcellus, consul 50 BC, had used his consulship to advance Cicero's interests at Rome while Cicero was away governing Cilicia. Cicero writes from the East to thank him.

• Ad Familiares 15.13 §3 the official dispatches I have sent to you, to your colleague, and to the Senate

  Paullus's consular colleague for 50 BC was C. Claudius Marcellus; commanders reported their victories by official letter (litterae publicae) to both consuls and to the Senate to win recognition.

• For Marcus Marcellus §10 Gaius Marcellus

  Gaius Claudius Marcellus, consul of 50 BC and brother of the pardoned man, who knelt before Caesar to beg the pardon; the whole Senate joined his entreaty.