Marc Claudius Marcellus (edil 23 BC)

The father of Mark Claudius was Guy Claudius Marcellus, consul of 50 BC. e. , son of praetor 80 BC e. , who had the same name - Guy Claudius Marcellus and a certain Junia ^[4] . They came from the plebeian branch of Claudius , descending from Mark Claudius Marcellus , the famous consul of the 3rd century BC. e. and the celebrated commander of the Second Punic War .

Marcellus's mother was the sister of Octavian Augustus, Octavia, who married Guy Claudius in 55 BC. e. This marriage was organized by her stepfather, Lucius Marcius Philippe.

In 54 BC e. Julius Caesar wanted to upset this union in order to marry Octavius ​​to Gnei Pompey . However, Pompey rejected this offer, and Guy Marcellus turned to the opposition to Caesar.

Guy Marcellus, a friend of Cicero , was the main opponent of Julius Caesar when he invaded Italy , but did not participate in the war against him and was forgiven by him. In 47 BC e. Guy Marcellus contributed to the reconciliation of Caesar with his cousin and namesake Guy Claudius Marcellus (consul of 49 BC ), who lived in exile. Octavia probably continued to live with her husband until his death. When they got married, she was 15, and at the time of her husband's death in 40 BC. e. - turned 29.

The couple had three children: Claudia Marcellus the Elder , Mark Claudius and Claudia Marcellus the Younger .

In 40 BC. e. Guy Claudius Marcellus died. Octavian married Octavia to Marc Anthony , and her son, who was barely three years old, in 39 BC. e. was engaged to the daughter of Sextus Pompey to strengthen his relationship with the triumvirs ^{[5] [6]} . However, after the resumption of the war, the marriage did not take place.

In 29 BC e. , returning from Egypt , Augustus gave the boys cash in honor of the young Mark Claudius. During the triumph, Marcellus on horseback accompanied the chariot of Augustus ^{[7] [8]} .

In 26 and 25 years BC. e. took part in the Cantabrian war with Augustus as a military tribune . Together with Tiberius, he directed the games and shows arranged by Augustus in connection with the foundation of the colony of Emerita in Spain .

In 25 BC. e. married the only daughter of Augustus - Julia . At the beginning of 24 BC. e. joined the college of pontiffs, received praetor rank and the right to hold a consular post 10 years earlier than the age limit ^{[9] [10] [11] [12]} .

In 23 BC e. he held the position of kurul aedil , at which he organized excellent games, which is why he gained great popularity among the people ^[13] .

In the same year, Augustus fell seriously ill, however, contrary to expectations, he handed over the cases to Agrippa and Pison, and not to Marcellus. This worsened the relationship between Agrippa and Marcellus. But Augustus recovered, but Marcellus fell ill with the same disease, and for him it was fatal. Marcellus was buried in the mausoleum of Augustus. Octavia built a library in his honor, and Augustus built the Marcellus Theater ^{[1] [3] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20]} .

Octavia was never able to recover from the death of her son, and spent the years after his death in mourning. At the end of the 20s of the 1st century BC. e. Virgil mentioned Marcellus in his poem " Aeneid " ^[14] . Eli Donatus describes that Virgil

... read for Augustus three books of his Aeneid (second, fourth and sixth), which was due to his well-known affection for Octavia, which (being present at the recitation) is said to have fainted in a place dedicated to her son, "... You must be Marcellus ”[Aen. 6.884]. Having hardly regained consciousness, she ordered Vergil to give ten thousand sisters to each of the books.

• Drumann W. Geschichte Roms in seinem Übergange von der republikanischen zur monarchischen Verfassung oder Pompeius, Caesar, Cicero und ihre Zeitgenossen. - Hildesheim, 1964.
• Syme, R., The Augustan Aristocracy. - Oxford, 1986.

• Virgil. "Aeneid" (in Russian)
• Marc Claudius Marcellus (edil 23 BC) (Russian) . - biography on the site ancientrome.ru .