Marcus Aurelius Cotta

Marcus Aurelius belonged to the influential plebeian family Aurelius , whose representative first reached the consulate in 252 BC. e. According to the Capitol fasts , Mark's father had the same reputation ^[1] ; nothing more is known about Mark Sr. E. Badian suggested that this noble could be the youngest son of Lucius Aurelius Cotta , consul 144 BC. e., but immediately specified that "we cannot determine the exact position of the father on the family tree" ^[2] .

The mother of Marcus Aurelius was the sister of Publius Rutilius Rufus ^{[3] [4]} , consul 105 BC. e., " new man ", close to the powerful Metell family. Mark had two brothers - Guy , Consul 75 BC. e., and Lucius , consul 65 BC e. ^[5] There is a hypothesis that his sister was Aurelius , the mother of Guy Julius Caesar ^[6] , but the origin of this matron is in any case unknown, with the exception of the very fact of some relationship with the Cotta brothers ^[7] .

Perhaps Marcus Aurelius first appears in the sources in connection with the events of 80 BC. e. Plutarch mentions a certain Cotta , who then had the authority of prophetor in Spain and was defeated in the naval battle at Melaria by the Marian Quintus Sertorius , who crossed to the Iberian Peninsula from Mauritania ^[8] . It could be Marcus Aurelius or his brother Guy ^{[9] [10]} . In any case, Marcus Aurelius was to hold the position of praetor no later than 77 BC. e.: this follows from the date of his consul and the requirements of the Cornelius law , which established the minimum intervals between the magistracy ^[11] .

In 74 BC e. Cotta became consul together with Lucius Licinius Lucullus ^[12] . At the beginning of his consular year, the Senate received a letter from Gnei Pompey the Great , who was at war at this time with Sertorius in Spain. In this letter, Pompey demanded money, threatening that if he received nothing, he would lead the army to Italy. Cotta and Lucullus tried to provide him with everything necessary, because they were afraid that, having appeared in Rome, Pompey would take command in the Third Mithridates War , which began at that time ^[13] .

Both consuls went to fight with Pontus . Lucullus received command on land, and Marcus Aurelius “after long and urgent requests in the Senate” led the fleet, with which he was supposed to protect the coast of Bithynia from the enemy ^[14] . He arrived at the theater of operations before his colleague and attacked the enemy near the city of Chalkedon , hoping to gain all the glory. But the Romans suffered a complete defeat , losing about 70 ships and four thousand foot soldiers; after that, Cotta was besieged in Chalkedon. According to Plutarch, the soldiers of Lucullus, "who were annoyed that Kotta with his recklessness not only brought evil doom to himself and his predecessors, but also became an obstacle for them," called on their commander to abandon the besieged to their fate and go deep into the Pontic kingdom, but he didn’t listened and moved to the aid of a colleague ^[15] . As a result, Mithridates had to retreat from Chalkedon ^[16] .

The following year, Marcus Aurelius remained in Bithynia with the powers of a proconsul. ^[17] Together with the legate of Lucullus Vokony, he besieged Nicomedia , where Mithridates was located. But he did not manage to make amends for the shame of the Chalkedon defeat: the siege was sluggish, the tsar was able to leave the city, and on the way to Pontus introduced a garrison to Heracles of Pontus . After this, Lucullus moved deep into Asia Minor, and Cotta besieged Heracles. The first assault ended in failure, and the Romans switched to the tactics of starvation ^[18] . True, a complete blockade of the city from the sea was established only in 71 BC. e., when the squadron under the command of Guy Valery Triarius joined Kotta. By the spring of 70, the position of Heraclea became hopeless, and then her defenders opened the gates to the people of Triaria. The warriors of Cotta, having learned that the looting of the city had already begun, were ready to attack the warriors of the Triaria, who became their competitors; the two warlords had great difficulty in preventing the internecine battle. Marcus Aurelius ordered the Triaria to pursue the part of the Heracleian garrison that had left the city on the eve of its fall, and he completely plundered and burnt Heracles ^{[19] [16]} .

Having gained this victory, Cotta sent his troops to Lucullus, and himself went by sea to Rome. Most of the prey he had captured died during the storm; Nevertheless, it is known that Marcus Aurelius was very enriched in Bithynia. He dismissed his quaestor Publius Oppius for bribery ^[20] , but in Rome he was brought to trial by Guy Papyrius Carbon on charges of misappropriation of prey. In 67 BC e. Kotte was convicted; as a result, Marcus Aurelius lost his seat in the Senate ^[21] .

Marcus Aurelius had a son who, in order to avenge his father, brought Carbon to court and obtained a guilty verdict ^[22] .

Sources

1. Valery Maxim . Memorable deeds and sayings. - SPb. : Publishing house of St. Petersburg State University, 2007. - ISBN 978-5-288-04267-6 .
2. Capitoline fasts (neopr.) . Site "History of Ancient Rome". Date of treatment July 21, 2017.
3. Dion Cassius . Roman history (neopr.) . Date of treatment July 23, 2017.
4. Plutarch . Comparative biographies. - M. , 1994. - ISBN 5-02-011570-3 , 5-02-011568-1.
5. Mark Tullius Cicero . About the speaker // Three treatises on oratory. - M .: Ladomir, 1994. - S. 75-252. - ISBN 5-86218-097-4 .
6. Mark Tullius Cicero. Letters from Mark Tullius Cicero to Attica, relatives, brother Quintus, M. Brutus. - SPb. : Nauka, 2010 .-- V. 3 .-- 832 p. - ISBN 978-5-02-025247-9 , 978-5-02-025244-8.

Literature

1. Bedian E. Tsepion and Norban (notes on the decade of 100-90 BC) // Studia Historica. - 2010. - No. X. - S. 162-207 .
2. Zarschikov A. Caesar's family ties and his early political career // New Century: through the eyes of the young. - 2003. - Issue. 1 . - S. 5-12 .
3. Molev E. Pontus Lord. - Nizhny Novgorod: Publishing House of UNN, 1995. - 144 p. - ISBN 5-288-03867-8 .
4. Broughton R. Magistrates of the Roman Republic. - New York, 1952. - Vol. II. - P. 558.
5. Clebs E. Aurelia // Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft . - 1896. - Bd. II, 2. - Kol. 2543.
6. Clebs E. Aurelius 107 // Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft . - 1896. - Bd. II, 2. - Kol. 2487-2489.
7. Keaveney A. Who were the Sullani? // Klio. - 1984 .-- T. 66 . - S. 114-150 .

• Marcus Aurelius Cotta - in Smith 's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.