Guy Memmius (Praetor 58 B.C.)

Much more is known about the life of Guy Memmia than about the life of any of his relatives. The reason for this is not the scale of Guy’s personality and activity, but the fact that his biography turned out to be closely connected with the biographies of a number of prominent Romans of that era ^[1] .

Origin

Gaius Memmii belonged to the plebeian family Memmiev , whose representatives held the kurul positions from the end of the 3rd century BC. e., but never before 34 BC. e. did not reach the consulate ^[2] . In 172 BC e. a certain Guy Memmy received a praeture ^[3] . According to the alleged genealogy compiled by the German anti- historian Friedrich Münzer , praetor 58 BC e. he was the great-great-grandson of this Guy and the grand-nephew of the people's tribune of 111 , the famous enemy of the Senate. His alleged father and grandfather bore the name Lucius . The second of them was a prominent speaker of the times of the Yugurt War ^[4] , the first - a people's tribune in 90 BC. e. ^{[5] The} son of Lucius named this Guy Mark Tullius Cicero in the Brutus treatise ^[6] to distinguish him from his alleged cousin of the same name , who was the son of Guy ^[7] .

Since Guy Memmius did not bear the name of his father, he was, apparently, only the second son. He had an older sister, who became the wife of Guy Scribonius Kourion ; as early as 84 BC e. she gave birth to a son, Kourion Jr. , who was thus born to Guy Memmiah as her own nephew ^[7] .

The Early Years and Early Careers

Based on the requirements of the law of Willius and the date of the praeture, the researchers attribute the birth of Guy Memmy presumably to 98 BC. e. Already in 54 BC. e. he had an adult son; therefore, approximately 72 BC e. date the marriage of Guy to the patrician Cornelia Favst , daughter of Lucius Cornelius Sulla and Cecilia Metella Dalmatica , who was born shortly before 86 years of age ^[7] .

Guy Memmie's career began no later than 66 BC. e., when he became a folk tribune ^[8] . However, there is speculation that he was a quaestor in the army of Lucius Licinius Lucullus during his eastern campaign; F. Münzer sees confirmation of this in Guy's later good knowledge regarding affairs in Asia and in connection with a number of episodes of his biography known to us with Bithynia ^[9] .

Guy, in the words of F. Münzer, was guided only by his own interests in his political activities, ignoring relatives and friends. In particular, during the tribune, Memmius launched an attack against the Lukullov brothers, and even old family ties didn’t interfere with him: Lucius Lucinius Lucullus was the cousin of his wife, who had lost her father early; apparently, it was Lucius who consented to the marriage of Cornelius Favsta ^[7] .

First, Memmius brought Mark Terence Varron Lucullus to court for his activities during the Civil War (“for what he had to do on Sulla’s order, fulfilling the role of a quaestor ” ^[10] ). The accused was acquitted, and then Guy made his brother Lucius his victim. Lucullus had just returned from his eastern campaign , and Memmius tried to set up plebs against him, claiming that Lucullus deliberately prolonged the war, as he made money on it. The purpose of the tribune, acting in the interests of Gnei Pompey the Great ^[7] , was to deprive Lucullus of the right to triumphant entry into the city. Only after the intervention of the most influential aristocrats, who began agitation on the tribes , did Lucius Licinius still receive the consent of the national assembly to triumph ^[11] . Moor Servius Honoratus, in his commentary on the Aeneid , quotes one of Memmius's speeches against Lucullus; from these three short fragments it is clear that Guy was well aware of the political situation in the East ^[12] .

This story was continued in 60 BC. e., when Memmy made the wife of Varron Lucullus, whose name is unknown, his mistress. The deceived husband, learning about this, initiated a divorce. Mark Tullius Cicero commented on these events in one of his letters: “That shepherd from Ida insulted Menelaus alone, and this Paris of ours did not spare Menelaus or Agamemnon ” ^[13] . Some researchers conclude from this that the wife of Lucius Lucullus Servilius the Younger was also a lover of Memmia ^[14] .

The difficult relationship between Guy and the Licinius brothers led to the conflict of Memmia with Mark Porzius Cato , brother-in-law Lucius Lucullus ^[15] . It is with Guy that they identify ^[7] Memmiah, which Plutarch mentions in the biography of Mark Porcia: "... When a certain Memmy in the presence of Cicero dropped the remark that, they say, Cato drunk all night drinking, Cicero interrupted him:" You still say that he will spend days plays dice! ” ^[16] .

Preture and Proprethra

Memmy's nephew Guy Scribonius Kourion belonged to the environment of Publius Claudius , the sworn enemy of Cicero, because of which there was a difficult relationship between the latter and Guy. But at the beginning of 59 BC. e. Kourion assured Cicero that now both he and his uncle are enemies of the triumvirs - Pompey, Mark Licinius Crassus and Guy Julius Caesar , the new patron Clodius ^{[17] [14]} . In this regard, Mark Tullius was “full of hope and even more inspiration” when he learned that Memmius was chosen as one of the praetors for 58 BC. e. In November 59, he wrote to Brother Quintus : “Praetors are very friendly to me and very brave citizens — Domitius , Nigidius , Memmius and Lentulus . Others are also honest, but these are special ” ^[18] .

During the praeture ^[19], Memmius, with the support of one of his colleagues, Lucius Domitius Agenobarba, began a fight against Guy Julius Caesar. He demanded to investigate the activities of this triumvir as consul (in 59 BC). Caesar spent three days on fruitless wrangling, answering Memmy's “ferocious speeches” with the same causticity, and after that he left for Gaul , from where he returned only nine years later ^[20] . By this time ^{[14] there were} statements that Guy Julius allegedly had a homosexual relationship with Tsar Bithynia Nycomed IV in his youth: “Guy Memmy directly reproaches him for being a cupbearer among other favorites at Nicomed’s crowded feast, where there were also some Roman merchant guests, whom he calls by name ” ^[21] .

After the praeture, Guy Memmius ruled the province of Bithynia ^[22]. At that time, young poets Guy Gelvius Zinn and Guy Valery Katull , who hoped that the propretor would help them to get rich in the East, were in his environment ^[9] . Their expectations turned out to be deceived, because of which Catullus attacked Memmius in his poems with abuse: he called him “pig” ^[23] and “disgrace of Romulus and Remus ” ^[24] . According to the poet, the governor did not care about his people at all ^[25] .

During his stay in the province, Memmii won some kind of military victory (probably of very modest significance) and on this basis he was proclaimed emperor ^[9] . This is reported by only one source - a coin minted in 51 BC. e. son of Guy. It depicts kneeling prisoners standing in front of a trophy , and the signature below reads “Guy Memmius, Emperor ” ( C. Memmius imperator ) ^[26] .

Consulate Competition

Upon the return of Memmiah to Rome in 56 BC. e. his main goal was the consulate. There were no consuls among Guy's ancestors, but he could claim this honorable position thanks to his career successes and political ties. According to the law of Willius, he had a theoretical right to run for election already in 56 BC. e., but didn’t do it due to a clear lack of chances to win: two members of the triumvirate, Gnei Pompey the Great and Mark Licinius Crassus, applied for a magistracy. In the election campaign of 55 BC. e. he did not participate either, as the main applicants were Appius Claudius Pulhr (he was supported by the triumvirs) and the old ally Memmius Lucius Domitius Agenobarb. The victory of the latter increased the chances of Memmiah in the 54 year election, and he finally put forward his candidacy ^[27] .

Even in the second half of 55 BC. e., Memmos divorced his wife. Sources say that this was due to adultery by Cornelia Favsta ^[28] , but the divorce could have been politically motivated. In any case, Cornelia already in November of that year married again - to Titus Annius Milon , an ally of Pompey. Memmy, during his election campaign, received the maximum support from Caesar ^{[29] [30]} . Other applicants were patricians Mark Emilius Skavr (Favsta's uterine brother) and Mark Valery Messala Ruf , as well as the plebeian Gnei Domitius Calvin . Skavr had a good chance of winning thanks to his father's popularity in rural tribes , but he was brought to trial on charges of abuse in the province and thus deprived of hope of being elected. Memmius and Calvin, who, according to Cicero, had equal chances ^[31] , united against Messala ^[27] .

During this election campaign, bribery of voters reached an unprecedented scale; as a result, interest on loans grew from one third per month to two thirds. Memmius and Calvin promised to distribute up to 10 million sisters in centuria, which was supposed to vote first ( centuria praerogativa ) ^[32] . With the current consuls, Pulchrome and Agenobarb, they entered into a written agreement according to which they pledged to pay 40 million sisters to each if they could not provide them with the provinces of their choice after their election ^[33] . The bribery case was the subject of many days of discussion in the Senate ^[34] . Memmy, at the request of Pompey, read the treaty in the Senate; it shamed the consuls, but Guy continued his election campaign after that ^[35] .

In the end, all four candidates for the consulate were brought to trial for buying votes; Memmius was accused by Quintus Akucius Rufus . Gaya was supported by his kinsman of the same name , this year's folk stands; in addition, Memmius counted on the support of Caesar, who was supposed to influence the position of Roman citizens in Cisalpian Gaul . But these calculations did not materialize. The consuls were Messala and Calvin. In 52 BC e. Gnei Pompey, who was then the only consul, passed a new law against election irregularities, and based on it again brought Memmy to court. He, being sentenced to exile, in response, accused the father-in-law of Pompey Quintus Cecilius Metellus Scipio of a similar crime, “since Pompey passed a law according to which the one who informs his neighbor is released from punishment. Then Pompey himself dressed in the clothes of the defendants ... Memmius, mourning the state order, dismissed the case ” ^{[36] [37]} .

Recent years

Going into exile, Guy Memmius first settled in Athens , and in June 51 BC. e. left for Mytilene . It is known that he hoped for a speedy return to Rome and that his nephew Kourion made serious efforts to ensure that this return took place. But in January 49 BC. e. civil war broke out, Kourion soon died. It is not known when and what end befell Guy Memmiah: in any case, in 46 BC. e. he was dead ^[38] .

Guy Memmius was one of the prominent speakers of his time. Cicero calls his manner of speech pleasant, but says that “he avoided the labor of not only speaking, but also thinking, and as much as he regretted his zeal, he robbed himself of his abilities” ^[6] .

Memmia was associated with friendly relations with a number of prominent writers: Gaius Helvius Zinn and Catullus accompanied him to Bithynia, Titus Lucretius Car dedicated to him his poem "On the nature of things" ^[39] . He himself was a poet: Ovid calls Memmy the author of erotic verses ^[40] . At the same time, according to Cicero, Guy regarded Latin literature with contempt, recognizing only Greek literature and being a great expert ^on it ^[6] .

Guy Memmius and Favst Cornelius did not keep fidelity to each other. Information has been preserved on adultery on both sides ^[27] . So, Horace mentions a certain Bill, who “according to Favst became Sulla’s son-in-law”, for which he was beaten ^[41] . The son of Gaius and Favsta was Gaius Memmius , who became consul-suffect in 34 BC. e. ^[26]

Sources

1. Appian of Alexandria . Roman history. - M .: Ladomir, 2002 .-- 878 p. - ISBN 5-86218-174-1 .
2. Guy Valery Catullus . Book of poems. - M .: Nauka, 1986 .-- 304 p.
3. Valery Maxim. Memorable deeds and sayings. - SPb. , 1772. - T. 2. - 520 s.
4. Quintus Horace Flaccus . Collected works. - SPb. : Biographical Institute, 1993. - 448 p. - ISBN 5-900118-05-3 .
5. Titus Livy. The history of Rome from the foundation of the city. - M .: Nauka, 1994 .-- T. 3 .-- 768 p. - ISBN 5-02-008995-8 .
6. Titus Lucretius Car . About the nature of things (neopr.) . Date of appeal September 14, 2016.
7. Publius Ovid Nason . Sorrowful elegy // Sorrowful elegy. Letters from Pontus. - M .: Science, 1978. - S. 5-85.
8. Plutarch . Comparative biographies. - M. , 1994. - ISBN 5-02-011570-3 , 5-02-011568-1.
9. Guy Suetonius Tranquill . Life of the Twelve Caesars // Suetonius. The lords of Rome. - M .: Ladomir, 1999 .-- S. 12-281. - ISBN 5-86218-365-5 .
10. Mark Tullius Cicero. Brutus // Three treatises on oratory . - M .: Ladomir, 1994 .-- S. 253-328. - ISBN 5-86218-097-4 .
11. 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.
12. Mark Tullius Cicero. Speech (neopr.) . Date of appeal September 14, 2016.
13. Mark Tullius Cicero. Speech. - M .: Nauka, 1993 .-- ISBN 5-02-011169-4 .

Literature

1. Egorov A. Julius Caesar. Political biography. - SPb. : Nestor-Istoriya, 2014 .-- 548 p. - ISBN 978-5-4469-0389-4 .
2. Broughton R. Magistrates of the Roman Republic. - New York, 1952. - Vol. II. - P. 568.
3. Münzer F. Memmius // Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft . - 1931. - Bd. XV, 1. - S. 602-603.
4. Münzer F. Memmius 8 // Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft . - 1931. - Bd. XV, 1. - S. 609-616.
5. Münzer F. Memmius 10 // Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft . - 1931. - Bd. XV, 1. - S. 618.
6. Münzer F. Memmius 12 // Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft . - 1931. - Bd. XV, 1. - S. 619.
7. Münzer F. Memmius 14 // Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft . - 1931. - Bd. XV, 1. - S. 619-621.