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Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus (consul 32 BC)


Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus (died 31 BC) was a general and politician of ancient Rome in the 1st century BC.

Ahenobarbus was captured with his father, Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, at Corfinium in 49 BC, and was present at the Battle of Pharsalus in 48 BC, but did not take any further part in the war. He did not however return to Italy until 46 BC, when he was pardoned by Julius Caesar. He probably played no part in Caesar's assassination, although some writers claim that he was one of the conspirators. He followed Brutus into Macedonia after Caesar's death, and was condemned by the Lex Pedia in 43 BC as one of the murderers.

In 42 BC he commanded a fleet of fifty ships in the Ionian sea, and gained considerable success against the Second Triumvirate, completely defeating Gnaeus Domitius Calvinus on the day of the first battle of Philippi, as the latter attempted to sail out of Brundisium. He was saluted Imperator in consequence, and a record of this victory is preserved in the annexed coin, which represents a trophy placed upon the prow of a vessel. The head on the other side of the coin has a beard, in reference to the reputed origin of the Ahenobarbus family.

After the Battle of Philippi in 42 BC, Ahenobarbus conducted the war independently of Sextus Pompey, and with a fleet of seventy ships and two legions plundered the coasts of the Ionian sea.

In 40 BC, through the mediation of Gaius Asinius Pollio, Ahenobarbus became reconciled to Mark Antony, which greatly offended Octavianus. In the peace concluded with Sextus Pompeius in 39 BC, Antony provided for the safety of Ahenobarbus, and obtained for him the promise of the consulship for 32 BC. Ahenobarbus accompanied Antony on his ill-fated invasion of Parthia in 36 BC; after one particularly devastating defeat, Antony was too despondent to boost the morale of his troops so he gave that duty to Ahenobarbus. Antony placed him in command of Bithynia, which he governed until 35 BC or perhaps after. In 35 BC he supported Gaius Furnius, governor of Asia against Sextus Pompeius.


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