Marcus Claudius Marcellus

Marcus Claudius Marcellus (/mɑːrˈsɛləs/; c. 268 – 208 BC), five times elected as consul of the Roman Republic, was an important Roman military leader during the Gallic War of 225 BC and the Second Punic War. Marcellus gained the most prestigious award a Roman general could earn, the spolia opima, for killing the Gallic military leader and king Viridomarus in hand-to-hand combat in 222 BC at the battle of Clastidium. Furthermore, he is noted for having conquered the fortified city of Syracuse in a protracted siege during which Archimedes, the famous inventor, was killed. Marcus Claudius Marcellus died in battle in 208 BC, leaving behind a legacy of military conquests and a reinvigorated Roman legend of the spolia opima.

Little is known of Marcus Claudius Marcellus’ early years since the majority of biographical information pertains to his military expeditions. The fullest account of Marcellus’ life was written by Plutarch, a Greek biographer in the time of the Roman Empire. Plutarch’s biography, the "Life of Marcellus," in Parallel Lives focuses on Marcellus’ military campaigns and political life, and largely skips over his earlier life before 225, although Plutarch supplies some general information about Marcellus’ youth. Marcellus’ exact birth date is unknown, yet scholars are certain he was born prior to 268 BC because he had to be over 42 when elected consul for 222 and he was elected to a fifth (and final) consulship for 208 BC, after he was 60. Marcellus was said by Poseidonius to have been the first in his family to take on the cognomen of Marcellus; yet there are genealogical records of his family line tracing the cognomen all the way back to 331 BC. According to Plutarch, Marcellus was a skilled fighter in his youth and was raised with the purpose of entering military service. Marcellus’ general education may have been lacking. In his youth, Marcellus quickly distinguished himself as an ambitious warrior, known for his skill in hand-to-hand combat. He is noted for having saved the life of his brother, Otacilius, when the two were surrounded by enemy soldiers in Italy.

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