Marcus Valerius Laevinus

Marcus Valerius Laevinus (fl. 3rd century BC) was a Roman magistrate who was active during both the Second Punic War and the First Macedonian War.

A member of the Patrician gens Valeria, Laevinus may have been appointed Curule aedile in 229 BC. In the following year (228 BC), he may have been appointed Praetor in Sardinia. Then in 220 BC, Laevinus may have been elected consul alongside Quintus Mucius Scaevola. It is presumed that both consuls were forced to abdicate at some point early during the year, possibly as a result of internal political pressures; both Laevinus and his colleague were members of the Claudian faction, which was attempting to wrest power from the rival Aemilian–Scipionic faction. The consuls who succeeded Laevinus and his colleague were from this rival faction.

Forced to climb the cursus honorum once again, Laevinus was elected praetor for a second time in 216 BC (this time as Praetor peregrinus), when the crisis precipitated by the invasion of Hannibal saw internal political tensions temporarily put aside. Laevinus was assigned to Lucania and Apulia, and was stationed at Brundisium with two legions recently withdrawn from Sicily to protect the Calabrian coast and prevent Philip V of Macedon from giving aid to Hannibal. The next year, his command extended as propraetor with only one legion but a sizeable fleet, he crossed over to Illyria, recaptured Oricum and relieved Apollonia, which was being besieged by Philip. For the next few years, with his command continually extended by the senate, he kept the Macedonians from interfering in Italy by actively cooperating with Philip’s many enemies in the region. In 211 BC, he negotiated a treaty with the Aetolians (one of Philip's main opponents), though this was not ratified by the senate until 209 BC.

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