MARCELLUS, M. CLAUDIUS

MARCELLUS, M. CLAUDIUS, one of the most celebrated Roman generals, the principal events of whose life

Marcellus are included between B. C. 222 and 208. His valour and military science made him feared by the enemies of his country, whilst the mildness and gentleness of his deportment won their respect and esteem. Rome was at this period engaged in war with the Cisalpine Gauls, and had appointed Flaminius, the consul, to the command of a large army in the north of Italy. This election was found to be invalid (see C. FLAMINIUS), and Marcellus was raised to the consulship, B. C. 222. He joined the army without delay; and though the Insubres offered terms of accommodation, he prevailed on the people to reject them. He laid siege to Acerræ, now Gerrha, on the banks of the Po; and when the Gauls attempted to make a diversion by attacking Clastidium, Marcellus left his colleague before Acerræ, marched against them, and in the battle which ensued the Gauls were defeated, and their king Viridomarus was slain by the hands of Marcellus himself. This was the third time that a Roman general had presented the spolia opima to Jupiter Feretrius. Marcellus obtained the honours of a triumph, which is said to have been one of the most magnificent ever witnessed in Rome, whether we consider the richness of the spoils that were displayed in it, or the prodigious size of the captive. At the commencement of the second Punic war (B. C. 218), Marcellus was appointed as prætor to the command of the troops in Sicily; but he was recalled after the defeat at Cannæ (2d August B. C. 216), and sent to Apulia to collect the scattered remains of the Roman army. This he effected with much prudence; and the severe check which Hannibal received from him before Nola tended greatly to reanimate the drooping spirits of his countrymen. Hannibal used to say, that he feared Fabius as his schoolmaster, and Marcellus as his enemy. Marcellus was again named consul, B. C. 215; but he immediately abdicated, on account of some flaw in the election, and proceeded to Nola in the capacity of proconsul. The following year he was raised a third time to the consulship (B. C. 214), and proceeded to the command of the war in Sicily. Here he laid siege to Syracuse, thinking that the conquest of this place would immediately be followed by the full possession of the island. Syracuse was defended by the skill of the celebrated Archimedes, and it was not till after a blockade of three years that Marcellus was able to take the city, when Archimedes was killed (B. C. 212), though positive orders had been issued that his life should be spared. Marcellus exerted himself to save the city from the plunder of the soldiers, but failed to preserve it from this calamitous fate. When he returned to Rome, he received the honour of an ovation, or lesser triumph, as the war was still unfinished in Sicily. He brought to Rome many beautiful statues and paintings which had adorned Syracuse, and was the first to teach the Romans to appreciate the exquisite works of Greece, which had hitherto been unknown to them. He was named for the fourth time consul, B. C. 210, and the command of the war in Sicily fell to him by lot; but he exchanged it for Italy with his colleague Lævinus. Marcellus recovered several cities of the Samnites from Hannibal, who carefully shunned any regular battle with his opponent. He was appointed consul the fifth time, B. C. 208, when he fell into an ambush which had been laid for him by Hannibal, and was killed. Thus fell Marcellus, who was called the sword of Rome, whilst Fabius was regarded as its buckler. His life has been written by Plutarch, and many facts respecting him may be gathered from Livy (xxii.-xxvii.).