Everything about Marcus Claudius Marcellus totally explained
» This article is about the Punic War general. For other men with this name, see Marcus Claudius Marcellus (disambiguation).
Marcus Claudius Marcellus (ca.
268 BC-
208 BC) was a Roman general, one of the commanders of the Roman Army during the
Second Punic War and the conqueror of
Syracuse.
In his first
consulship (
222 BC) he was engaged, with
Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Calvus (uncle of
Scipio Africanus) as colleague, in war against the
Insubrian Gauls at the
Battle of Clastidium, and won the
spolia opima, the greatest of all possible honors for a Roman, for the third and last time in Roman history by slaying their chief
Viridomarus in a one-on-one melee (
Polybius ii. 34;
Propertius v. 10, 39).
During the Punic Wars he first served against
Hamilcar in
Sicily. In 216, after the defeat at
Cannae, he took command of the remnant of the army at
Casilinum, and although he was unable to prevent
Capua going over to
Hannibal, he saved
Nola and southern
Campania.
In 214 BC, he was in Sicily as consul at the time of the revolt of Syracuse; he stormed
Leontini and besieged Syracuse, but the skill of
Archimedes repelled his attacks by sea. After a two years' siege he gradually forced his way into the city and took it in the face of strong Punic reinforcements. According to
Plutarch, Marcellus took advantage of a poorly guarded fortification which he'd seen during diplomatic negotiations, and conquered the city. Although (again, in Plutarch's mouth) he wished to spare the lives of the Syracusans, he couldn't prevent the sack of the city by his soldiers; the most famous victim was
Archimedes. Otherwise, Marcellus is said to have spared the lives of the inhabitants, but carried off their art treasures to
Rome, the first instance of a practice afterwards common.
Consul again in 210 BC, he took
Salapia in
Apulia, which had revolted to Hannibal, by help of the Roman party there, and put to death the
Numidian garrison. Proconsul in 209 BC, he attacked Hannibal at
Asculum near
Venusia in the southern region
Basilicata, and after a desperate and inconclusive battle he retired to that town; he was accused of bad generalship, and had to leave the army to defend himself in Rome.
In his last consulship (208 BC), he and his colleague, while reconnoitering near Venusia, were unexpectedly attacked, and Marcellus was killed. His successes have been exaggerated by
Livy, but the name often given to him, the "sword of Rome" was well deserved.
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