SWORD OF ROME: A Biography of Marcus Claudius Marcellus

2-200290

Discusses the military and political struggles of the period and the role of military successes in the aristocratic culture of the Roman Republic by exploring Marcellus' military exploits. As a young soldier in the First Punic War, he won a reputation for his skill in single combat. In his first consulship, he earned a triumph for defeating a Gallic tribe and also slew the Gallic chieftain Britomartus in single combat. He earned the spolia opima, an honor, according to Roman antiquarians, which had only been earned twice before, once by Romulus himself. He defeated Hannibal in a battle around the central Italian city of Nola, and subsequently led an army to subdue and plunder the powerful city of Syracuse in an epic two-year siege. Yet, despite his undeniable success as a warrior and commander, Marcellus met with considerable political opposition at Rome.