Licinius Macer

Who was Licinius Macer?

Gaius Licinius Macer was an official and annalist of ancient Rome.

A member of the ancient plebeian gens Licinia, he was tribune in 73 BC; Sallust mentions him agitating for the people's rights. He became praetor in 68, but in 66 Cicero succeeded in convicting him of bribery and extortion, upon which Macer committed suicide.

Macer also wrote a history of Rome, in 16 books. The work is now lost, but from Livy and Dionysius, who both used it, we know that it began with the founding of the city, and that Pyrrhus appeared in book 2. Livy casts doubt on Macer's reliability, suggesting that he misrepresented events in order to glorify the Licinii, but notes that he quotes original sources, such as the Linen Rolls.

His son Licinius Macer Calvus was a noted poet.