Marcus Claudius Marcellus

Who is Marcus Claudius Marcellus?

Marcus Claudius Marcellus was a consul and a censor in of the Roman Republic. He was the son of the famous general Marcus Claudius Marcellus, and possibly father of the three-time consul Marcus Claudius Marcellus.

Marcellus first appears in Livy's history when his father, then curule aedile, brought an action before the senate against his colleague Scantinius Capitolinus who had made improper advances to the young and beautiful boy. The younger Marcellus, despite his evident embarrassment, convinced the senate of the man's guilt and his father was recompensed with some articles of silver which he dedicated to a temple. Marcellus would have been at least seven, and probably over 13 at the time of the incident. The relation of this case to the Lex Scantinia is vexed, since a Roman law was named after its proposer, and never a defendant.

Like his coevals, Marcellus fought in the Second Punic War, probably accompanying his father on various military campaigns, including the famous campaign against Syracuse. He was military tribune under his father, when the two consuls were ambushed in 208 BC resulting in his father's death and the other consul's severe injury.