Marcus Aemilius Scaurus

Politician

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Who is Marcus Aemilius Scaurus?

Marcus Aemilius Scaurus was a Roman politician of the 1st century BC and son of Marcus Aemilius Scaurus and Caecilia Metella Dalmatica.

Scaurus lost his father when he was very young, but his education was insured by several other family friends. Pompey the Great was briefly married to his sister Aemilia Scaura and, even after her death, Pompey continued to take personal interest in the young man.

During the Third Mithridatic War, Pompey asked for Scaurus by name to become his military tribune, and charged Scaurus, at the time quaestor, with the responsibility for the Judea region, which was involved in a bloody civil war between the brothers Hyrcanus and Aristobulus. Caught in a siege by the Nabatean king Aretas III, Aristobulus asked for Pompey's intervention through Scaurus, and offered an enormous bribe. After Scaurus convinced Aretas to end the siege, Aristobulus accused Scaurus of the extortion of 1000 talents, but Pompey, who trusted his brother-in-law, decided to give Judea to his opponent Hyrcanus.

In 62 BC, when Pompey returned to Rome, Scaurus moved war to Petra, capital of the Nabatean Kingdom, but relieved the siege after receiving a bribe of 300 talents.

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Submitted
on July 23, 2013

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