Sextus Julius Caesar

Who is Sextus Julius Caesar?

Sextus Julius Caesar was the name of several ancient Roman men of the Julii Caesares family. Sextus was one of the three most common praenomina used by the Julii Caesares, the others being Lucius and Gaius, which was the praenomen of the most famous Julius Caesar.

Sextus Julius Caesar was a praetor in Sicily in 208 BC, commanding the legiones Cannenses, the legions formed from the survivors of Cannae. Although command of the Cannenses was usually considered a punishment or disciplinary action, he was sent as an envoy to the consul Titus Quinctius Crispinus when he was wounded.

Sextus Julius Caesar, also known after his adoption in adulthood as Sextus Julius Catulus Caesar, was a military tribune in 181 BC under Lucius Aemilius Paullus in Liguria. In 170–169, he served as a diplomatic legate for restoring the liberty of Abdera, Thrace, and helped lead the search for those who had been unjustly sold into slavery. As curule aedile in 165, he and his colleague Gnaeus Cornelius Dolabella presented games at which Terence's Hecyra was first performed, with a notorious lack of success. He held the praetorship no later than 160, and was elected as consul for 157 BC.