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Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius

Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius (130 BC-63 BC) was a Roman politician and general who served as Consul of the Roman Republic from 80 BC to 79 BC. He was a leader of the Optimates and was an ally of Sulla, serving under him during Sulla's civil wars and being granted a triumph for his service in the Sertorian War.

Biography[]

Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius was born in the Roman Republic in 130 BC, the son of the future Jugurthine War hero Metellus Numidicus. He accompanied his father during his campaign in Numidia from 109 to 107 BC, and, after his father was banished in 100 BC through the intrigues of Gaius Marius and the Populares, Metellus fought to have his father brought back from exile. In 98 BC, his father was recalled, and he was given the agnomen "Pius" for his fidelity towards his father's political rehabilitation and return to Rome. In 89 BC, he became a legate at the start of the Social War, serving under Pompeius Strabo in the north and fighting against the Marsi. In 88 BC, he was elected Praetor, enrolling Rome's Italian allies as Roman citizens within sixty days. He supported Sulla's seizure of power from Marius, and he was appointed Propraetor in 87 BC and sent to crush the rebellious Samnites. When Marius retook Rome and initiated a series of executions of prominent Sullans, Metellus Pius fled to North Africa, where he raised an army from his private clients in 86 BC. In 84 BC, the Marian-appointed governor Gaius Fabius Hadrianus drove him into Numidia, and he then fled to Mauretania and then to Liguria by 83 BC. He was the first to meet Sulla when his army arrived at the Appian Way from the east that year, and, in 82 BC, Sulla sent Metellus Pius, Pompey, Marcus Licinius Crassus, and Marcus Terentius Varro Lucullus to secure northern Italy. He defeated Gaius Carrinas at Picenum before defeating Gaius Papirius Carbo and Gaius Norbanus at Faventia, pacifying Cisalpine Gaul for Sulla. In 81 BC, Sulla made Metellus Pius his Pontifex Maximus, having become known as one of Sulla's best subordinates, as well as a traditionalist who supported the privileges of the Roman Senate. From 80 to 79 BC, he served as Consul alongside Sulla. Once his term as consul ended, Metellus Pius was sent to Hispania to crush Quintus Sertorius' Marian rebellion in Hispania, arriving in 79 BC and establishing bases at Metellinum (Medellin), Castra Caecilia (Caceres), Viccus Caecilius (Sierra de Gredos), and Caeciliana (Setubal). He was outclassed by the brilliant Sertorius, who outwitted him for years and defeated or fought his armies to a draw in a series of pitched battles. In 74 BC, with the help of Pompey, he finally mounted an effective counteroffensive against the Sertorian rebels. On 30 December 71 BC, after Sertorius' betrayal and murder by Marcus Perperna Vento and Perperna's ensuing capture and execution by Pompey, Metellus Pius and Pompey celebrated a triumph in Rome. Metellus Pius died in 63 BC, the year that Julius Caesar replaced him as Pontifex Maximus.

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