Decimus Carfulenus, called Carsuleius by Appian

Appian

Appian of Alexandria was a Roman historian of Greek ethnicity who flourished during the reigns of Trajan, Hadrian, and Antoninus Pius.He was born ca. 95 in Alexandria. He tells us that, after having filled the chief offices in the province of Egypt, he went to Rome ca. 120, where he practised as...

us, was a Roman

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

 statesman from the time of the Civil War

Caesar's civil war

The Great Roman Civil War , also known as Caesar's Civil War, was one of the last politico-military conflicts in the Roman Republic before the establishment of the Roman Empire...

 to the Battle of Mutina

Battle of Mutina

The Battle of Mutina was fought on April 21, 43 BC between the forces of Mark Antony and the forces of Gaius Vibius Pansa Caetronianus and Aulus Hirtius, who were providing aid to Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus.-Prelude:...

, in which he perished.

Biography

Carfulenus served under Caesar

Julius Caesar

Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....

 in the Alexandrine War

Caesar's civil war

The Great Roman Civil War , also known as Caesar's Civil War, was one of the last politico-military conflicts in the Roman Republic before the establishment of the Roman Empire...

, B.C. 47. Hirtius

Aulus Hirtius

Aulus Hirtius was one of the consuls of the Roman Republic and a writer on military subjects.He was known to have been a legate of Julius Caesar's starting around 54 BC and served as an envoy to Pompey in 50. During the Roman Civil Wars he served in Spain, he might have been a tribune in 48, and...

 describes him as a man of great military skill.

At the time of Caesar's murder in 44 B.C., Carfulenus was tribune of the plebs

Tribune

Tribune was a title shared by elected officials in the Roman Republic. Tribunes had the power to convene the Plebeian Council and to act as its president, which also gave them the right to propose legislation before it. They were sacrosanct, in the sense that any assault on their person was...

. He was a supporter of the aristocratic party, and an opponent of Marcus Antonius

Mark Antony

Marcus Antonius , known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and general. As a military commander and administrator, he was an important supporter and loyal friend of his mother's cousin Julius Caesar...

, the general of Caesar. When Antonius summoned the senate

Roman Senate

The Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic, however, it was not an elected body, but one whose members were appointed by the consuls, and later by the censors. After a magistrate served his term in office, it usually was followed with automatic...

 to the Capitol

Capitoline Hill

The Capitoline Hill , between the Forum and the Campus Martius, is one of the seven hills of Rome. It was the citadel of the earliest Romans. By the 16th century, Capitolinus had become Capitolino in Italian, with the alternative Campidoglio stemming from Capitolium. The English word capitol...

 on November 28, in order to have Caesar's nephew, Octavianus

Augustus

Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...

, declared an enemy of the state, Carfulenus and his colleagues, Tiberius Canutius

Tiberius Canutius

Tiberius Canutius or Cannutius was tribune of the plebs in 44 BC, the year of Caesar's assassination. As a supporter of the senatorial party, he opposed the triumvirs, resorting to military force during the Perusine War...

 and Lucius Cassius Longinus

Lucius Cassius Longinus

Lucius Cassius Longinus was the name of several ancient Romans of the gens Cassia.*Lucius Cassius Longinus Ravilla was a consul of the Roman Republic in 127 BC.* Lucius Cassius Longinus was consul in 107 BC....

, were excluded from the Capitol, so that they could not interpose their veto against the senate's decree.

In the following year, Carfulenus took an active part in the war against Antonius. He fell in the Battle of Mutina, in which Antonius was defeated.