Gaius Aurelius Cotta
Encyclopedia
Gaius Aurelius Cotta was a Roman statesman and orator; not to be confused with Gaius Aurelius L.f. Cotta who was Consul in 252 with Publius Servilius Q.f. Geminus.
He was the uncle to Julius Caesar
through Caesar's mother, Aurelia Cotta
. In 92 BC he defended his uncle Publius Rutilius Rufus
, who had been unjustly accused of extortion in Asia. He was on intimate terms with the tribune Marcus Livius Drusus
, who was murdered in 91 BC, and in the same year was an unsuccessful candidate for the tribunate. Shortly afterwards he was prosecuted under the lex Varia, the law proposed by Quintus Varius Severus
which was directed against all who had in any way supported the Italians against Rome, and, in order to avoid condemnation, went into voluntary exile.
He did not return until 82 BC, during the dictatorship of Lucius Cornelius Sulla
. In 75 he was consul, and excited the hostility of the optimates by carrying a law that abolished the Sullan disqualification of the tribunes from holding higher magistracies; another law de judiciis privatis, of which nothing is known, was abrogated by his brother Lucius Cotta
. Cotta obtained the province of Gaul
, and was granted a triumph
for some victory of which we possess no details; but on the very day before its celebration an old wound broke out, and he was injured suddenly.
According to Cicero
, Publius Sulpicius Rufus
and Cotta were the best speakers of the young men of their time. Physically incapable of rising to passionate heights of oratory, Cotta's successes were chiefly due to his searching investigation of facts; he kept strictly to the essentials of the case and avoided all irrelevant digressions. His style was pure and simple. He is introduced by Cicero as an interlocutor in the De Oratore
and De Natura Deorum
(iii.), as a supporter of the principles of the New Academy. The fragments of Sallust contain the substance of a speech delivered by Cotta in order to calm the popular anger at a deficient corn-supply.
In Cicero's accounts it has been read that Cotta was hit by an artillery ballista as he was strolling through the streets of a Gallic village. Evidence shows a misfire from an artillery examination headed right toward him and the projectile impaled him through the back. To cover up the catastrophe the soldiers who fired the ballista claimed that Gallic Druids committed the crime. But they were convicted and sentenced to death by lamping, an elaborate form of execution which involves the family members of the deceased hurling lamps at the criminals until they die.
He was the uncle to Julius 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....
through Caesar's mother, Aurelia Cotta
Aurelia Cotta
Aurelia Cotta or Aurelia was the mother of Roman dictator Gaius Julius Caesar .-Family:...
. In 92 BC he defended his uncle Publius Rutilius Rufus
Publius Rutilius Rufus
Publius Rutilius Rufus was a Roman statesman, orator and historian of the Rutilius family, as well as great-uncle of Gaius Julius Caesar....
, who had been unjustly accused of extortion in Asia. He was on intimate terms with the tribune Marcus Livius Drusus
Marcus Livius Drusus (tribune)
The younger Marcus Livius Drusus, son of Marcus Livius Drusus, was tribune of the plebeians in 91 BC. In the manner of Gaius Gracchus, he set out with comprehensive plans, but his aim was to strengthen senatorial rule...
, who was murdered in 91 BC, and in the same year was an unsuccessful candidate for the tribunate. Shortly afterwards he was prosecuted under the lex Varia, the law proposed by Quintus Varius Severus
Quintus Varius Severus
Quintus Varius Severus was a politician in the late Roman Republic. He was also called Hybrida because his mother was Spanish...
which was directed against all who had in any way supported the Italians against Rome, and, in order to avoid condemnation, went into voluntary exile.
He did not return until 82 BC, during the dictatorship of Lucius Cornelius Sulla
Lucius Cornelius Sulla
Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix , known commonly as Sulla, was a Roman general and statesman. He had the rare distinction of holding the office of consul twice, as well as that of dictator...
. In 75 he was consul, and excited the hostility of the optimates by carrying a law that abolished the Sullan disqualification of the tribunes from holding higher magistracies; another law de judiciis privatis, of which nothing is known, was abrogated by his brother Lucius Cotta
Lucius Aurelius Cotta
Lucius Aurelius Cotta was a Roman politician from an old noble family who held the offices of praetor , consul and censor . Both his father and grandfather of the same name had been consuls, and his two brothers, Gaius Aurelius Cotta and Marcus Aurelius Cotta, preceded him as consul in 75 and 74...
. Cotta obtained the province of Gaul
Gaul
Gaul was a region of Western Europe during the Iron Age and Roman era, encompassing present day France, Luxembourg and Belgium, most of Switzerland, the western part of Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the left bank of the Rhine. The Gauls were the speakers of...
, and was granted a triumph
Roman triumph
The Roman triumph was a civil ceremony and religious rite of ancient Rome, held to publicly celebrate and sanctify the military achievement of an army commander who had won great military successes, or originally and traditionally, one who had successfully completed a foreign war. In Republican...
for some victory of which we possess no details; but on the very day before its celebration an old wound broke out, and he was injured suddenly.
According to Cicero
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero , was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the equestrian order, and is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.He introduced the Romans to the chief...
, Publius Sulpicius Rufus
Publius Sulpicius Rufus
Publius Sulpicius Rufus was an orator and statesman of the Roman Republic, legate in 89 to Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo in the Social War, and in 88 tribune of the plebs....
and Cotta were the best speakers of the young men of their time. Physically incapable of rising to passionate heights of oratory, Cotta's successes were chiefly due to his searching investigation of facts; he kept strictly to the essentials of the case and avoided all irrelevant digressions. His style was pure and simple. He is introduced by Cicero as an interlocutor in the De Oratore
De Oratore
De Oratore is a dialogue written by Cicero in 55 BCE. It is set in 91 BCE, when Lucius Licinius Crassus dies, just before the social war and the civil war between Marius and Sulla, during which Marcus Antonius Orator, the other great orator of this dialogue, dies...
and De Natura Deorum
De Natura Deorum
De Natura Deorum is a philosophical dialogue by Roman orator Cicero written in 45 BC. It is laid out in three "books", each of which discuss the theology of different Roman and Greek philosophers...
(iii.), as a supporter of the principles of the New Academy. The fragments of Sallust contain the substance of a speech delivered by Cotta in order to calm the popular anger at a deficient corn-supply.
In Cicero's accounts it has been read that Cotta was hit by an artillery ballista as he was strolling through the streets of a Gallic village. Evidence shows a misfire from an artillery examination headed right toward him and the projectile impaled him through the back. To cover up the catastrophe the soldiers who fired the ballista claimed that Gallic Druids committed the crime. But they were convicted and sentenced to death by lamping, an elaborate form of execution which involves the family members of the deceased hurling lamps at the criminals until they die.