Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus (consul 32 BC)

Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus (died 31 BC

31 BC

Year 31 BC was either a common year starting on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday or a leap year starting on Tuesday or Wednesday of the Julian calendar and a common year starting on Tuesday of the Proleptic Julian calendar...

) was a general and politician of ancient Rome

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....

in the 1st century BC.

Life

Ahenobarbus was captured with his father, Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus

Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus (consul 54 BC)

Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, consul 54 BC, was an enemy of Julius Caesar and a strong supporter of the aristocratic party in the late Roman Republic.He is first mentioned in 70 BC by Cicero as a witness against Verres...

, at Corfinium

Corfinium

Corfinium was a city in Ancient Italy, on the eastern side of the Apennines, due east of Rome. It is now near the modern Corfinio, in the province of L'Aquila .-History:...

in 49 BC, and was present at the Battle of Pharsalus

Battle of Pharsalus

The Battle of Pharsalus was a decisive battle of Caesar's Civil War. On 9 August 48 BC at Pharsalus in central Greece, Gaius Julius Caesar and his allies formed up opposite the army of the republic under the command of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus...

in 48 BC, but did not take any further part in the war. He did not however return to Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

until 46 BC, when he was pardoned by 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....

. He probably played no part in Caesar's assassination, although some writers claim that he was one of the conspirators. He followed Brutus

Marcus Junius Brutus

Marcus Junius Brutus , often referred to as Brutus, was a politician of the late Roman Republic. After being adopted by his uncle he used the name Quintus Servilius Caepio Brutus, but eventually returned to using his original name...

into Macedonia

Macedonia (Roman province)

The Roman province of Macedonia was officially established in 146 BC, after the Roman general Quintus Caecilius Metellus defeated Andriscus of Macedon, the last Ancient King of Macedon in 148 BC, and after the four client republics established by Rome in the region were dissolved...

after Caesar's death, and was condemned by the Lex Pedia in 43 BC as one of the murderers.

In 42 BC he commanded a fleet of fifty ships in the Ionian sea

Ionian Sea

The Ionian Sea , is an arm of the Mediterranean Sea, south of the Adriatic Sea. It is bounded by southern Italy including Calabria, Sicily and the Salento peninsula to the west, southern Albania to the north, and a large number of Greek islands, including Corfu, Zante, Kephalonia, Ithaka, and...

, and gained considerable success against the Second Triumvirate

Second Triumvirate

The Second Triumvirate is the name historians give to the official political alliance of Octavius , Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, and Mark Antony, formed on 26 November 43 BC with the enactment of the Lex Titia, the adoption of which marked the end of the Roman Republic...

, completely defeating Gnaeus Domitius Calvinus on the day of the first battle of Philippi

Philippi

Philippi was a city in eastern Macedonia, established by Philip II in 356 BC and abandoned in the 14th century after the Ottoman conquest...

, as the latter attempted to sail out of Brundisium. He was saluted Imperator

Imperator

The Latin word Imperator was originally a title roughly equivalent to commander under the Roman Republic. Later it became a part of the titulature of the Roman Emperors as part of their cognomen. The English word emperor derives from imperator via Old French Empreur...

in consequence, and a record of this victory is preserved in the annexed coin, which represents a trophy placed upon the prow of a vessel. The head on the other side of the coin has a beard, in reference to the reputed origin of the Ahenobarbus

Ahenobarbus

Ahenobarbus was the name of a plebeian family of the Domitia gens in the late Republic and early Principate of ancient Rome. The name means "red-beard" in Latin...

family.

After the battle of Philippi

Battle of Philippi

The Battle of Philippi was the final battle in the Wars of the Second Triumvirate between the forces of Mark Antony and Octavian and the forces of Julius Caesar's assassins Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus in 42 BC, at Philippi in Macedonia...

in 42 BC, Ahenobarbus conducted the war independently of Sextus Pompeius

Sextus Pompeius

Sextus Pompeius Magnus Pius, in English Sextus Pompey , was a Roman general from the late Republic . He was the last focus of opposition to the Second Triumvirate...

, and with a fleet of seventy ships and two legions plundered the coasts of the Ionian sea.

In 40 BC, through the mediation of Gaius Asinius Pollio

Gaius Asinius Pollio (consul 40 BC)

Gaius Asinius Pollio was a Roman soldier, politician, orator, poet, playwright, literary critic and historian, whose lost contemporary history, provided much of the material for the historians Appian and Plutarch...

, Ahenobarbus became reconciled to Mark Antony

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...

, which greatly offended Octavianus. In the peace concluded with Sextus Pompeius

Sextus Pompeius

Sextus Pompeius Magnus Pius, in English Sextus Pompey , was a Roman general from the late Republic . He was the last focus of opposition to the Second Triumvirate...

in 39 BC, Antony provided for the safety of Ahenobarbus, and obtained for him the promise of the consulship

Roman consul

A consul served in the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic.Each year, two consuls were elected together, to serve for a one-year term. Each consul was given veto power over his colleague and the officials would alternate each month...

for 32 BC. Ahenobarbus accompanied Antony on his ill-fated invasion of Parthia

Parthia

Parthia is a region of north-eastern Iran, best known for having been the political and cultural base of the Arsacid dynasty, rulers of the Parthian Empire....

in 36 BC; after one particularly devastating defeat, Antony was too despondent to boost the morale of his troops so he gave that duty to Ahenobarbus. Antony placed him in command of Bithynia

Bithynia

Bithynia was an ancient region, kingdom and Roman province in the northwest of Asia Minor, adjoining the Propontis, the Thracian Bosporus and the Euxine .-Description:...

, which he governed until 35 BC or perhaps after. In 35 BC he supported Gaius Furnius

Gaius Furnius

Gaius Furnius, son of Gaius Furnius, was first consul of the Roman Empire from 17 BCE-16 BCE.He reconciled Augustus to his father who had been up to 31 BCE a staunch adherent of Marcus Antonius. Although there is some suggestion that he is the Furnius put to death by the senate in the reign of...

, governor of Asia against Sextus Pompeius

Sextus Pompeius

Sextus Pompeius Magnus Pius, in English Sextus Pompey , was a Roman general from the late Republic . He was the last focus of opposition to the Second Triumvirate...

.

He became consul, according to agreement, in 32 BC, in which year the open rupture took place between Antony and Augustus

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...

. With Gaius Sosius

Gaius Sosius

Gaius Sosius was a Roman general and politician.Gaius Sosius was elected quaestor in 66 BC and praetor in 49 BC. Upon the start of the civil war, he joined the party of the Senate sometimes called optimates by modern scholars...

, Ahenobarbus fled from Rome to Antony at Ephesus

Ephesus

Ephesus was an ancient Greek city, and later a major Roman city, on the west coast of Asia Minor, near present-day Selçuk, Izmir Province, Turkey. It was one of the twelve cities of the Ionian League during the Classical Greek era...

, where he found Cleopatra

Cleopatra VII of Egypt

Cleopatra VII Philopator was the last pharaoh of Ancient Egypt.She was a member of the Ptolemaic dynasty, a family of Greek origin that ruled Egypt after Alexander the Great's death during the Hellenistic period...

with him, and endeavored, in vain, to obtain her removal from the army. Many of the soldiers, disgusted with the conduct of Antony, offered the command to him; but he preferred to desert the party altogether, and defected to Augustus shortly before the battle of Actium

Battle of Actium

The Battle of Actium was the decisive confrontation of the Final War of the Roman Republic. It was fought between the forces of Octavian and the combined forces of Mark Antony and Cleopatra VII. The battle took place on 2 September 31 BC, on the Ionian Sea near the city of Actium, at the Roman...

in 31 BC. Even though he was suffering from a fever, he took a small boat to Augustus's side. Even though Antony was greatly upset, he still sent him all his gear, his friends and his attendants. He was not, however, present at the battle itself, as he died a few days after joining Augustus. Plutarch

Plutarch

Plutarch then named, on his becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus , c. 46 – 120 AD, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia...

suggests that his death was due to "the shame of his disloyalty and treachery being exposed." Suetonius

Suetonius

Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, commonly known as Suetonius , was a Roman historian belonging to the equestrian order in the early Imperial era....

says that he was the best of his family.

Family

Ahenobarbus's father Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus

Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus (consul 54 BC)

had been Consul in 54 BC. His mother was Porcia Catones

Porcia (sister of Cato the Younger)

Porcia, also known as Porcia Catonis or Porcia the Elder was the daughter of Marcus Porcius Cato Salonianus and Livia Drusa. She was the elder sister of Cato the Younger and the younger half-sister of Servilia Caepionis, the younger Servilia and Quintus Servilius Caepio...

, sister of Cato the Younger

Cato the Younger

Marcus Porcius Cato Uticensis , commonly known as Cato the Younger to distinguish him from his great-grandfather , was a politician and statesman in the late Roman Republic, and a follower of the Stoic philosophy...

and half-sister of the two Servilias; Servilia Caepionis

Servilia Caepionis

Servilia Caepionis was the mistress of Julius Caesar, mother of one of Caesar's assassins, Brutus, mother-in-law of another Caesar assassin, Cassius, and half-sister of Cato the Younger.-Life:...

Major (Caesar

Julius Caesar

's mistress) and Servilia Caepionis Minor

Servilia the younger

Servilia was the younger full sister of Servilia Caepionis and second wife of Lucullus. Lucullus married her on his return from the Third Mithridatic War, after divorcing his first wife Clodia. Servilia bore him a son, but like her sister, she was faithless to her husband. Lucullus, after putting...

(second wife of Lucullus

Lucullus

Lucius Licinius Lucullus , was an optimate politician of the late Roman Republic, closely connected with Sulla Felix...

).

His wife was Aemilia Lepida

Aemilia Lepida

Aemilia Lepida is a Roman woman belonging to the gens Aemilia. All but the first Aemilia Lepida lived in the imperial era. The name was given to daughters of men belonging to the Lepidus branch of the gens Aemilia. The first Aemilia Lepida to be mentioned by Roman historians was the former fiancee...

and their son and only child Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus was married to Antonia Major

Antonia Major

Antonia Major , also known as Antonia the Elder, was a daughter of Mark Antony and Octavia Minor and a relative of the first Roman Emperors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty...

, daughter of Mark Antony

Mark Antony

by Octavia. They became parents to a younger Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus, and grandparents of the Roman Emperor

Roman Emperor

The Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman State during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office although at any given time, a given title was associated with the emperor...

Nero

Nero , was Roman Emperor from 54 to 68, and the last in the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero was adopted by his great-uncle Claudius to become his heir and successor, and succeeded to the throne in 54 following Claudius' death....

Character in Shakespeare

The character of Domitius Enobarbus in the play Antony and Cleopatra

Antony and Cleopatra

Antony and Cleopatra is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607. It was first printed in the First Folio of 1623. The plot is based on Thomas North's translation of Plutarch's Lives and follows the relationship between Cleopatra and Mark Antony...

is loosely based on this man. He is Antony's friend who deserts Antony for Caesar (Act3 scene 13), is stricken with remorse, (Act 4 scene 6), and dies (Act 4 scene 10).

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