Gaius Marcius Censorinus was a triumvir monetalis
c. 88 BC. In 87, as a
military tribune or
prefect, he commanded the cavalry that attacked and killed the consul
Gnaeus Octavius, then brought his head to
Cinna; the historian
Appian remarks[1] that this was the first time a consul's head was displayed on the
Rostra, but unfortunately not the last. In 82, near the end of the civil war between
Sulla and the
Marian-Cinnan faction,
Carbo sent Censorinus with eight
legions to the aid of the besieged
Praeneste, but he was ambushed by
Pompeius near
Sena Gallica. After Carbo fled to Africa, Censorinus was among the officers who made a last-ditch effort to break Sulla's line that culminated in defeat at the
Battle of the Colline Gate.[2]
Unless otherwise noted, dates, offices and citations of ancient sources are from
T.R.S. Broughton, The Magistrates of the Roman Republic (American Philological Association, 1951, 1986), vol. 1; vol. 2 (1952); vol. 3 (1986); abbreviated MRR.
^Robin Seager, "Sulla," in The Cambridge Ancient History (Cambridge University Press, 1994), vol. 9, pp. 178
online and 193; Patrick McGushin, Sallust: The Histories (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1992), vol. 1, p. 101
online.
^The praenomen is indicated by the coin, but not the gentilicum, which is given for the Censorinus who was an officer and is considered the same man.
^Claude Eilers, Roman Patrons of Greek Cities (Oxford University Press, 2002), p. 236
online.