Marcus Antonius

Also known as: Antonius / Antony · Family: Roman · Role: lieutenant · First appears: The Gallic War, Book VII, 77–82

At Alesia in Book VII of the Gallic War, Marcus Antonius and Caius Trebonius sent reinforcements to the fortifications during the Gauls’ midnight assault. In Book VIII, Caesar left him in charge of his quarters before setting out for the thirteenth legion, later kept him with the eleventh legion in Gaul, and placed four legions in the country of the Belgae under his command and that of other lieutenants. Caius Volusenus Quadratus was appointed commander of the horse under him for the winter. When Commius asked not to appear before a Roman, Antonius accepted his hostages and allowed the request. Before Caesar reached Italy, Antonius was created augur; Caesar also supported his election, and the text describes Antonius as “strongly attached to him.”

In Book I of the Civil War, Antonius and Quintus Cassius interposed as tribunes against the senate’s question, then fled the city and withdrew to Caesar at Ravenna. Caesar sent Antonius with five cohorts from Ariminum to Arretium. In Book III, Antonius’s forces captured one of Scribonius Libo’s galleys at Brundisium, and Antonius was received into Lissus and given assistance before Caesar joined his army the next day. Cneius, Pompey's son later burned thirty merchantmen Antonius had left in Lissus’s port. During the fighting against Pompey, Antonius commanded the ninth legion in a countercharge; shortly after, he arrived with twelve cohorts, checking Pompey’s advance. Caesar later assigned him command of the left wing.