Gaius Scribonius Curio

Gaius Scribonius Curio was the name of a father and son who lived in the late Roman Republic.

Senior
Caius Scribonius Curio Burbulieus (d. 53 BC) was a Roman statesman and orator. He was nicknamed Burbulieus (after an actor) for the way he moved his body while speaking. Curio was noted as a public orator and for the purity of his Latin language.

Curio was tribune of the plebs in 90 BC. He served later under Lucius Cornelius Sulla in Greece as a legate in Asia during the campaign to restore the abandoned kingdoms of Mithridates. He laid siege to the tyrant Aristion, who had taken position on the Acropolis, during the attack on Athens. Several years later, he was elected consul in 76 BC with Gnaeus Octavius. After his consulship in 76 BC, he went to Macedonia as governor. He successfully fought the Dardani and the Moesians, for which he won a military triumph. He was the first Roman general to penetrate to the Danube.

A friend of Cicero, he supported him during the Catiline Conspiracy. Curio spoke in favor of Publius Clodius Pulcher when he was on trial for violating the rites of Bona Dea. Cicero spoke out against Clodius and Curio, though this did not interfere with their friendship. He became an opponent to Julius Caesar and wrote a political dialogue against him. Curio died in 53 BC.

Junior
Gaius or Quintus Scribonius Curio (d. 49 BC), was the son of Gaius Scribonius Curio. He was a friend to Pompey, Julius Caesar, Mark Antony and Cicero. He was known as a distinguished orator. Curio's character was very conspicuous and profligate. Despite his faults, Cicero assisted him in every way and evidently wrote several letters to him.

Curio built Rome’s first amphitheatre, with seating built on a pivot that could move the entire audience, in his father’s memory and celebrated games there. About 52 BC, he married Fulvia, a granddaughter of Gaius Gracchus. He had a stepdaughter, Clodia Pulchra, but no natural children.

During his term as tribune in 50 BC, he became a supporter of Caesar. In return for his support, Caesar paid off his debt. According to Tacitus, Caesar bribed him for his oratory. Before the Civil War, Curio was one of the last politicians to call on Pompey and Caesar to make peace.

Curio was praetor in 49 BC. While fighting under Caesar, he was sent to Africa to stop King Juba I of Numidia (a supporter of Pompey). Although he won the Battle of Utica (49 BC), he was eventually defeated by Juba, along with aid from Attius Varus, at the Second Battle of the Bagradas River and fought to his death, along with his army, rather than attempting to flee to his camp.