Marcus Claudius Marcellus - Later Life: Second Punic War

Later Life: Second Punic War

Marcus Claudius Marcellus re-emerged onto both the political and military scene during the Second Punic War, in which he took part in important battles. In 216 BC, the third year of the Second Punic War, Marcellus was elected praetor. A praetor served as either an elected magistrate or as the commander of an army, the latter of which duties Marcellus was selected to fulfill in Sicily. Unfortunately, as Marcellus and his men were preparing to ship to Sicily, his army was recalled to Rome owing to the devastating losses at Cannae, considered to be one of the worst disasters in the long history of Rome. By the orders of the Senate, Marcellus was forced to dispatch 1500 of his men to Rome to protect the city after the terrible defeat by Hannibal of Carthage. With his remaining army, along with remnants of the army from Cannae, (who were considered to have been disgraced by the defeat and by surviving it), Marcellus camped near Suessula, a city in the region Campania of Southern Italy. At this point, part of the Carthaginian army began to make a move for the city of Nola. Marcellus repelled the attacks and managed to keep the city from the grasp of Hannibal. Although the battle at Nola was rather unimportant in regards to the Second Punic War as a whole, the victory was “important from its moral effect, as the first check, however slight, that Hannibal had yet received.”

Then, in 215 BC, Marcellus was summoned to Rome by the Dictator M. Junius Pera, who wanted to consult with him about the future conduct of the war. After this meeting Marcellus earned the title of proconsul. In the same year, when the consul L. Postumius Albinus was killed in battle, Marcellus was unanimously chosen by the Roman people to be his successor. Unfortunately, because the other consul was also a plebeian, the senate would not allow Marcellus to hold the position. Apparently, the senate found bad omens in two plebeian consuls. Marcellus therefore returned to his job as proconsul, whereupon, he defended the city of Nola, once again, from the rear guard of Hannibal’s army. The following year, 214 BC, Marcellus was elected consul yet again, his colleague being Fabius Maximus. For a third time, Marcellus defended Nola from Hannibal and even captured the small but significant town of Casilium.