Family
The Caecilii Metelli were extremely prominent, conservative members of the Roman nobility in the Republican period, though they were members of the plebeian gens Caecilia. Their greatest influence was from the second century BC onwards. The name Metellus possibly means 'mercenary'. A saying attributed to Naevius stated that "it is fated for the Metelli to become consuls at Rome," and it seems to be true: Creticus' brother, father, grandfather, three uncles, great grandfather, and great great grandfather were all consuls.
Quintus Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus was Creticus' grandfather. He was praetor in 148 BC, and he received the command in Macedonia. There he defeated Andriscus, a pretender to the throne, for which he received a triumph and the cognomen 'Macedonicus'. He was censor in 131 BC, and consul in 143 BC. Macedonicus, as a conservative aristocrat, opposed Tiberius Gracchus and Gaius Gracchus. Each of his four sons became consul.
Creticus' father was Gaius Caecilius Metellus Caprarius, the youngest son of Macedonicus. In 133 BC he served under Scipio Aemilianus in Numantia. Caprarius was praetor in 117 BC, consul in 113 BC, and fought as proconsul in Thrace in 112 BC. He triumphed for his victory in Thrace in 111 BC. He was censor in 102 BC.
Creticus had two brothers. One was Lucius Caecilius Metellus. He was praetor in 71 BC and governor of Sicily in 70 BC. He died in office as consul in 68 BC. The other was Marcus Caecilius Metellus, praetor and president of the extortion court in 69 BC.
Creticus' sister, Caecilia Metella, was the wife of Gaius Verres, who was governor of Sicily from 73-71 BC.
Creticus' daughter was also named Caecilia Metella. She married Marcus Licinius Crassus, son of the famous Marcus Licinius Crassus. Caecilia Metella's tomb still survives on the Via Appia.
Read more about this topic: Quintus Caecilius Metellus Creticus
Famous quotes containing the word family:
“The touchstone for family life is still the legendary “and so they were married and lived happily ever after.” It is no wonder that any family falls short of this ideal.”
—Salvador Minuchin (20th century)
“Being in a family is like being in a play. Each birth order position is like a different part in a play, with distinct and separate characteristics for each part. Therefore, if one sibling has already filled a part, such as the good child, other siblings may feel they have to find other parts to play, such as rebellious child, academic child, athletic child, social child, and so on.”
—Jane Nelson (20th century)
“The family environment in which your children are growing up is different from that in which you grew up. The decisions our parents made and the strategies they used were developed in a different context from what we face today, even if the “content” of the problem is the same. It is a mistake to think that our own experience as children and adolescents will give us all we need to help our children. The rules of the game have changed.”
—Lawrence Kutner (20th century)