page_title: Gaius Calvisius Sabinus (consul 39 BC)
section_title: Praetor and governor
hierarchical_section_title: Gaius Calvisius Sabinus (consul 39 BC) / Civil wars of the 40s / Praetor and governor
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Buste d'une statue appartenant à un groupe représentant Thésée et le Minotaure, érigé sur une fontaine à Athènes près de St Démétrios Katéphoris à Plaka. Il s'agit d'une copie du célèbre groupe statuaire dû à Myron érigé sur l'acropole qui représentait Thésée combattant le minotaure. Musée archéologique national, Athènes, n° 1664a. English: Bust of a statue belonging to a group representing Theseus and the Minotaur, erected on a fountain in Athens near St Demetrios Katéphoris in Plaka. It is a Roman copy of the famous, lost statuary group attibuted to Myron erected on the acropolis that represented Theseus fighting the Minotaur. National Archaeological Museum, Athens, number 1664a. Part of the Theseus statue is also in the museum (number 1664).
context_page_description: Gaius Calvisius Sabinus was a consul of the Roman Republic in 39 BC under the Second Triumvirate. He and his consular colleague Lucius Marcius Censorinus had been the only two senators who tried to defend Julius Caesar when his assassins struck on 15 March 44 BC, and their consulship under the triumvirate is taken as a recognition of their loyalty. An inscription, described by Ronald Syme as "one of the most remarkable inscriptions ever set up in honour of a Roman senator," praises Calvisius for pietas, his sense of duty or devotion. As a military officer, Calvisius is notable for his long service and competence, though he was not without serious defeats.
context_section_description: Calvisius was praetor possibly in 46, but more likely in 44 BC. In 45, he was governor of Africa Vetus, the province formed from Carthaginian territory after the Third Punic War, while C. Sallustius Crispus, the historian usually known as Sallust, became the first governor of Africa Nova, the province created by Caesar from the former kingdom of Numidia. The previous year, the senatorial forces had rallied in Africa after their defeat at Pharsalia, and the Battle of Thapsus meant that the outcome of the war had been determined on African soil. Calvisius had returned to Rome sometime before 15 March 44, when he was present in the senate during Caesar's assassination, but he had left two legates at Utica who may have caused trouble for his successor, Quintus Cornificius.
  On 28 November 44 BC, Marcus Antonius called a meeting of the senate to reallocate several provinces, including Africa Vetus, to be assigned for the following year. Cicero lists Calvisius among the fourteen who received provinces, but despite Antonius's efforts, Cornificius refused to cede Africa Vetus. The reallocation of Antonius was annulled on 20 December.
  In a letter to Cornificius dated March 43 BC, Cicero pejoratively linked Calvisius to T. Statilius Taurus, consul in 37 and 26 BC and governor of Africa in 36, calling them jointly “the Minotaur” in a play on the latter's cognomen. It has been conjectured that Taurus was nominated to serve as a legate under Calvisius in Africa, but the reasons for the characterization of the two as "a dual and fabulous monster" are unclear from the context, other than Cicero's general efforts to undermine Calvisius in favor of his friend Cornificius.
caption: The Minotaur in a 5th-century BC representation
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