Gaius Valerius Flaccus ( consul ) Gaius Valerius Flaccus ( " fl . " early 1st century BC ) was a consul of the Roman Republic in 93 BC and a provincial governor in the late - 90s and throughout the 80s . He is notable for his balanced stance during the Sullan civil wars , the longevity of his term as governor , and his efforts to extend citizenship to non - Romans . Life and career . Valerius Flaccus was praetor sometime before 95 BC , most probably in 96 . An inscription from Claros indicates that following his praetorship and before 95 he held a promagisterial command in the Roman province of Asia . Both he and his brother Lucius , who was a governor of Asia in the late 90s and again for 85 , are honored as patrons of the city of Colophon in Lydia . The two are the first Roman governors known to be addressed as patrons of a free city , a practice that became common in the 60s BC . Flaccus may have been a candidate for the consulship of 94 , losing to the " novus homo " C . Coelius Caldus , who is said to have run against two highly distinguished " nobiles " and beaten one of them . It was not unusual for a defeated candidate to run again the following year , often with success . The colleague of Flaccus in the consulship of 93 was M . Herennius . Proponent of citizenship . In 96 , while " praetor urbanus " , Valerius Flaccus sponsored legislation to grant citizenship to Calliphana of Velia , a priestess of Ceres . Julius Caesar , in his account of the Gallic Wars , identifies the Helvian Celt Caburus as another recipient of citizenship from Flaccus , during his time as governor of Gallia Transalpina . Caburus followed custom in assuming his patron ' s gentilic name Gaius Valerius . This interest in expanding citizenship may be viewed in the context of the family ' s moderate popularism and their relations with social inferiors ; E . Badian has pointed out that the Valerii Flacci " were given to taking up new men and families : inscriptions ( " Inschr . V . Magn . " 144f . ) reveal a policy of low - class connections . " Spain . Flaccus succeeded Titus Didius as proconsul of Hispania Citerior in 92 , and assumed his post before the conclusion of his consulship in order to deal with an uprising among the Celtiberi . The historian Appian says the revolt was motivated by the exceptional cruelty and treachery of Didius , who had dealt with unrest and crime among the poor by promising them land to live on and then luring them into a trap . When the families had assembled within the enclosure of the Roman " castra " for the required registration , Didius slaughtered them all . While implying that the revolt against Didius was justified , Appian ' s account of the subsequent actions of Flaccus is not overtly critical . In an attempt to restore order , Flaccus engaged in armed conflicts that left 20 , 000 Celtiberi dead . At Belgida , however , the local senate refused to issue an official declaration of war against Rome , or were perhaps still deliberating . The rebels set fire to the structure and burned their own senators alive . The local reaction to the mass murder of their governing class was no doubt mixed . Flaccus appears to have succeeded at halting large - scale violence , perhaps because he capitalized on any outrage or ambivalence within the community at the deaths of their senators and executed those responsible . Flaccus remained in Spain longer than any other Roman governor had up to that time , and he seems to have been in charge of Hispania Ulterior as well as Citerior . His extended command probably resulted from the disruptions of the Social War and its aftermath , and the civil wars of the 80s . After stabilizing the region , Flaccus appears to have governed prudently and with respect to legal authority . Contrebian water rights . Flaccus remained in Spain as governor at least until 87 , as evidenced by the " Tabula Contrebiensis " , a bronze tablet on which is inscribed his " iudicium " pertaining to boundaries and water - rights arbitration . The document is written in Latin based on Roman legal formulae , but the judges are the local senate of Contrebia Balaisca ( near present - day Botorrita ) . Flaccus understood the legal issue as a distinction between " ager publicus " or " ager privatus " , publicly held or private land . He used a legal fiction to show how the principles of the two communities involved in the dispute could be applied mutually , and provided a Roman legal framework within which the Contrebians could cite precedent from Celtiberian law . Gaul . Scholars have been unable to determine the extent to which Flaccus ' s terms as governor in Spain and Gaul were overlapping or sequential , as a continuous line of succession can rarely be traced for any province . A dual governorship of both provinces has been disparaged as " unprecedented , " but no other promagistrate is documented for Spain in this period , and since the senate only began assigning Transalpine Gaul as a regular " provincia " in the mid - 90s , administrative arrangements were still evolving . By 85 , Flaccus is " firmly installed " in Transalpina , though Cicero , as Badian notes , refrains from calling him the lawful governor there . He was acclaimed " imperator " and retained his province until he celebrated a triumph over Celtiberia and Gaul in 81 . The two Gallic provinces were often governed jointly , and no other promagistrate is recorded for Cisalpina , the ethnically Celtic north of Italy , for the period 87 – 82 . It is possible to argue that by the mid - 80s , Flaccus was responsible for both Gallia Transalpina and Cisalpina , as well as Hispania Ulterior and Citerior . The longevity of Flaccus ' s command has been cited as evidence that the prolongment of Julius Caesar ' s term in Gaul in the 50s , and the five - year proconsular commands granted to Pompeius Magnus and Marcus Crassus after their joint consulship in 55 , were less exceptional than has sometimes been thought . The case of Quinctius . In 83 BC , Flaccus was brought into a property dispute between Publius Quinctius and a Naevius . Quinctius had inherited land in Transalpina from his brother , Lucius Quinctius , along with attached debts . Naevius , who had been the brother ' s business partner , tried to foreclose on the property , and ejected Quinctius by force . Flaccus ruled that Naevius had seized the property improperly and ordered restitution . Two years later , the case , still dragging on , helped launch the career of Cicero , who in 81 was a young advocate in his mid - twenties arguing on behalf of Quinctius . Role in civil war . If Flaccus governed both Spains and both Gauls , or any combination of the four provinces , the armed forces at his disposal were unmatched in the western empire . " The loyalty of these armies , " it has been noted , " was crucial to the State . " Until 85 BCE or later , Flaccus either supported or acted in no way contrary to the interests of the Marian and Cinnan faction , which held the consulship from 87 to 82 BC . He appears to have been attempting to preserve legitimate authority while remaining neutral in the factional conflict , though the Valerii Flacci were generally popularist in their politics and had strong ties to Gaius Marius . The death of Flaccus ' s brother , Lucius , marks a turning point . Lucius Valerius Flaccus was the suffect consul who completed Marius ' s term in 86 BC . He was sent as governor to the Roman province of Asia , where he was murdered in 85 by the mutinous Fimbria . Fimbria then took command of the troops assigned to Lucius . The Cinnan government failed to take action against Fimbria , who had been a particularly ferocious supporter of the Marian faction . Lucius ' s son , also named Lucius , fled Asia and sought refuge with his uncle in Massalia ( present - day Marseille ) , then still an independent Greek city - state ; this nephew was the Lucius Valerius Flaccus defended by Cicero in his speech " Pro Flacco " two decades later . No replacement for Flaccus was sent from Rome , but doubts about his allegiance were perhaps raised . Cinna was assassinated in 84 ; Sulla returned to Italy in 83 . The Marian - Cinnan faction , now led by the son of Gaius Marius , set about securing Spain , which Flaccus , given the vastness of his command , could only have been administering through legates such as the disreputable Marcus Fonteius . That the armed forces of Spain might ally with the Sullan forces now in Italy was a dangerous possibility for the besieged government . When the young Marcus Crassus , the future triumvir , had raised Spanish troops for Sulla in 84 , Flaccus did nothing to stop him . Quintus Sertorius , impeccably loyal to the anti - Sullan cause , was sent overland to the Iberian peninsula with a relatively small force in late 83 or early 82 . Flaccus allowed Sertorius to march through Transalpina , and Sertorius likewise took no action against the " imperium " of Flaccus . The Marians may have wished to secure their interests in the west without requiring Flaccus to take sides in a direct confrontation : " The government could ill afford to alienate the man even further when he had shown no actual sign of disaffection . " Sertorius was a logical successor to govern Spain because he had served there earlier , and to relieve Flaccus after such a prolonged term was reasonable rather than provocative . No sources identify Flaccus as a Sullan , but the governor could have signalled his displeasure by withholding tax revenues . Flaccus tilts observably only after Sulla gained control of Cisalpine Gaul . Flaccus ' s cousin , the " princeps senatus " named Lucius Valerius Flaccus ( also the name of his brother ) , may have been an influence in Gaius ' s shift toward Sulla ; he sponsored the " Lex Valeria " , the legislation that made Sulla dictator at the end of 82 or the beginning of 81 . Flaccus had his triumph under the dictatorship , an honor Sulla would hardly have permitted had Flaccus not supported his regime . Coinage . After Sulla emerged victorious , the senate authorized Flaccus to strike coinage to cover expenses for his final months in command . Many examples of this military issue have survived . In 82 , to commemorate his victories , the mint in Massalia issued a denarius depicting a winged bust of Victory and a caduceus on the obverse . The reverse shows a legionary " aquila " flanked by military standards . The one on the left is marked with an H ( for " Hastati " , spearmen ) , the one on the right P ( " Principes " , also a term for spearmen ) . Below is the abbreviation " ex s ( enatus ) c ( onsulto ) " , " by decree of the senate " . On the left appears an abbreviated form of the name " C ( aius ) Val ( erius ) Fla ( ccus ) " , with " imperat ( or ) " on the right . Flaccus ' s coin is modeled after a Sullan type , and the symbolism of coins minted in Spain and Gaul during the period frequently advertised " legitimacy and military success " . The output has been estimated at 540 , 000 denarii . End of life . Flaccus was in his mid - 50s or older when he held his triumph . The date and circumstances of his death are not known ; after closing his career with one of Rome ' s greatest honors , he may have chosen to live quietly and distance himself from factional politics .