Marcus Claudius Marcellus

1. Roman general (d. 208 BC). As consul in 222 BC he campaigned successfully against the Gauls, winning the spolia opima by killing the Gallic chief in single combat. He fought with distinction in the Second Punic War, showing great determination after the disaster at Cannae in 216 BC, and capturing Syracuse in 211 after a long siege. He was killed in an ambush by Carthaginian forces when consul for the fifth time.

2. Son of Gaius Claudius Marcellus and of Octavia, sister of the emperor Augustus. He was born in 42 BC. In 25 BC he was married by Augustus' wish to the latter's daughter Julia, and in 24 Augustus showed his favour towards him as possible heir by accelerating his progress through the magistracies (see CURSUS HONORUM). In 23, as aedile, Marcellus celebrated particularly magnificent games, but died later that year. He was a youth of great promise, and was lamented by Virgil in a famous passage of the Aeneid (6. 861–87), the reading of which was said to have so affected Octavia that she fainted.