Gaius Memmius (Tribune)

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Gaius Memmius (d. December, 100 BC), tribune in 111 BC, attacked the aristocrats on a charge of corrupt relations with Jugurtha. Indeed, Sallust refers to Memmius as 'vir acer et infestus potentiae nobilitatis' (A man fiercely hostile to the power of the nobles), and states that he gave speeches whipping up the plebs, urging them not to accept the behaviour of the nobles. In 100 BC, Memmius was a candidate for the consulship of the following year (99 BC), but was slain in a riot, stirred up by his rival the praetor Gaius Servilius Glaucia in order to ensure that Lucius Appuleius Saturninus would become tribune. Sallust describes him as an orator, but Cicero (De oratore, ii. 59, 70) had a poor opinion of him. A monument is dedicated to him in Ephesus.

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This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.