Gaius Vergilius Balbus

Gaius Vergilius Balbus was a Roman magistrate and promagistrate who was politically active during the closing decades of the Roman Republic, and was a known associate of Marcus Tullius Cicero.

Biography

Part of the gens Vergilia, Gaius Vergilius Balbus was born around the same time as Cicero, by whom he is described as "united by age". Having served as a Praetor in 62 BC, Balbus went on to serve as Propraetor in Sicily from 61-58 BC., and refused to host Cicero during his political exile in 58 BC out of fear of repercussion from Publius Clodius Pulcher. Balbus is then recorded serving as a Legate under Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus in Macedonia in 57 BC, after which he disappears from the historical record.