Gaius Sosius

Gaius Sosius ( 39–17 BC) was a Roman general and politician who featured in the wars of the late Republic as a staunch supporter of Mark Antony. Under the latter's patronage he held important state offices and military commands, serving as governor of Syria and leading the expedition to install Herod as king of Judea. Sosius was consul in the year 32 BC, when the Second Triumvirate lapsed and open conflict erupted between the triumvirs Antony and Octavian. Upon taking office, Sosius opposed Octavian in the Senate, for which he was forced to flee Rome. Joining Antony in the eastern Mediterranean, Sosius became one of his lieutenants in the ensuing civil war. He commanded part of the fleet of Antony and Cleopatra at the battle of Actium in 31 BC, following which he was taken captive. Receiving a pardon, he was later rehabilitated and enrolled into a college of priests by the emperor Augustus. Sosius oversaw the rebuilding of the temple of Apollo Sosianus in Rome, which came to be named after him, and appears to have acquired significant wealth. He may have lived late into Augustus's reign. Life Early career Gaius Sosius was likely of Picentine background, and his father, also called Gaius Sosius, was the first recorded Roman senator of the family. He came to prominence during the time of the Second Triumvirate (43–32 BC) in service of the triumvir Mark Antony, of whom he became a devoted supporter. Sosius served as Antony's quaestor (treasurer) sometime between 41 and 39 BC, and in that capacity was stationed at a Roman naval base and mint in Zacynthus, one of the Ionian islands west of the Peloponnese. In 39 BC, the triumvirs designated him to the office of consul for 32 BC. Sosius then accompanied Antony on an administrative tour of the eastern Roman provinces in 38 BC and was appointed by him governor of Syria and Cilicia. In this new capacity, he subdued the intransigent island city of Aradus in northern Phoenicia, and, at Antony's command, installed Rome's ally Herod as king of the Jews by besieging the incumbent Antigonus at Jerusalem.