Quintus Marcius Crispus (fl. 1st century BC) was a Roman senator and military officer who served under Julius Caesar during the civil wars of the late Roman Republic.
Biography A member of the Plebeian gens Marcia, Crispus had possibly been elected to the office of Aedile by 58 BC.Broughton III, p. 138 He was then appointed as one of Lucius Calpurnius Piso’s legati, serving in Macedonia from 57 BC to 56/55 BC.Broughton II, p. 295; Ryan, p. 191 Sometime between 54 BC and 47 BC, Crispus was elected to the office of Praetor,Ryan, p. 190 and, although he had no strong political ties to him, by 46 BC, he was serving under Julius Caesar in North Africa as one of Caesar's legates.Broughton III, p. 138; Broughton II, p. 299; Smye, p. 64 During this portion of the campaign, he was given the responsibility of attacking the town of Thabena, which he then garrisoned after taking it.Holmes, T. Rice, The Roman Republic and the Founder of the Empire, Vol. III (1923), p. 527
In 45 BC, Crispus was made Proconsular governor of Bithynia et Pontus. In the following year, he took three legions to Syria, to provide aid to the Caesarean governor Lucius Staius Murcus who was fighting the pro-Pompeian former governor Quintus Caecilius Bassus.Broughton II, p. 329 Together, they cornered Bassus at Apamea, and were acclaimed Imperator by their troops by early 43 BC.Broughton II, p. 330
In 43 BC, Crispus was replaced as governor of Bithynia, and his command over the three legions in Syria was stripped from him by Gaius Cassius Longinus, the new governor of Syria.Syme, p. 171 Following this, he refused to serve under Cassius (unlike Statius Murcus), and temporarily retired from political life.Broughton, p. 347
It has been conjectured that Crispus was the Quintus Marcius who was appointed suffect consul in 36 BC.Broughton III, p. 137-138 If so, he replaced Marcus Cocceius Nerva as consul on 1 July 36 BC.Bodel, John, "Chronology and Succession 1: Fasti Capitolini FR. XXXIID, The Sicilian Fasti, and the Suffect Consuls of 36 BC", Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik, 96 (1993), pp. 259–266
See also List of Roman consuls
References
Sources Broughton, T. Robert S., The Magistrates of the Roman Republic, Vol I (1951) Broughton, T. Robert S., The Magistrates of the Roman Republic, Vol III (1986) Ryan, Francis X., The Aedileship and Praetorship of Q. Marcius Crispus (1997) Syme, Ronald, The Roman Revolution (1939)