View source for Lucius Antonius (brother of Mark Antony)

{{short description|1st-century BC Roman consul}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Lucius Antonius
| image              = Lucius Antonius.jpg
| caption            = Coin from 41 BC
| birth_date         = {{circa|78 BC}}
| birth_place        =
| death_date         =
| death_place        =
| death_cause        =
| other_names        = Pietas
| spouse             =
| partner            =
| children           =
| mother             = [[Julia (mother of Mark Antony)|Julia]]
| father             = [[Marcus Antonius Creticus]]
}}
'''Lucius Antonius''' ({{floruit|{{circa|44}} – 41&nbsp;BC}}) was the younger brother and a supporter of [[Mark Antony]], a [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] politician. He was nicknamed '''Pietas''' as a young man.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://oxfordre.com/classics/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-556|title=Antonius (Pietas), Lucius|first=Ernst|last=Badian|date=December 22, 2015|website=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Classics|doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.556|isbn=9780199381135}}</ref>
==Biography==
===Early life===
Lucius was a son of [[Marcus Antonius Creticus]] and [[Julia (mother of Mark Antony)|Julia]], a third cousin of Julius Caesar. He was also grandson of the rhetorician [[Marcus Antonius Orator]] executed by [[Gaius Marius]]' supporters in 86&nbsp;BC. Together with his older brothers Mark Antony and [[Gaius Antonius]], he spent his early years roaming through Rome in bad company. [[Plutarch]] refers to the untamed life of the youths and their friends, frequenting gambling houses and drinking too much.
===Career===
Lucius was always a strong supporter of Mark Antony. In 44 BC, the year of Antony's consulship and [[Julius Caesar]]'s assassination, Lucius, as [[tribune|tribune of the plebs]], brought forward a law authorizing Caesar to nominate the chief magistrates during his absence from Rome. After the murder of Caesar, he supported his brother Marcus. He proposed an agrarian law in favor of the people and Caesar's veterans and took part in the operations at [[Battle of Mutina|Mutina]] (43 BC).
In 41 BC, he was [[consul]] with [[Publius Servilius Vatia Isauricus (consul 48 BCE)|Publius Servilius Vatia Isauricus]] as his senior partner. In this year, he assisted Mark Antony's wife, [[Fulvia]], who was anxious to recall her husband from [[Cleopatra]]'s court, in the raising of an eight [[Roman legion|legion]] army to [[Fulvia's civil war|fight]] against [[Augustus|Octavian]]'s unpopular policies. Later, observing the bitter feelings that had been evoked by the distribution of land among the veterans of Caesar, Antonius and Fulvia changed their attitude and stood forward as the defenders of those who had suffered from its operation. Antonius marched on Rome, drove out [[Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (triumvir)|Lepidus]], and promised the people that the triumvirate would be abolished. On the approach of Octavian, he retired to [[Perusia]] in Etruria, where he was besieged by three armies, and compelled to surrender in the winter of 41 BC. The city was destroyed but his life was spared, and he was sent by Octavian to Spain as governor. Nothing is known of the circumstances or date of his death. [[Cicero]], in his ''Philippics'', actuated in great measure by personal animosity, gives a highly unfavorable view of his character.
== See also ==
* [[Pietas]]
* [[Perusine War]]
== References ==
{{1911|wstitle=Antonius|volume=2|pages=150–151}}
===Citations===
{{Reflist}}
===Sources===
* Appian, ''Bellum Civile'', v. 14 ff.
* Dio Cassius xlviii. 5–14.
* Suetonius, ''De Vita Caesarum'', II, 14–5.
==External links==
{{commonscatinline}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{succession box|title=[[List of Roman consuls|Consul]] of the [[Roman Republic]]|before=[[Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (triumvir)|Marcus Aemilianus Lepidus]] and [[Lucius Munatius Plancus]]||after=[[Gaius Asinius Pollio (consul 40 BC)|Gaius Asinius Pollio]] and [[Gnaeus Domitius Calvinus]]|years=''with [[Publius Servilius Vatia Isauricus (consul 48 BCE)|Publius Servilius Vatia Isauricus]]''<br/>41 BC}}
{{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Antonius, Lucius}}
[[Category:1st-century BC Roman consuls]]
[[Category:Antonii]]
[[Category:Ancient Roman generals]]
[[Category:Family of Mark Antony]]
[[Category:70s BC births]]
[[Category:Year of birth uncertain]]
[[Category:Year of death unknown]]