Gaius Valerius Flaccus (consul) - Role in Civil War

Role in Civil War

If Flaccus governed both Spains and both Gauls, or any combination of the four provinces, the armed forces at his disposal were unmatched in the western empire. "The loyalty of these armies," it has been noted, "was crucial to the State." Until 85 BCE or later, Flaccus either supported or acted in no way contrary to the interests of the Marian and Cinnan faction, which held the consulship from 87 to 82 BC. He appears to have been attempting to preserve legitimate authority while remaining neutral in the factional conflict, though the Valerii Flacci were generally popularist in their politics and had strong ties to Gaius Marius.

The death of Flaccus's brother, Lucius, marks a turning point. Lucius Flaccus was the suffect consul who completed Marius's term in 86 BC. He was sent as governor to the Roman province of Asia, where he was murdered in 85 by the mutinous Fimbria. Fimbria then took command of the troops assigned to Lucius. The Cinnan government failed to take action against Fimbria, who had been a particularly ferocious supporter of the Marian faction. Lucius's son, also named Lucius, fled Asia and sought refuge with his uncle in Massalia (present-day Marseille), then still an independent Greek city-state; this nephew was the Lucius Valerius Flaccus defended by Cicero in his speech Pro Flacco two decades later.

No replacement for Flaccus was sent from Rome, but doubts about his allegiance were perhaps raised. Cinna was assassinated in 84; Sulla returned to Italy in 83. The Marian-Cinnan faction, now led by the son of Gaius Marius, set about securing Spain, which Flaccus, given the vastness of his command, could only have been administering through legates such as the disreputable Marcus Fonteius. That the armed forces of Spain might ally with the Sullan forces now in Italy was a dangerous possibility for the besieged government. When the young Marcus Crassus, the future triumvir, had raised Spanish troops for Sulla in 84, Flaccus did nothing to stop him. Quintus Sertorius, impeccably loyal to the anti-Sullan cause, was sent overland to the Iberian peninsula with a relatively small force in late 83 or early 82. Flaccus allowed Sertorius to march through Transalpina, and Sertorius likewise took no action against the imperium of Flaccus. The Marians may have wished to secure their interests in the west without requiring Flaccus to take sides in a direct confrontation: "The government could ill afford to alienate the man even further when he had shown no actual sign of disaffection." Sertorius was a logical successor to govern Spain because he had served there earlier, and to relieve Flaccus after such a prolonged term was reasonable rather than provocative.

No sources identify Flaccus as a Sullan, but the governor could have signalled his displeasure by withholding tax revenues. Flaccus tilts observably only after Sulla gained control of Cisalpine Gaul. Flaccus's cousin, the princeps senatus named Lucius Valerius Flaccus (also the name of his brother), may have been an influence in Gaius's shift toward Sulla; he sponsored the Lex Valeria, the legislation that made Sulla dictator at the end of 82 or the beginning of 81. Flaccus had his triumph under the dictatorship, an honor Sulla would hardly have permitted had Flaccus not supported his regime.