Gaius Sextius Calvinus was a consul of the Roman Republic in 124 BC. During his consulship, he joined M. Fulvius Flaccus in waging war against the Ligures, Saluvii, and Vocontii in Transalpine Gaul. He continued as proconsul in Gaul for 123–122. He had held office as praetor no later than 127.[1]
Sextius is most noted for giving his name to Aquae Sextiae, "the Baths of Sextius," a site of thermal springs that is in modern-day Aix-en-Provence. There he established a garrison (castellum) below the Saluvian oppidum of Entremont.[2]
Sextius played a significant role in the military operations, concluded by Domitius Ahenobarbus and Fabius Maximus around 120 BC, that led to the annexation of Transalpine Gaul as a Roman province. He and Fulvius Flaccus were able to create a mile-wide line of communication linking the territory of longtime Roman ally Massilia (present-day Marseilles) to Cisalpine Gaul, already under Roman control.[3] He was given a triumph for victories over the three Gallic nations in 122.
- ^ T.R.S. Broughton, The Magistrates of the Roman Republic (American Philological Association, 1951, reprinted 1986), pp. 511, 512 (note 1), 515.
- ^ H.H. Scullard, From the Gracchi to Nero: A History of Rome from 133 B.C. to A.D. 68 (Routledge, 1988, 5th ed.), p. 40 online.
- ^ Andrew Lintott, "The Roman Empire and Its Problems in the Late Second Century," in The Cambridge Ancient History (Cambridge University Press, 1994, 2nd rev. ed.), p. 24 online.