Gaius Flavius Fimbria | |
|---|---|
| Personal details | |
| Born | 115 or 114 BC |
| Died | 85 BC (aged 29–30) Pergamum, Roman Asia (modern-day Bergama, İzmir, Turkey) |
| Cause of death | suicide |
| Nationality | Roman |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | Roman Republic Marius and Cinna |
| Years of service | 87–85 BC |
| Rank | Probably cavalry prefect and pro-quaestor |
| Commands | Fimbrian legions |
| Battles/wars | Bellum Octavianum First Mithridatic War |
Gaius Flavius Fimbria (c. 115 – 85 BC) was a Roman general. Born to a recently distinguished senatorial family, he became one of the most violent and bloodthirsty partisans of the consul Cornelius Cinna and his ally, Gaius Marius, in the civil war of 87 BC. During the conflict, Fimbria served them as both cavalry commander and negotiator, and took a leading part in the political purges that followed their capture of Rome, putting a number of prominent aristocrats to death.
In 85 BC, during an expedition to Asia Minor, Fimbria took command of the army by instigating a mutiny and murdering his superior. He successfully conducted Rome's ongoing war against the Pontic king Mithridates, recovering much of the province of Asia, ravaging the surroundings and treating the conquered provincials with much savagery. He committed suicide after the troops deserted to a rival Roman general in the vicinity, Sulla. Fimbria's contemporary Cicero remembered him as "the most audacious madman of his times".[1]