The Caecilii Metelli were one of the most important and wealthiest families in the RomanRepublic. They were nobles, although of plebeian, not of patrician stock. The Caecilii Metelli remained a political power within the state from 3rd century BC to the end of the Republic, holding every office in the cursus honorum as well as several important military commands.
Important members of the Caecilius Metellus clan include:
Quintus Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus - eldest son of Quintus Caecilius Metellus, consul in 206 BC. He was a brilliant general who fought in the Fourth Macedonic War, securing, in 146 BC the annexation of Macedonia as a Roman province, hence the agnomen Macedonicus. He was elected consul in 143 BC and censor in 131 BC. During his censorship, Macedonicus legislated to make marriage compulsory for Romans, a law that was never put into practice. He died in 115 BC
Quintus Caecilius Metellus Nepos - son of Balearicus, he was elected consul in 98 BC. One of the few known aspects of his life are the circumstances that surrounded his marriage to Licinia Crassa, the mother of his sons. Licinia was already married to another man, Quintus Mucius Scaevola, when they started an affair. Being discovered, Licinia was outcast and branded as an adulteress but Metellus Nepos, rather than lose her, divorced his wife and married her less than a week after. This was such a scandalous procedure that the wedding deserved several references in the ancient sources.
Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius - only son of Metellus Numidicus, started his military career as a legate to Lucius Cornelius Sulla in the Social War. After the outlawing of Sulla, he remained faithful to him and fled to Africa. In 83 BC he returned to Sulla and helped him win the civil war that eventually made Sulla dictator. To reward him for his services, Sulla nominated him Pontifex Maximus. He was elected consul 80 BC and afterwards, sent as a proconsul to the Hispania provinces. For the next eight years, he remained in Iberia fighting against the rebellious Quintus Sertorius, the last five with the help of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus. He eventually returned to Rome, where he celebrated a Triumph for his victories in Hispania. He died around 63 BC. For his campaign against Sertorius, Metellus Pius earned the respect of Roman military historians, particularly Frontinus who often refers his deeds on the book Stratagemata.
Women of the Caecilii Metelli family were always named Caecilia Metella, according to the Roman naming convention. To distinguish them, the Caecilias often carried their father's cognomen, declined in a female form. Famous Caecilias include:
