Quintus Valerius Orca

Quintus Valerius Orca ("fl." 50s–40s B.C.) was a Roman praetor, a governor of the Roman province of Africa, and a commanding officer under Julius Caesar in the civil war against Pompeius Magnus and the senatorial elite. The main sources for Orca's life are letters written to him by Cicero and passages in Caesar's "Bellum civile".

Life and career

Orca is generally regarded as the son of Quintus Valerius Soranus, [Giovanni Niccolini, "I fasti dei tribuni della plebe" (Milan 1934), pp. 430–431. For the father's political career, scholarly reputation, and controversial death, see article on Quintus Valerius Soranus.] a partisan of Gaius Marius who was executed during the Sullan proscriptions of 82 B.C., allegedly for violating a religious prohibition against revealing the secret name of Rome. [Conrad Cichorius, “Zur Lebensgeschichte des Valerius Soranus,” "Hermes" 41 (1906) 59–68, remains the most thorough treatment of the evidence for Soranus's life and career; English abstract in "American Journal of Philology" 28 (1907) 468.] The family came from the municipality of Sora, near Cicero's native Arpinum. Cicero refers to the Valerii Sorani as his friends and neighbors. [Marcus Tullius Cicero, "Brutus" 169: "vicini et familiares mei"; Edwin S. Ramage, “Cicero on Extra-Roman Speech,” "Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association" 92 (1961), pp. 487–488; Elizabeth Rawson, "Intellectual Life in the Late Roman Republic" (The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1985), p. 34.]

Next to nothing is known of Orca's early career. As praetor in 57 B.C., he actively supported Cicero's return from exile, [Marcus Tullius Cicero, "Post reditum in senatu" 23; Léonie Hayne, "Who Went to Luca?" "Classical Philology" 69 (1974), p. 218.] and in 56, while governor in Africa, he was the recipient of two letters of recommendation from Cicero. [On behalf of Caius Curtius and Publius Cuspius: Cicero, "Epistulae ad familiares" 13.6 (= 57 in the chronological edition of Shackleton Bailey) and 13.6a (= 58 SB); C. Nicolet, "Le cens senatorial sous la Republique et sous Auguste," "Journal of Roman Studies" 66 (1976), p. 27.] Orca and Cicero had close enough relations that they had agreed upon the use of a sign or symbol to mark their correspondence as authentic and trustworthy. [Hannah M. Cotton, "Mirificum genus commendationis": Cicero and the Latin Letter of Recommendation," "American Journal of Philology" 106 (1985), p. 332; John Nicholson, "The Delivery and Confidentiality of Cicero's Letters," "Classical Journal" 90 (1994), pp. 47–48.] Orca then disappears from the historical record for several years. It has been conjectured that he was among those attending the conference held April 17, 56 B.C., in Luca by Julius Caesar, Pompeius Magnus, and Marcus Crassus; in the company of a number of supporters the three worked out the strategic political alliance that led to the extension of Caesar's command in Gaul and the joint election of Pompey and Crassus to their second consulship. [Léonie Hayne, "Who Went to Luca?" "Classical Philology" 69 (1974), p. 220. The dating of Orca's governship in Africa may weigh against his conjectured presence; see T.R.S. Broughton, "The Magistrates of the Roman Republic", vol. 2 (New York 1952), pp. 201 and 212.]

Role in civil war

During the Roman civil wars of the 40s, Valerius Orca resurfaces as one of Caesar's legates. Early in 49 B.C., Orca was sent to occupy Sardinia. Caesar claims that the inhabitants of Caralis (modern Cagliari), the capital, were so roused by word of Orca's approach that on their own initiative ("sua sponte") they threw out the Pompey-allied governor, who fled to Africa. [Julius Caesar, "Bellum civile" 1.30.2–3 and 31.1; "Scholia in Lucani Bellum civile", note to Lucan's "Bellum civile" 3.64, p. 93 in the edition of Hermann Usener (Leipzig: Teubner 1869); T.R.S. Broughton, "The Magistrates of the Roman Republic", vol. 2 (New York 1952), pp. 260 and 270.] The Greek historian Appian implies that part of Sardinia's strategic significance in the conflict was its importance as a center of grain production; [Appian, "Bellum civile" 2.40.] Cassius Dio says little about the occupation of Sardinia by the Caesarians, noting merely that it was uncontested. [Cassius Dio, "Roman History" 41.18.1.]

After Caesar came into the dictatorship, Orca was given a commission to confiscate land in the area around Volaterrae in Etruria, which was to be redistributed to Caesar's veterans as a reward for their service. [Cicero, "Epistulae ad familiares" 13.5 (= 319 Shackleton Bailey); T.R.S. Broughton, "The Magistrates of the Roman Republic", vol. 2 (New York 1952), p. 312.] The history of these land distributions is vexed, and the degree of Orca's success is unclear. In the earlier civil war between Marius and Sulla, Volaterrae had sided with Marius, who supported greater extension of rights to Rome's allies than did the conservative Sulla. The Sullans lay siege to the town in 80 B.C., and as a result of their defeat, the Volaterreans had suffered a reduction of rights and territory. This event had ended the Etruscan era for the city-state, but by 63 B.C. the previously confiscated lands still had not been distributed. Cicero successfully opposed this redistribution, and blocked another in 60. The issue seems to have remained unresolved for another fifteen years, until Caesar's decision to establish a colony there in 45.

Although an inscription provides evidence that Volaterrae had the legal status of "colonia" in the early Principate, there are few archaeological traces to indicate that veterans actually received and inhabited the land. It has been conjectured that the Volaterreans were able to negotiate a less radical reorganization from Orca, perhaps through the network of friendships, family ties and connections [Of the sort expressed by the Latin terms "amici", "hospites", and "clientes".] left from his pro-Marian father and his friend Cicero. [Nicola Terrenato explores the historical situation of Volaterrae in "Tam firmum municipium": The Romanization of Volaterrae and Its Cultural Implications," "Journal of Roman Studies" 88 (1998) 94-114; see pp. 106–107 on Orca's commission.]

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