Gaius Sosius

Gaius Sosius, was a Roman general and politician.

Gaius Sosius was elected quaestor in 66 BC and praetor in 49 BC. Upon the start of the civil war he joined the optimates. Upon the flight of Pompey to Greece, Sosius returned to Rome and submitted to Julius Caesar

After the assassination of Caesar, Sosius joined the party of Mark Antony, by whom in 38 BC he was appointed governor of Syria and Cilicia in the place of Publius Ventidius. As governor, Sosius was commanded by Antony to support Herod against Antigonus the Hasmonean, when the latter was in possession of Jerusalem. In 37 BC he advanced against Jerusalem and after he became master of the city, Sosius placed Herod upon the throne.

In return for this ser­vices, he was awarded a triumph in 34 BC, and he became consul along with Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus as his colleague in 32 BC. When civil war broke out between Anthony and Octavian, Sosius espoused the cause of Anthony and violently attacked Octavian in the senate, for which he was forced to flee to the east. In 31 BC, Sosius commanded a squadron in Mark Anthony's fleet with which he managed to defeat the squadron of Lucius Arruntius and put it to flight, but when the latter was reinforced by Marcus Agrippa, Sosius's ally Tarcondimotus - the king of Cilicia - was killed and Sosius himself was forced to flee. In the battle of Actium, Sosius commanded the left wing of the fleet. After the battle, from which he managed to escape, his hiding place was detected and Sosius was captured and brought before Octavian but at the intercession of Lucius Arruntius Octavian pardoned him. He returned to Rome and completed his building project on the temple of Apollo Medicus (begun in 34 BC), dedicating it in Octavian's name.

References

* Appian, 5. C. v. 73;
* Cic. "ad Ait." viii. 6, ix. 1;
* Dion Cass. xlix. 22, xlix. 41, I. 2, 14, li. 2, Ivi. 38;
* Joseph. "Ant." xiv. 15, 16, B. J. i. 17—18;
* Pint. "Ant." 34;
* Suet. "Aug." 17;
* Tac. "Hist." v. 9;
* Veil. Pat. ii. 85, 86.