Gaius Memmius was the son of Lucius Memmius. Lucius was the brother of the Gaius Memmius who was
plebeian tribune in 111 BC. Lucius had a son, this Gaius' brother, also called Lucius, who was plebeian tribune in 90. This Gaius married the sister of
Pompey the Great,
Pompeia. Their marriage produced a homonymous son who later became a moneyer and, in 54 BC, plebeian tribune. This Memmius first appears as a
moneyer in 87 BC. He then served Pompey during his
Sicilian command in 81 BC at the end of
Sulla's civil war. When Pompey sailed to Africa, to fight his enemies under
Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus, he put Memmius in command on Sicily. During the
Sertorian War, Memmius first served the proconsul
Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius, who was given the command against the Roman rebel
Quintus Sertorius in
Hispania. He probably went with Metellus' army when Metellus marched to Iberia in 79 BC. When Pompey was sent to support Metellus against Sertorius in 76 BC, Memmius was transferred to Pompey's army. He may have been
military tribune from 79 to 77 BC, and then served Pompey as quaestor starting from 77 or 76 BC. Pompey sent Memmius, accompanied by the Spaniard
Balbus, with a fleet to try and take
New Carthage, secure it as a base, and from there move up the coast. Memmius and his force were immediately blockaded in the city, probably by Sertorius's pirate allies, and was unable to play his part in the campaign.
Prorogued into 75 BC, at the
Battle of Saguntum, he was killed during the early stages of the battle when Sertorius launched an attack at Pompey's command; Pompey survived the attack but Memmius died defending his brother-in-law. Plutarch called him "the most capable of Pompey's lieutenants". == References ==