According to
Suetonius, Pinarius was a grandnephew of dictator
Gaius Julius Caesar by one of his sisters,
Julia Major. His cousins were the
consul Quintus Pedius,
Octavia Minor (the fourth wife of Triumvir
Mark Antony), and Octavian (the future emperor
Augustus). His father was a member of the
gens Pinaria, an ancient, distinguished family of
patrician status. The family can be traced to the foundations of
Rome. Various members of the gens served as priests and were among the first to serve as consuls in the republic. Little is known about Scarpus' early life. He is first mentioned in the ancient sources when Caesar was assassinated in Rome in March 44 BC. In the will of Caesar, Scarpus received one eighth of the property of the dictator, the same amount as Pedius. The main heir of Caesar was Octavian, who received three quarters of the property of his great uncle. But Scarpus and Pedius also assigned their inheritance to Octavian. Scarpus became an ally to
Mark Antony and commanded him in the war against the murderers of Caesar,
Marcus Junius Brutus and
Gaius Cassius Longinus. In the years leading up to the
War of Actium, in
Actium,
Greece 31 BC, Antony appointed Scarpus to the military command of
Cyrenaica. Scarpus had with him four legions to command. During his time in Cyrenaica, Scarpus had control of the currency mint in
Cyrene, as he became a
moneyer. Scarpus had issued various coins bearing Antony's name and Scarpus’ name was inscribed as an issuer of those coins. After Antony and his lover, the
Ptolemaic Greek Queen
Cleopatra VII of
Egypt, were defeated by Octavian at Actium (September 2, 31 BC), they sailed back to
North Africa. Antony sent messengers to Scarpus for help. But Scarpus refused to see Antony's messengers and put them to death. Instead, he changed sides. He gave his legions to Gaius
Cornelius Gallus, Octavian's lieutenant, to command. While Octavian marched from the East through
Asia,
Syria and
Judea against Egypt, Cornelius Gallus advanced with Scarpus’ legions from the west against Alexandria. When Antony and Cleopatra died, Octavian became the new Roman master and then emperor. Augustus had appointed his cousin as the Roman governor of Cyrenaica. Scarpus, as he did for Antony, became a moneyer and issued various coins bearing Augustus’ name. On these coins, Scarpus had his name inscribed as an issuer of the coins. Beyond that, nothing is known of Scarpus. ==In fiction==