Probably born a member of the
patrician branch of the ancient
Sempronia family, Atratinus was possibly adopted by
Lucius Calpurnius Bestia, but did not assume his adopted father's
nomen gentile. In 56 BC, at the age of 17, he launched a prosecution against
Marcus Caelius Rufus who had previously unsuccessfully attempted to prosecute Atratinus's adopted father on bribery charges. Caelius had fallen out with his lover,
Clodia, and she accused him of attempted poisoning. Other charges included the murder of an ambassador. She asked Atratinus to prosecute Caelius, which he was only too happy to do. Caelius was successfully defended by
Marcus Tullius Cicero, and in his published speech
Pro Caelio, Cicero claimed that Atratinus was being manipulated by Clodia to get revenge on Caelius for an affair gone wrong. In 40 BC, Atratinus was elected
praetor suffectus, as all the previously elected praetors had retired from office after the
Treaty of Brundisium between
Octavian,
Mark Antony and
Lepidus. Late in 40 BC, he and his colleague
Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus convened the
Roman Senate to introduce
Herod the Great, who received the title of King of
Judea. This same year he was elected to the role of
Augur, one of the priests of ancient
Rome, a position he held until his death in 7 AD. A supporter of Mark Antony, Atratinus was one of his
legates, serving as
propraetor in
Greece in 39 BC. In 36 BC he was given command of a portion of a fleet which Antony had sent to help Octavianus deal with
Sextus Pompey. In 34 BC he was elected suffect consul on January 1, as Antony resigned his position as consul within 24 hours. Atratinus himself held the consulate until July 1 of that year. At some point prior to the
Battle of Actium, Atratinus abandoned Antony and switched his support to Octavianus. He was made
proconsular governor of
Africa around 23 BC, and was awarded a
triumph for his actions there in 21 BC. Atratinus's sister, Sempronia, was married to
Lucius Gellius Publicola. Atratinus' burial mausoleum is located in
Gaeta,
Italy. ==Notes==