During the
Third Mithridatic War (73-63 BC) against
Mithridates VI of
Pontus and
Tigranes the Great of
Armenia, Celer was a commander of some sort.
TRS Broughton in the
Magistrates of the Roman Republic suggests he possibly was a legate,
military tribune, or
quaestor. The nature of his command is unknown. He evidently returned to Rome by the early 60s, as he held the
plebeian tribunate in either 72 or 68 BC. He may have been
plebeian aedile in 67 BC but there is substantial doubt. Following his urban magistracies, if they occurred, he served as a legate under
Pompey in 66 BC. In the winter of 66 BC, Oroeses, king of the
Caucasian Albanians attacked Pompey's army during
Saturnalia celebrations in Lesser Armenia. Pompey had split his army into three divisions. Celer was in charge of one of them and custodian of
Tigranes the Younger of Armenia. Celer vigorously repulsed Oroeses while Flaccus and Pompey, who were in charge of the other two divisions, defeated the other Albanians.
Praetorship and proconsulship Celer became urban praetor in 63 BC. During the year,
Titus Labienus (then plebeian tribune) and
Gaius Julius Caesar, indicted an old and obscure senator,
Gaius Rabirius, for the killing of
Lucius Appuleius Saturninus thirty-seven years earlier. The precise events of Rabirius' trials is not entirely clear. Michael Alexander's
Trials of the late Roman republic has two trials: the first was a farcically archaic before
Lucius Julius Caesar and
Gaius Julius Caesar as for the killing of Saturninius which was aborted after conviction by the defendant's appeal to the people; a second trial, before the , was on various other offences. At this trial, then-consul
Cicero spoke in Rabirius' defence and the trial was regardless aborted: Celer interfered in the trial's operations by putting a red flag on the
Janiculum which indicated a fictitious enemy raid and the adjournment of all civilian public business. Later in the year, the
Catilinarian conspiracy was discovered.
Lucius Aemilius Paullus announced that he intended to prosecute
Lucius Sergius Catilina – not yet known to be responsible for the conspiracy – and Catiline attempted to place himself into the custody of the magistrates. Celer, Catiline's third choice, refused to take him; Paullus regardless never brought charges. As part of the response to the conspiracy's force mustering publicly in the Etruria, Celer was assigned to
Picenum to raise forces along with three other magistrates deployed across Italy. He was at the same time likely
prorogued to the province of
Cisalpine Gaul . After Catiline's involvement became clear and he fled Rome, Celer played an important role in the campaign suppressing the conspiracy. He blocked Catiline's army from escaping Italy across the
Apennines into Gaul, allowing the consul
Gaius Antonius Hybrida to bring Catiline to battle in early 62 BC. At the resulting
Battle of Pistoria, Antonius' forces decisively defeated Catiline. Some time in 63, Celer was noted as one of the
augurs, indicating that he had been inducted by that point into that priestly college. Celer continued in Cisalpine Gaul through the remainder of the year. While there, he supported his adoptive brother
Metellus Nepos against Cicero and the majority in the senate. Nepos as plebeian tribune had attempted to use force in the assemblies to transfer the anti-Catilinarian command from the consul Antonius to Pompey; this triggered a which saw Nepos flee the city for Pompey's camp.
Consulship and death In ("his year"; ie the first year he was eligible), Celer was elected consul for 60 BC.
Lucius Afranius, a Pompeian ally, was his consular colleague. Prior to 62 BC, Celer and his brother Nepos had supported Pompey's political position at Rome while Pompey was on campaign. By 60 BC, the two had turned against Pompey in part because Pompey had divorced Celer's sister
Mucia Tertia. The divorce came shortly after Pompey's return to Italy in December 62 BC as part of Pompey's attempts to realign himself politically. However, the divorce – amid claims of infidelity – harmed the public reputation and of the Caecilii Metelli: the two brothers of Mucia, Celer and Nepos, took this slight very seriously. While Dio claims that Pompey supported Celer's consular campaign, this familial quarrel makes Dio's claim unlikely. During Celer's consulship, Pompey sought senatorial ratification of his eastern settlements and land grants for his veterans.
Lucius Licinius Lucullus, whom Pompey had replaced in command pursuant to the of 66 BC, challenged his rival's actions: instead of approving Pompey's settlements as a whole, Lucullus stalled the entire process by having each element reviewed in committee before separate votes on each part. In this, Lucullus was supported by Celer,
Cato the Younger, and
Marcus Licinius Crassus. The combined political influence of the four allies was able to prevent Pompey from securing any of his main goals. Celer also opposed Crassus' attempts to reduce the taxes expected from the tax farmers in Asia. For this strong opposition, the pro-Pompeian plebeian tribune Lucius Flavius had Celer thrown into jail and attempted to keep him there by sitting on a bench before the door. Celer, intending to stay the night, had his allies cut a hole in the wall so that senators could attend to him. Pompey, afraid of the political blowback of holding the consul like a political prisoner, had Flavius set Celer free. Celer also opposed the attempts of his brother-in-law,
Publius Clodius Pulcher, in transferring himself from the patricians to the plebeians. These victories for Celer, however, saw Pompey join a political alliance with the next year's consul, Gaius Julius Caesar, and Crassus. When Caesar's consulship began in 59 BC, Celer opposed the three allies. He died unexpectedly in April 59 BC prior to taking up a proconsulship Transalpine Gaul. == Family ==