Gaius Scribonius Curio

Gaius Scribonius Curio (c. 124 – 53 BC) was a Roman statesman, soldier and a famous orator. He was nicknamed Burbuleius (after an actor) for the way he moved his body while speaking. Curio was noted as a public orator and for the purity of his Latin language. Career He was probably born between 125 and 123 BC. In 90 BC, during the Social War, Curio was a tribune of the plebs. From 87 BC until 81 BC he served as a legate under Lucius Cornelius Sulla; First in Greece and Asia during Sulla's campaigns against king Mithridates of Pontus then against the Cinna-Marius faction during Sulla's civil war. During the First Mithridatic War he besieged the Athenian tyrant Aristion, who had taken position on the Acropolis, during the Siege of Athens. In 76 BC, he was elected consul, along with Gnaeus Octavius. After his consulship he was allocated Macedonia as his proconsular command. He successfully fought the Dardani and the Moesians, for which the Senate granted him a triumph. He was the first Roman general to reach the Danube. Curio was a member of the College of Pontiffs. He died in 53 BC.