Gaius Memmius (proquaestor)

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Gaius Memmius (died 75 BC) was a Roman politician and soldier who served as quaestor in 76 BC. He was married to Pompeia, Pompey the Great’s sister. Memmius came from the Memmius family; his early public role was as moneyer in 87 BC. He fought with Pompey during his Sicilian command at the end of Sulla’s civil war in 81 BC, and when Pompey went to Africa, Memmius was put in charge on Sicily.

During the Sertorian War, Memmius served under Metellus Pius and probably joined Metellus in Iberia in 79 BC. When Pompey was sent to support Metellus against Sertorius in 76 BC, Memmius joined Pompey’s army. Pompey sent Memmius with Balbus by sea to capture New Carthage and use it as a base, but Memmius and his force were immediately blockaded in the city, likely by Sertorius’s pirate allies, and could not fulfill his mission. The command was prorogued into 75 BC, and at the Battle of Saguntum Memmius was killed early in the fighting while defending Pompey, his brother-in-law. Plutarch called him “the most capable of Pompey’s lieutenants.”