born 0441; 268
died 208 BC, near Venusia, Apulia
Roman general.
Elected consul in 222, he fought in Gaul and won the spolia opima ("spoils of honour"), awarded for killing an enemy chief in single combat, for the third and last time in Roman history. He was consul again in 215 and 214. Serving in Sicily (214211) in the Second Punic War , he took Syracuse after a two-year siege; his troops sacked the city and carried its art treasures to Rome. He served again as consul in 210 and 208. While fighting Hannibal near Venusia, he was caught in an ambush and killed.