Gaius Scribonius Curio

Gaius Scribonius Curio Burbulieus (d. 53 BC) was an Ancient Roman statesman, soldier and a famous orator. He was nicknamed Burbulieus (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.

In 90 BC Curio was a tribune of the plebs. From 87 BC till 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 the Civil War of 83-81 BC. 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 he won a military triumph. He was the first Roman general to penetrate to the Danube.

Curio was a member of the College of Pontiffs. He died in 53 BC.

A friend of Cicero, he supported him during the Catiline Conspiracy. Curio spoke in favor of Publius Clodius Pulcher when he was on trial for violating the rites of Bona Dea, while Cicero spoke out against Clodius and Curio, though this did not interfere with their friendship. He became an opponent to Julius Caesar and wrote a political dialogue against him.

His son, also called Gaius Scribonius Curio, was made a praetor by Julius Caesar, and sent to Sicily and Africa to try and take these provinces for Caesar. There was a rumor that Curio Junior and Mark Anthony had an affair when they were young. When the two men had been banned from seeing each other by Curio Senior, Curio Junior smuggled Mark Anthony in through his father's roof.