Marcellus gained the most prestigious award a Roman general could earn, the spolia opima, for killing the Gallic king Viridomarus in single combat in 222 BC at the Battle of Clastidium.

Furthermore, he is noted for having conquered the fortified city of Syracuse in a protracted siege during which Archimedes, the famous mathematician, scientist, and inventor, was killed, despite Marcellus ordering the soldiers under his command not to harm him.

Marcus Claudius Marcellus died in battle in 208 BC, leaving behind a legacy of military conquests and a reinvigorated Roman legend of the spolia opima.

Little is known of Marcus Claudius Marcellus' early years, since ancient historians and biographers were more concerned with the military exploits which came at the apex of his career.

[1] During his time as a Roman soldier, which included service in the First Punic War, Marcellus was praised by his superiors for his skill and valor.

His early career came to a close in 222 BC with his election as consul, the highest political and military office in the Roman Republic.

In the fourth and final year of the war, Marcellus himself was elected consul, with Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Calvus as his colleague.

The two engaged in single combat, which concluded when Marcellus, “by a thrust of his spear which pierced his adversary's breastplate, and by the impact of his horse in full career, threw him, still living, upon the ground, where, with a second and third blow, he promptly killed him.”[1] Marcellus carried away the armor of his fallen foe, calling it the spolia opima, or richest spoils, and dedicated it to Jupiter Feretrius, as he had promised before the battle.

Marcellus allegedly did not recognize his opponent, but his prayer to Jupiter Feretrius, employing the term spolia opima, implies an intention to kill a king or ruler.

Following the death of Viridomarus, the outnumbered Romans broke the siege of Clastidium, won the battle and proceeded to push the Gallic army all the way back to their primary headquarters at Mediolanum.

Marcus Claudius Marcellus re-emerged onto both the political and military scene during the Second Punic War, in which he took part in important battles.

[2] Unfortunately, as Marcellus and his men were preparing to ship to Sicily, his army was recalled to Rome owing to the devastating losses at Cannae, one of the worst defeats in Roman history.

[5] By the orders of the Senate, Marcellus was forced to dispatch 1,500 of his men to Rome to protect the city after the terrible defeat by Hannibal of Carthage.

[2] In the same year, when the consul Lucius Postumius Albinus was killed in battle, Marcellus was unanimously chosen by the Roman people to be his successor.

Hieronymus, the new ruler of the Roman-ally Kingdom of Syracuse, had recently come to the throne on his grandfather's death and fallen under the influence of the Carthaginian agents Hippocrates and Epicydes.

The siege lasted for two years, partly because the Roman effort was thwarted by the military machines of the famous inventor Archimedes.

Meanwhile, leaving the bulk of the Roman legion in the command of Appius Claudius at Syracuse, Marcellus and a small army roamed Sicily, conquering opponents and taking such rebellious cities as Helorus, Megara, and Herbessus.

Plutarch wrote that Marcellus, when he had previously entered the city for a diplomatic meeting with the Syracusans, had noticed a weak point in its fortifications.

At the end of 211 BC, Marcellus resigned from command of the Sicilian province, thereby putting the praetor of the region, Marcus Cornelius Cethegus, in charge.

On his return to Rome, Marcellus did not receive the triumphal honours that would be expected for such a feat, as his political enemies objected that he had not fully eradicated the threats in Sicily.

[2] The final period of Marcus Claudius Marcellus’ life began with his fourth election to Roman consul in 210 BC.

[1] The loss of both consuls was a major blow to Roman morale, as the Republic had lost its two senior military commanders in a single battle, while the formidable Carthaginian army was still at large in Italy.

His decisive victories in Sicily were of history-altering proportions, while his campaigns in Italy itself gave Hannibal himself pause and reinvigorated the Roman Senate.

Plutarch also emphasized the service of Marcellus as "the civilizer of Rome," one of the first to bring Greek art and learning to the Italian city.