Quintus Mucius Scaevola Augur

Who was Quintus Mucius Scaevola Augur?

Quintus Mucius Scaevola Augur was a politician of the Roman Republic and an early authority on Roman law. He was first educated in law by his father and in philosophy by the stoic Panaetius of Rhodes.

Scaevola was made tribune in 128 BCE, aedile in 125 BCE, and praetor in 121 BCE, in which capacity he acted as governor of Asia. Upon his return to Rome the following year he faced a charge of extortion brought by Titus Albucius which he successfully defended. In 117 BCE, he was elected consul. In his old age, Scaevola vigorously maintained his interest in the law and in the affairs of Rome. He also passed on his knowledge of law to some of Rome's most celebrated orators, as the teacher of Cicero and Atticus. In 88 BCE, he defended Gaius Marius against Sulla's motion to have him named an enemy of the people, saying that he would never agree to have this done to a man who had saved Rome.

Cicero used the persona of his old master as an interlocutor in three works, his De Oratore, De amicitia, and De republica.