Marcus Valerius Laevinus (c. 260 BC – 200 BC) was a Roman consul and commander who rose to prominence during the Second Punic War and corresponding First Macedonian War. A member of the gens Valeria, an old patrician family believed to have migrated to Rome under the Sabine king T. Tatius,^[1] Laevinus played an integral role in the containment of the Macedonian threat.

Laevinus was the son of P. Valerius Laevinus, and grandson of P. Valerius Laevinus.^[2] The latter may have been the consul of 280 BC whom Pyrrhus of Epirus defeated at Heraclea.^[3]

Praetor of Sicily in 227.^[4][5] M. Laevinus was first elected consul in 220. His consulship, however, was annulled, likely due to accusations of a faulty election.^[5]

In 215, during the Second Punic War, Laevinus was elected praetor peregrinus^[6] with command of the Roman forces in Apulia.^[7] Stationed in Brundisium, Laevinus was appointed to act as a deterrent to any potential advance from the Macedonian king, Philip V, who had allied his forces with the Carthaginian general Hannibal Barca who had invaded Italy.^[8] Valerius was thereby tasked with monitoring activities on the Adriatic Sea, through which he assumed command over the bulk of the Roman fleet.^[9]

As praetor peregrinus, Laevinus commanded the Roman fleet off the Adriatic coast during the First Macedonian War,^[10] which occurred contemporaneously with the Second Punic War against Carthage.

Rome's preoccupation with war against Carthage provided an opportunity for Philip V of Macedon to extend his power westward. Following the Carthaginian victory over Rome at Cannae in 216, Philip sent ambassadors to Hannibal's camp in Italy to negotiate an alliance against Rome. On their journey back to Macedon, the emissaries were captured by P. Valerius Flaccus, commander of the Roman fleet patrolling the southern Apulian coast. A letter from Hannibal to Philip, as well as the terms of their agreement, was discovered, much to Rome's dismay.^[11]

Laevinus, who was stationed at Brundisium, was given command of two legions and a fleet of fifty-five ships. With these, he was tasked with guarding the Italian Adriatic coast and monitoring Philip's movements. If they were hostile, Laevinus was to cross the Adriatic and keep Philip confined to Macedon, so as to prevent him from providing any assistance to Hannibal in Italy.^[12]

Throughout 214, Laevinus’ forces provided aid to several Roman allies under Macedonian threat. He successfully recaptured Oricum from the Macedonians by conducting an attack at night, thereby ambushing Philip's army.^[13] According to Livy, the Macedonians feared him so much they burned their boats to avoid facing his ships again.^[14] Laevinus also relieved the siege of Apollonia and saved Tarentum.^[15]

In late 211, Laevinus was sent to Sicily as governor in place of M. Claudius Marcellus.^[19] At the time, an officer of the Carthaginian army on Sicily called Mutines, a Liby-Phoenician rather than a pure-blooded Carthaginian, had been replaced as commander of the Numidian cavalry. He betrayed Agrigentum to the Romans in revenge for the demotion.^[20] According to Livy, Laevinus treated the city's leading citizens brutally to make an example of them. Shortly after, he received voluntary surrenders from forty Sicilian towns, and captured another twenty-six by betrayal or force, thus ending the war in Sicily.^[21]

Sources which chronicle Laevinus’ later career are scarce. However, from what survives it is possible to construct a brief overview of his final years.

In 205, following his recall to Italy the year before, it appears that Laevinus was involved in the Roman embassy tasked with transporting the sacred stone of Cybele from Phrygia back to the capital, in response to a consultation of the Sybilline Books.^[39]

In 203, Laevnius urged the Senate to set aside the peace P. Cornelius Scipio had negotiated with the Carthaginians.^[40] His proposal passed, but Scipio's terms were later ratified.^[41]

Following this, it appears that Laevinus was dispatched to Greece in 200, and he died later that year.^[5]

Although born 150 years after the events of Laevinus' life, Livy's account of the Second Punic War provides the most detailed narrative of Laevinus' career. One must, however, be wary of Livy's pro-Roman bias, which tends to emphasise Roman victory and virtue.

Other ancient accounts which refer to Laevinus include those of Polybius, Eutropius, Plutarch, Cicero, and Solinus.

There is no modern historical work which solely discusses Laevinus, but he appears in narratives and analyses of the Punic Wars. These include Dexter Hoyos's Companion to the Punic Wars (2011), Nathan Rosenstein's Rome and the Mediterranean 209–146 BC (2012), Rachel Feig Vishnia's State, Society, and Popular Leaders in Mid-Republican Rome, 241–167 BC (1996), and H.H. Scullard's Roman Politics, 220–150 BC (1973). T. Robert S. Broughton's Magistrates of the Roman Republic (1951–1960) provides an overview of the political offices which Laevinus held.