Marcus Fulvius Bambalio was a nobleman of the Fulvia gens of ancient Rome, who lived in the 1st century BCE. Based on his cognomen, and invective directed at him by his contemporaries, he must have had a speech disorder ("Bambalio" is derived from the Greek verb βαμβάλειν, meaning "to stutter"). It is unclear what exactly his social rank was; scholars disagree on whether he was or was not a nobilis, as contemporary writers would draw unfavorable comparisons between Fulvius's social rank and that of his son-in-law, Mark Antony.[1]
Though he may be said to be the "last of the noble Fulvii" -- in the sense that it was possible he was the last male of his line to bear the name -- more often he is described as dull and unpopular with his contemporaries.[1] The writer Cicero called him "a complete nobody", and "stupid and ridiculous".[2][3][4] Cicero in particular took the man's stutter as either evidence of, or a metaphor for, his poor moral character.[5] There is no evidence that he ever ran for or held public office, possibly because of his stutter, as excellence in public speaking was a de facto requirement.[6]
He was the second husband of Sempronia, daughter of Sempronius Tuditanus, with whom he had a daughter named Fulvia, who was first married to Publius Clodius Pulcher, then Gaius Scribonius Curio, and then finally the triumvir, Mark Antony, who received -- or inherited from Fulvius -- the nickname "Bambalio" on account of a certain hesitancy he had in his speech.[7][2]
Sempronia's third husband, a man named Murena, made the paternal arrangements for his stepdaughter Fulvia's marriage to Clodius, which suggests Fulvius may have been dead by this time.[6]
Notes
- ^ a b Babcock, Charles L. (1965). "The Early Career of Fulvia". American Journal of Philology. 86 (1). Johns Hopkins University Press: 1–32. doi:10.2307/292619. JSTOR 292619. Retrieved 2025-11-24.
- ^ a b Cicero, Philippicae 2.36, 3.6
- ^ Cassius Dio, Roman History 45.47.4
- ^ Gildenhard, Ingo (2018). "Antony's Finest Hour". Cicero, Philippic 2, 44–50, 78–92, 100–119: Latin Text, Study Aids with Vocabulary, and Commentary. Open Book Publishers. pp. 287–290. Retrieved 2025-11-24.
- ^ Corbeill, Anthony (2015). "Names and Cognomina". Controlling Laughter: Political Humor in the Late Roman Republic. Princeton University Press. p. 57. ISBN 9781400872893. Retrieved 2025-11-24.
- ^ a b Schultz, Celia E. (2021). Fulvia: Playing for Power at the End of the Roman Republic. Oxford University Press. pp. 11–12, 16, 18. ISBN 9780190697150. Retrieved 2025-11-24.
- ^ Syme, Ronald (2016). Approaching the Roman Revolution: Papers on Republican History. Oxford University Press. pp. 177–185. ISBN 9780198767060. Retrieved 2025-11-24.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William (1870). "M. Bambalio". In Smith, William (ed.). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Vol. 1. p. 459.
