Publius Cornelius Cethegus (senator)

Publius Cornelius Cethegus, was a member of the gens Cornelia of the branch with the cognomen Cethegus.

Cethegus was first a supporter of Gaius Marius but when Lucius Cornelius Sulla returned from the East after having beaten Mithridates Eupator, Cethegus deserted the cause of the populares and joined Sulla. (Appian, B. C. i. 60 62, 80.)

Cethegus was known for a notorious bad life and for untrustworthiness but nonetheless he managed to accumulate great power and influence after Sulla's death, to the amount that even Lucius Licinius Lucullus was forced to sue Cethegus' concubine to use her interest in his favour, when he sought the command against Mithridates. (Cic. Parad. v. 3; Plut. Lucull. 5, 6 ; comp. Cic. pro Cluent. 31.)