Marcus Antonius Creticus (flourished 1st century BC) was a Roman

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

 politician, member of the Antonius

Antonius

Antonius is the nomen of the gens Antonia, one of the most important plebeian families at Rome. It is also the source of the English personal name Anthony, as well as a number of similar names in various European languages....

 family. Creticus was son of Marcus Antonius Orator

Marcus Antonius Orator

Marcus Antonius Orator was a Roman politician of the Antonius family and one of the most distinguished Roman orators of his time. He was also the grandfather of the famous general and triumvir, Mark Antony.-Career:...

 and by his marriage to Julia Antonia

Julia Antonia

Julia Caesaris or Julia Antonia was a daughter to consul Lucius Julius Caesar III and mother to the future triumvir and deputy of Caesar, Mark Antony. She was a sister to consul Lucius Julius Caesar IV. Her mother is unknown. She was born and raised in Rome...

 he had three sons: Triumvir Marcus Antonius, Gaius Antonius

Gaius Antonius

Gaius Antonius was the second son of Marcus Antonius Creticus and Julia Antonia, and thus, younger brother of Mark Antony, triumvir and enemy of Caesar Augustus.-Early life:...

 and Lucius Antonius

Lucius Antonius (brother of Mark Antony)

Lucius Antonius was the younger brother and supporter of Mark Antony, a Roman politician.Lucius was son of Marcus Antonius Creticus, son of the rhetorician Marcus Antonius Orator executed by Gaius Marius' supporters in 86 BC, and Julia Antonia, a cousin of Julius Caesar...

.

He was elected praetor

Praetor

Praetor was a title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to men acting in one of two official capacities: the commander of an army, usually in the field, or the named commander before mustering the army; and an elected magistratus assigned varied duties...

 in 74 BC

74 BC

Year 74 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Lucullus and Cotta...

 and received an extraordinary commission, similar to that bestowed upon triumvir Pompey

Pompey

Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, also known as Pompey or Pompey the Great , was a military and political leader of the late Roman Republic...

 by the Gabinian law years later and on his father three decades before, to clear the Mediterranean Sea

Mediterranean Sea

The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...

 of the threat of piracy, and thereby assist the operations against King Mithridates VI of Pontus

Mithridates VI of Pontus

Mithridates VI or Mithradates VI Mithradates , from Old Persian Mithradatha, "gift of Mithra"; 134 BC – 63 BC, also known as Mithradates the Great and Eupator Dionysius, was king of Pontus and Armenia Minor in northern Anatolia from about 120 BC to 63 BC...

. Creticus not only failed in the task, but plundered the provinces he was supposed to protect from robbery. He attacked the Cretans, who had made an alliance with the pirates, but was totally defeated, most of his ships being sunk. Diodorus Siculus

Diodorus Siculus

Diodorus Siculus was a Greek historian who flourished between 60 and 30 BC. According to Diodorus' own work, he was born at Agyrium in Sicily . With one exception, antiquity affords no further information about Diodorus' life and doings beyond what is to be found in his own work, Bibliotheca...

 states that he only saved himself by a disgraceful treaty. As a result of this defeat he was mockingly given the byname Creticus, which means "conqueror of Crete

Crete

Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...

", and also "man made of chalk", when translated from Latin. He died soon afterwards (72 BC

72 BC

Year 72 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Publicola and Lentulus...

-71 BC

71 BC

Year 71 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Lentulus and Orestes...

) in Crete. Most authorities are agreed as to his avarice and incompetence, but the biographer Plutarch

Plutarch

Plutarch then named, on his becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus , c. 46 – 120 AD, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia...

describes him as friendly, honest and generous man.