A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology

6. L.AureliusCotta, was tribune of the people in B. C. 154, and in reliance on the inviolable character of his office he refused paying his creditors whereupon however his colleagues declared, that unless he satisfied the creditors they would support them in their claims. In B. C. 144, he was consul together with Ser. Sulpicius Galba, and disputed in the senate which of them was to obtain the command against Viriathus in Spain; but Scipio Aemilianus carried a decree that neither of them should be sent to Spain, and the command in that country was accordingly prolonged to the proconsul Fabius Maximus Ameilianus. Subsequently Cotta was accused by Scipio Aemilianus, and although he was guilty of glaring acts of injustice he was acquitted, merely because the judges wished to avoid the appearance of Cotta having been crushed by the overwhelming influence of his accuser. Cotta was defended on that occasion by Q. Metellus Macedonicus. Cicero states that Cotta was considered a veterator, that is, a man cunning in managing his own affairs. (V. Max. 6.4.2, 5.4, 8.1.11; Cic. pro Muren. 28, pro Font. 13, Brut. 21, Divin in Caecil. 21; Tac. Ann. 3.66.)