A member of the Plebeian gens Cocceia, Cocceius Balbus was a supporter of Marcus Antonius.[1] He was probably elected as praetor in 42 BC.[2] In 39 BC, he was appointed suffect consul to replace Lucius Marcius Censorinus.[3] In the same year, he was already identified as a legate to Marcus Antonius.[4]
In around 35 BC, Cocceius Balbus served as either proconsular governor of Macedonia, or as a Legatus in Greece.[5] If he was the governor, he would have been the replacement of Gaius Asinius Pollio and would have supervised the Roman troops deployed against Parthini and Dardanii, the tribes that threatened Macedonia.[6] During his time in Greece, he was acclaimed as Imperator by his troops.[7] This was possibly during his campaign against the Dardanians.[8] He eventually abandoned Marcus Antonius and threw his support behind Octavian after Antonius divorced Octavia the Younger.[9]
Balbus and his brother, M. Cocceius Nerva, was elevated to patrician status by Actium Augustus and were both admitted to cohors primae admissionis.[8] Nerva served Augustus in his negotiations with Marcus Antonius.[10]
