Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | c. 519 BC |
| Died | c. 430 BC (agedc. 89) |
| Nationality | Roman |
| Office | |
| Spouse | Racilia |
| Children | |
| Family | Quinctia gens |
| Military service | |
| Battles/wars | Battle of Mount Algidus (458 BC) |
Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus (c. 519 – c. 430 BC) was aRomanpatrician,statesman, andmilitary leader of the earlyRoman Republic who became a famous model ofRoman virtue—particularlycivic virtue—by the time of the late Republic.
Modern historians question some particulars of the story of Cincinnatus that was recounted inLivy'sHistory of Rome and elsewhere, but it is usually accepted that Cincinnatus was a historical figure who served assuffect consul in 460 BC and asdictator in 458 BC and (possibly) again in 439 BC.
The most famous story related to Cincinnatus occurs after his retirement from public service to a simple life of farming. As Roman forces struggled to defeat theAequi, Cincinnatus was summoned from his plough to assume complete control over the state. After achieving a swift victory in sixteen days, Cincinnatus relinquished power and its privileges, returning to labor on his farm.[1]
Cincinnatus's success and his immediate resignation of near-absolute authority at the end of the crisis (traditionally dated to 458 BC) has often been cited as a model of selfless leadership, civic virtue, and service to the greater good. The story has also been seen as an exemplar of agrarian virtues like humility, modesty, and hard work.[2] Cincinnatus was an opponent of the rights of theplebeians (the common citizens). His son,Caeso Quinctius, caused the plebeians to fall into poverty when he violently opposed their desire to have awritten code ofequally enforcedlaws.[citation needed]
According to the traditional accounts, Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus was probably born around 519 BC,[3] during the last decade of theRoman Kingdom. He would have been a member of the ancientpatricianclanQuinctia,[4] which predated the founding of Rome and was moved to Rome from theLatin city ofAlba Longa byTullus Hostilius.[5] The clan's firstconsul wasTitus Quinctius Capitolinus Barbatus, elected in 471 BC.[6] As both Titus and Lucius were recorded as the son and grandson of men named Lucius Quinctius, Titus is sometimes thought to have been Lucius's brother. This suggests Lucius was the first of hiscognomenCincinnatus, meaning "thecurly haired".[7] The family was rich.[8]
In the late 460s BC, Rome was fending offraids by theAequi to their east. Beginning in 462 BC, thetribuneG. Terentilius Harsa began pressing forcodification of theRoman laws to establish a kind ofconstitution that would check the near-regal power of thepatrician consuls. In the years that followed, he and the other plebeians were ignored, fended off, rejected on procedural grounds, and finally beaten and driven from the streets by gangs of patricians and theirclients, supposedly including Cincinnatus's sonCaeso.[citation needed]
The violent resistance of the patricians promptedso much unrest thatAppius Herdonius was able to seize theCapitoline Hill and hold it against the city with a gang of outlaws andrebel slaves (in Livy) or with an army ofSabines (in Dionysius).[9] Theconsul Publius Valerius Poplicola was killed in its recovery in 460 BC[8] and Cincinnatus, probably illegally,[10] became thesuffect ("replacement") consul for the remainder of the year. Cincinnatus was himself a violent opponent of the plebs' proposal,[10] which made no progress during his administration. His son was supposedly driven from town and killed[10] for his murder of a plebeian.[11] Cincinnatus quit the city and retired to an estate he held to the west of theTiber.[8]
Cincinnatus served asdictator, a king-like figure appointed by the Republic in times of extreme emergency, in 458 or 457 BC in order to lead reinforcements to the defense of theRoman army under the consulL. Minucius Esquilinus Augurinus atMount Algidus.[a] Many of the details of the story are now assumed to be spurious[10] and some consider the entire military account fictional, believing its parallels with T. Quinctius Cincinnatus's 380 BC defeat ofPraeneste[13] andFabius the Delayer's 217 BC rescue ofM. Minucius Rufus fromHannibal[14] too great for chance.[15] In one account, Cincinnatus took advantage of his position as dictator to hold a hearing, despite the objections of thetribunes, in which his son's accuser Marcus Volscius was charged withperjury, driving him into exile.[10][b]
During thedecemvirate, Cincinnatus ran unsuccessfully for a position in that government in 450 BC.[10][16] Livy noted his involvement in the discussion about opening the consulship to plebeians.[17]
Cincinnatus may have returned to serve as dictator in 439 BC to defend Rome against the conspiracy theprefectL. Minucius Augurinus allegedSpurius Maelius was plotting against the Republic. When Spurius Maelius ignored his summons, he was killed by Cincinnatus's master of horse and any plot collapsed.[18] Cincinnatus presumably died sometime soon afterwards.[8]
In the traditional accounts of the story, Cincinnatus's sonCaeso was an openly violent opponent of the attempts of the plebeians to enact the Terentilian Law, which sought to codify the Roman legal tradition and circumscribe the authority of the patrician consuls. Caeso would lead gangs to drive theTribunes of the Plebs from theForum, disrupting the procedures necessary to approve it. He was brought up on capital charges in 461 BC but released on a largebail. A plebeian named Marcus Volscius testified that his brother, while feeble from sickness, had been knocked down and injured by Caeso with such force that he later died.[8] Rather than face his accusers in court, Caeso fled to theEtruscans. He was thencondemned to deathin absentia and his father subjected to a huge punitive fine, forcing him to sell most of his estates and to retire from public life to personally work a small farm[19] (some accounts say Caeso was killed with Poplicola in the recovery of the Capitoline from Herdonius).[8] Modern historians particularly reject the fine as a later invention inserted to explain the dictator's supposed poverty and heighten his virtues.[10][7] Some reject the story in its entirety.[20]
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In 458 BC, theAequi to Rome's east broke their treaty of the year before and attempted to retakeTusculum (Frascati). The consuls for the year—L. Minucius Esquilinus Augurinus andG. Nautius Rutilus—led out two armies, one to Tusculum's relief and another to strike against the lands of the Aequi and theirSabine allies. Upon reachingMount Algidus in theAlban Hills, the army under L. Minucius Esquilinus Augurinus encamped and rested instead of immediately attacking. The Aequi quickly deployed around their position and successfully besieged them, with only fivehorsemen escaping[8] to tell theRoman Senate what had happened. With the army of the second consul unable to help, the senators fell into a panic and authorized the nomination of a dictator. G. Nautius Rutilus or Horatius Pulvillus named Cincinnatus for a term of six months.[21]
A group of senators was sent to Cincinnatus to inform him of his appointment, finding him ploughing his farm.[c] He asked them, "Is everything all right?" and they replied that they hoped "it might turn out well for both him and his country", asking that he don hissenatorial toga before hearing the Senate's mandate. He then called out to his wife Racilia, telling her to bring his toga from their cottage.[21] Once he was properly dressed, the delegation hailed him as a dictator and ordered him to come to the city. He crossed theTiber in one of the senate's boats and was greeted on his return by his three sons and most of the senators. He was given severallictors for protection and enforcement of his orders.[citation needed]
The next morning, Cincinnatus went to theForum and named Lucius Tarquitius as hismaster of the horse.[8] He then went to the assembly of the people and ordered every man of military age to appear on theField of Mars (Campus Martius) by the end of the day[23] with twelve times the normal amount ofencamping spikes. They then marched to the relief of the consul's relieving army. At theBattle of Mount Algidus, they used their spikes to quickly besiege the besieging Aequi. Rather than slaughter them between the two Roman camps, Cincinnatus accepted their pleas for mercy and offered an amnesty provided that three principal offenders were executed, and Gracchus Cloelius and their other leaders be delivered to him in chains. A "yoke" of three spears was then set up and the Aequi made to pass under it as an act of submission, bowing and admitting their defeat. Cincinnatus then disbanded his army and returned to his farm, abandoning his control a mere fifteen days after it had been granted to him.[24]
On the nomination of his brother or nephewTitus Quinctius Capitolinus Barbatus, Cincinnatus came out of retirement for a second term as dictator in 439 BC to deal with the feared plot of the wealthy plebeianSpurius Maelius to buy the loyalty of the poor and establish himself as king over Rome. Cincinnatus namedC. Servilius Ahala hismaster of the horse and directed him to bring Spurius Maelius before him. He and the other patricians then garrisoned the Capitoline Hill and other strongholds around the city.Maelius fended off Ahala's officer with a butcher's knife and fled into a crowd. Ahala led a band of patricians into the crowd and killed him during his flight. With the crisis resolved, Cincinnatus again resigned his commission, having served 21 days (Ahala was later brought to trial for exceeding his commission and accepted voluntary exile).[8] Various aspects of the story are connected with spuriousetiological legends and it may have no more connection to the dictator of 458 BC than the fact that the Cincinnatus of 439 BC was a member of the same clan.[25]
Cincinnatus became a legend to the Romans. Twice granted supreme power, he held on to it for not a day longer than absolutely necessary. He consistently demonstrated great honour and integrity. The high esteem in which he was held by the later Romans[22] is sometimes extended to his family. One legend from the end of his life claims a Capitolinus defended one of his sons from a charge of military incompetence by asking the jury who would go to tell the aged Cincinnatus the news in the event of a conviction. The son was said to have been acquitted because the jury could not bring itself to break the old man's heart.[citation needed]
Many Italian cities have plazas, streets, or other locations named after Cincinnatus (Italian:Cincinnato). TheCincinnato neighborhood inAnzio, Italy is named in his honor.
The legend of Cincinnatus's military victory and subsequent relinquishment of power has continued to inspire admiration. It has also been invoked to honor other political leaders, notablyGeorge Washington. Washington's relinquishing of control of theContinental Army, refusal to consider establishing a monarchy or assuming monarchical powers, and voluntary retirement after two terms aspresident to return to his farm atMount Vernon have made allusions to Cincinnatus common in historical[27] and literary[d] treatments of the era.
TheSociety of the Cincinnati was established byHenry Knox in 1783 to assist theofficers of theContinental Army andNavy and their families, to preserve the ideals of theAmerican Revolution, and to maintain theunion of theformer colonies. A French Society of the Cincinnati was founded soon afterward by KingLouis XVI.Cincinnati, Ohio andCincinnatus, New York, in the United States, were named in his honor.[26]
Cincinnatus is referenced in Book II, Chapter 1 of Thomas Carlyle'sSartor Resartus.[29] The protagonist of Vladimir Nabokov'sInvitation to a Beheading is named Cincinnatus C.[30]
WhistleblowerEdward Snowden used the nickname "Cincinnatus" when first contacting journalistGlenn Greenwald about releasing classifiedNational Security Agency (NSA) documents.[31]
British Prime MinisterBoris Johnson referred to Cincinnatus in his farewell speech outside10 Downing Street in London on 6 September 2022. Some commentators noted that while, as Johnson said, Cincinnatus returned to his plough, he was also later recalled to power.[32]
When, in July 2024, United States PresidentJoe Bidenannounced that he would not run for re-election, multiple political commentators compared him to Cincinnatus.[33][34][35][36][37]
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| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Roman consul 460 BC (suffect) withGaius Claudius Sabinus Regillensis | Succeeded by |
