Editing Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus (section)

==Life==

{{multiple image |align=left |width=100 |footer=1553 French portraits of Cincinnatus and his wife Racilia or Rasilia |image1=Cincinnatus.jpg |alt1=Cincinnatus |image2=Racilia.jpg |alt2=Racilia }}
According to the traditional accounts, Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus was probably born around 519{{nbsp}}BC,{{sfnp|''EB''|1878|p=784}} during the last decade of the [[Roman Kingdom]]. He would have been a member of the ancient [[patrician (ancient Rome)|patrician]] [[gens|clan]] [[Quinctia gens|Quinctia]],{{sfn|Niebuhr|1828|pp=291–292}} which predated the founding of Rome and was moved to Rome from the [[Latins (Italic tribe)|Latin]] city of [[Alba Longa]] by [[Tullus Hostilius]].{{sfn|Livy|loc=''History'', I, § 30}} The clan's first [[consul]] was [[Titus Quinctius Capitolinus Barbatus]], elected in 471{{nbsp}}BC.{{sfnp|''DGRB&M''|1867|loc=[http://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/moa/acl3129.0003.001/641?page=root;rgn=full+text;size=100;view=image Vol. III, "Qui′ntia Gens"]}} 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 his [[cognomen]] ''{{lang|la|[[wikt:cincinnatus|Cincinnatus]]}}'', meaning "the [[curly hair]]ed".{{sfnp|''EB''|1911}} The family was rich.{{sfnp|''AC''|1879}}

In the late 460s{{nbsp}}BC, Rome was fending off [[Roman-Aequian wars|raids]] by the [[Aequi]] to their east. Beginning in 462{{nbsp}}BC, the [[Tribune of the Plebs|tribune]] [[G. Terentilius Harsa]] began pressing for [[code of laws|codification]] of the [[Roman law]]s to establish a kind of [[constitution]] that would check the near-regal power of the [[Roman patrician|patrician]] 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 their [[Roman client|clients]], supposedly including Cincinnatus's son [[Caeso Quinctius|Caeso]].{{Citation needed|date=August 2024}}

The violent resistance of the patricians prompted [[Conflict of the Orders|so much unrest]] that [[Appius Herdonius]] was able to seize the [[Capitoline Hill]] and hold it against the city with a gang of outlaws and [[slave revolt|rebel slaves]] (in Livy) or with an army of [[Sabines]] (in Dionysius).{{sfnp|Forsythe|2006|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=aEfvR1Qcd0gC&pg=PA205 205]}} The [[Roman consul|consul]] Publius Valerius Poplicola was killed in its recovery in 460{{nbsp}}BC{{sfnp|''AC''|1879}} and Cincinnatus, probably illegally,<ref name=dicro /> became the [[suffect consul|suffect]] ("replacement") consul for the remainder of the year. Cincinnatus was himself a violent opponent of the plebs' proposal,<ref name=dicro>{{harvp|''DGRB&M''|1867|loc=[http://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/moa/acl3129.0001.001/767?page=root;rgn=full+text;size=100;view=image Vol. I, "Cincinna′tus"]}}</ref> which made no progress during his administration. His son was supposedly driven from town and killed<ref name=dicro /> for his murder of a plebeian.{{sfnp|''EB''|1878|p=748}} Cincinnatus quit the city and retired to an estate he held to the west of the [[Tiber]].{{sfnp|''AC''|1879}}

Cincinnatus served as [[dictator of Rome|dictator]], a king-like figure appointed by the Republic in times of extreme emergency, in 458 or 457{{nbsp}}BC in order to lead reinforcements to the defense of the [[Roman army]] under the consul [[Lucius Minucius Esquilinus Augurinus|L. Minucius Esquilinus Augurinus]] at [[Battle of Mount Algidus|Mount Algidus]].{{efn|[[Cicero]], apparently mistakenly, places these events in Cincinnatus's second dictatorship.<ref>{{citation |author=Cicero |title=On Old Age |at=§ 16 }}</ref>}} Many of the details of the story are now assumed to be spurious<ref name=dicro/> and some consider the entire military account fictional, believing its parallels with T. Quinctius Cincinnatus's 380{{nbsp}}BC defeat of [[Praeneste]]{{sfn|Livy|loc=''History'', VI, §§ 28–29}} and [[Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus|Fabius the Delayer]]'s 217{{nbsp}}BC rescue of [[Marcus Minucius Rufus|M. Minucius Rufus]] from [[Hannibal]]{{sfn|Livy|loc=''History'', §§ 23–30}} too great for chance.{{sfnp|Forsythe|2015|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=AUdCCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA319 319]}} In one account, Cincinnatus took advantage of his position as dictator to hold a hearing, despite the objections of the [[tribune of the plebs|tribunes]], in which his son's accuser Marcus Volscius was charged with [[perjury]], driving him into exile.<ref name=dicro />{{efn|The accusations against Volscius are sometimes placed in 459{{nbsp}}BC and credited to the patricians as a class, rather than to Cincinnatus himself, although this seems to have been a later fabrication.{{sfnp|''AC''|1879}}}}

During the [[decemvir]]ate, Cincinnatus ran unsuccessfully for a position in that government in 450{{nbsp}}BC.<ref name=dicro/>{{sfn|Livy|loc=''History'', III, § 35}}  Livy noted his involvement in the discussion about opening the consulship to plebeians.{{sfn|Livy|loc=''History'', IV, § 6}}

Cincinnatus may have returned to serve as dictator in 439{{nbsp}}BC to defend Rome against the conspiracy the [[praefectus annonae|prefect]] [[Lucius Minucius Esquilinus Augurinus|L. Minucius Augurinus]] alleged [[Spurius 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.{{sfn|Livy|loc=''History'', IV, §§ 13–15}} Cincinnatus presumably died sometime soon afterwards.{{sfnp|''AC''|1879}}