Cincinnatus, Lucius Quinctius JACKIE ELLIOTT Cincinnatus is a figure of the fifth century BCE, one of the oldest known patrician representa- tives of his family, the gens Quinctia. He became an emblem of the antique austerity and steadfastness associated with early Rome and its leaders. The stories about him, which made him the antithesis of modern corruption and lust for power, circulated for generations as moral exempla. The main story concerning Cincinnatus is that of his dictatorship (458). Tradition has it that in this year a Roman army under the consul L. Minucius Esquilinus Augurinus found itself besieged by an Italic tribe, the AEQUI, in the Alban hills southeast of Rome. The other consul for the year, C. Nautius, proved unequal to the situation; consequently the decision was taken at Rome to offer the dictatorship to Cincinnatus, previously consul in 460 and reputed for his resolution and efficiency. As Livy (3.26.7–10) has it, a delegation from the city sent to his small farm across the Tiber found him at work on his land. Having learned of the situation, Cincinnatus accepted the dictatorship and took decisive action resulting in the liberation of Minucius’ army and in the defeat and humiliation of the Aequi. He then entered Rome in triumph at the Senate’s invitation, resigned the dictatorship within fifteen days of having assumed it, and returned to work on his land. The historical accuracy of this story is sus- pect. Several duplicates exist, associated with Cincinnatus himself, with an analogous and contemporary member of the gens Quinctia, T. Quinctius Capitolinus Barbatus, and beyond this with other figures of republican history. Thus, tradition accords Cincinnatus a second dictatorship in 439, and Cicero (Sen. 56) has him called from the plough on that occasion, while Dionysius of Halicarnassus (Ant. Rom. 10.17.3–4, 23.5–24.2) attributes the story both to Cincinnatus’ consulship in 460 and to his first dictatorship. Cincinnatus’ rescue of Minucius is also replicated in the story of Quinctius Capitolinus’ rescue of the consul Sp. Furius Medullinus Fusus in 464 (Livy 3.4.1–5.11) and again in a similar series of events in 443, under this same Quinctius’ fifth consulship (Livy 4.9.12–10.9). The story seems at origin to have been based on the rescue of M. Minucius Rufus from HANNIBAL by Q. Fabius Maximus Verrucosus in 217 (Polyb. 3.103–5; Livy 22.29–30). It may be that the surviving stories of Cincinnatus conceal some kernel of historicity, but as we see him today, Cincinnatus is a cipher for the values and ideals associated with early Rome. In LIVY’ s narrative in particular, he has been molded to fit a type of Roman leader (represented also by CAMILLUS and Fabius Maximus Verrucosus), whose behavior is in some respects problematic but who is ulti- mately vindicated and whose selfless actions prove to be Rome’s salvation. In this capacity and as the ideal representative of such quintessential Roman virtues as frugality, industry, and dedication to duty, Cincinnatus was long a firm fixture in the Roman historical imagination. SEE ALSO: Dictator; Gens; Patricians. REFERENCES AND SUGGESTED READINGS Forsythe, G. (2005) A critical history of early Rome: 204–73. London. Ogilvie, R. M. (1965) A commentary on Livy, Books 1–5: 416–45. Oxford. Solari, A. (1934) “Cincinnato e le lotte con gli Equi e i Volsci secondo Livio.” In Studi Liviani: 67–80. Rome. Piganiol, A. (1920) “La le ´gende des Quinctii.” Me´langesd’arche ´ologie et d’histoire 38: 285–316. The Encyclopedia of Ancient History, First Edition. Edited by Roger S. Bagnall, Kai Brodersen, Craige B. Champion, Andrew Erskine, and Sabine R. Huebner, print pages 1507–1508. © 2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Published 2013 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd. DOI: 10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah20112 1