Publius Cornelius Arvina

Last updated

Publius Cornelius Arvina [1] [2] was a Roman politician and general who lived in the late 4th century and early 3rd century BC, who served as consul of the Roman Republic twice, and as censor once.

Contents

Family

Arvina was a member of the illustrious patrician gens of the Cornelii, a family which created many important figures throughout the Roman Republic and into the Roman Empire. In particular, Arvina was a member of the branch of the Cornelii Cossi, which was descended from the 5th century Roman hero Aulus Cornelius Cossus, who achieved great renown by personally slaying Lars Tolumnius, the king of Veii, becoming one of only three Romans in recorded history to win the rare honor of the Spolia opima. Arvina was the son of Aulus Cornelius Cossus Arvina, who himself had an illustrious career in the mid 4th century, achieving the consulate twice and becoming dictator once.

First consulship

In 306 BC, Arvina was elected as consul for the first time, serving alongside Quintus Marcius Tremulus. In this year, the Second Samnite War, which had been raging for twenty years at this point, continued, with the Samnites having just retaken the Roman occupied cities of Calatia and Sora by storm. Additionally, the Hernici, who were allies of the Samnites, had been caught supplying them with troops the previous year, and thus declared war on Rome. In order to combat these two enemies, the Senate assigned Arvina to fight the Samnites and Marcius to take on the Hernici. Arvina's campaign against the Samnites did not start off well, as despite his force outnumbering that of his Samnite opponents, the Samnites blocked roads and took mountain passes, blocking the Romans' supply lines in an attempt to starve them into submission. Thus even when Arvina challenged for battle, which was often, the Samnites refused every single time, knowing that a battle would likely result in their defeat and that it would be far less risky to just wait until the Romans starved enough to come to the bargaining table. Upon hearing of his colleague's predicament, Marcius, who had already finished subduing the Hernici, came to the relief of Arvina. Upon hearing of the approach of the second consular army, the Samnites knew that they could not withstand two Roman armies attacking at once, so they attempted to attack the force of Marcius before he could come to the aid of Arvina. Upon noticing the advance of the Samnites, Marcius ordered his men to get into battle formation, and battle was commenced. Upon seeing the cloud of dust caused by the motion of the Samnites, Arvina ordered his men to advance on the Samnite flank, which the men, not wanting the glory of victory to fall to the other army in both campaigns, did with great vigor, charging into the enemy lines. Thus, the battle became a rout, as the Samnites fled the field in droves, with up to thirty thousand Samnite men being killed. After the battle, Arvina remained in Samnium, while Marcius returned to Rome to celebrate his triumph over his victory against the Hernici. [3]

Censorship and Second Consulship

In 294 BC, Arvina served as Censor alongside Gaius Marcius Rutilus Censorinus. In their term, Arvina and Rutilus conducted the census, counting 262,321 Roman citizens. [4]

In 288 BC, Arvina was elected consul for a second time, once again with Quintus Marcius Tremulus as his colleague. As Livy, the main source for early Roman history, is not extant for this period, nothing is known of the actions taken during his consulship, however, it is likely that during this year there was much popular unrest, as the final plebeian secession occurred the next year. [5]

Related Research Articles

Samnite Wars Three wars between the Roman Republic and the Samnites in Central Italy, 343–290 BC

The First, Second, and Third Samnite Wars were fought between the Roman Republic and the Samnites, who lived on a stretch of the Apennine Mountains south of Rome and north of the Lucanians.

Cornelia gens Ancient Roman family

The gens Cornelia was one of the greatest patrician houses at ancient Rome. For more than seven hundred years, from the early decades of the Republic to the third century AD, the Cornelii produced more eminent statesmen and generals than any other gens. At least seventy-five consuls under the Republic were members of this family, beginning with Servius Cornelius Maluginensis in 485 BC. Together with the Aemilii, Claudii, Fabii, Manlii, and Valerii, the Cornelii were almost certainly numbered among the gentes maiores, the most important and powerful families of Rome, who for centuries dominated the Republican magistracies. All of the major branches of the Cornelian gens were patrician, but there were also plebeian Cornelii, at least some of whom were descended from freedmen.

Marcia gens Ancient Roman family

The gens Marcia, occasionally written Martia, was one of the oldest and noblest houses at ancient Rome. They claimed descent from the second and fourth Roman Kings, and the first of the Marcii appearing in the history of the Republic would seem to have been patrician; but all of the families of the Marcii known in the later Republic were plebeian. The first to obtain the consulship was Gaius Marcius Rutilus in 357 BC, only a few years after the passage of the lex Licinia Sextia opened this office to the plebeians.

Publius Decius Mus (consul 340 BC)

Publius Decius Mus, son of Quintus, of the plebeian gens Decia, was a Roman consul in 340 BC. He is noted particularly for sacrificing himself in battle through the ritual of devotio, as recorded by the Augustan historian Livy.

Sempronia gens Ancient Roman family

The gens Sempronia was one of the most ancient and noble houses of ancient Rome. Although the oldest branch of this gens was patrician, with Aulus Sempronius Atratinus obtaining the consulship in 497 BC, the thirteenth year of the Republic, but from the time of the Samnite Wars onward, most if not all of the Sempronii appearing in history were plebeians. Although the Sempronii were illustrious under the Republic, few of them attained any importance or notice in imperial times.

The gens Aulia was a Roman family during the period of the Republic. The gens was probably plebeian, but only a few members are known to history. The most illustrious of the family was Quintus Aulius Cerretanus, who obtained the consulship twice, in 323 and 319 BC, during the Second Samnite War.

Lucius Furius Medullinus, of the patrician gens Furia, was a politician and general of the Roman Republic who was consul twice and Consular Tribune seven times.

Battle of Saticula Second of three battles described by the Roman historian Livy

The Battle of Saticula, 343 BC, was the second of three battles described by the Roman historian Livy, in Book Seven of his history of Rome, Ab Urbe Condita, as taking place in the first year of the First Samnite War. According to Livy's extensive description, the Roman commander, the consul Aulus Cornelius Cossus was marching from Saticula when he was almost trapped by a Samnite army in a mountain pass. His army was only saved because one of his military tribunes, Publius Decius Mus, led a small group of men to seize a hilltop, distracting the Samnites and allowing the consul to escape. During the night Decius and his men were themselves able to escape. The next day the reunited Romans attacked the Samnites and completely routed them. Several other ancient authors also mention Decius' heroic acts. Modern historians are however sceptical of the historical accuracy of Livy's account, and have in particular noted the similarities with how a military tribune is said to have saved Roman army in 258 BC during the First Punic War.

Quintus Marcius Tremulus was a Roman plebeian magistrate. He was first elected in 306 BC with Publius Cornelius Arvina. In his first consulate Tremulus led wars, which were won with ease, against the Hernici and Anagni. When Tremulus returned to Rome an equestrian statue dedicated to him was erected in front of the Temple of Castor.

Lucius Fulvius Curvus was an aristocrat of the middle Roman Republic and consul prior in 322 BC with Quintus Fabius Maximus Rullianus. He is the first of the gens Fulvia documented in the history of Rome.

Aulus Cornelius Cossus was a politician and general in the early Roman Republic who was appointed dictator in 385 BC to quell the alleged revolution of Marcus Manlius Capitolinus.

Publius Cornelius Rutilus Cossus was a statesman and military commander from the early Roman Republic who served as Dictator in 408 BC.

Aulus Sempronius Atratinus was a consular tribune of the Roman Republic in 425, 420, 416 BC and possibly consul in 428 BC.

Gnaeus Cornelius Cossus was a consular tribune in 414 BC and consul in 409 BC of the Roman Republic.

Lucius Valerius Potitus was a five time consular tribune, in 414, 406, 403, 401 and 398, and two times consul, in 393 and 392 BC, of the Roman Republic.

Aulus Cornelius Cossus Arvina was a Roman politician and general who served as both consul and Magister Equitum twice, and Dictator once in the mid 4th century BC.

Publius Cornelius Maluginensis was a consular tribune of the Roman Republic in 404 BC.

References

  1. ↑ Fasti Capitolini 294 BC
  2. ↑ Oakley, Commentary on Livy books 6–10, p. 578
  3. ↑ Livy, IX, 42
  4. ↑ Livy, X, 47
  5. ↑ Broughton, pp.185

Bibliography

Political offices
Preceded by Roman consul
306 BC
With: Quintus Marcius Tremulus 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Roman consul II
288 BC
With: Quintus Marcius Tremulus  II		Succeeded by
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.