Spurius Maelius (died 439 BC) was a wealthy Roman plebeian who was slain because he was suspected of intending to make himself king. [1]
During a severe famine, Spurius Maelius bought up a large amount of wheat and sold it at a low price to the people of Rome. According to Livy, Lucius Minucius Augurinus, the patrician praefectus annonae (president of the market), thereupon accused him of collecting arms in Maelius' house, and that he was holding secret meetings at which plans were being undoubtedly formed to establish a monarchy. The cry was taken up. Maelius, summoned before the aged Cincinnatus (specially appointed dictator ), refused to appear, and was slain by the Master of the Horse, Gaius Servilius Ahala. Afterward his house was razed to the ground, his wheat distributed amongst the people, and his property confiscated. The open space called the Equimaelium, on which his house had stood, preserved the memory of his death along the Vicus Jugarius. Cicero calls Ahala's deed a glorious one, but, whether Maelius entertained any ambitious projects or not, his summary execution was an act of murder, since by the Lex Valeria Horatia de provocatione the dictator was bound to allow the right of appeal. [2]
Year 439 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Lanatus and Barbatus. The denomination 439 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
Lucius QuinctiusCincinnatus was a Roman patrician, statesman, and military leader of the early Roman Republic who became a legendary figure of Roman virtue— particularly civic virtue —by the time of the late Republic.
The gens Furia, originally written Fusia, and sometimes found as Fouria on coins, was one of the most ancient and noble patrician houses at Rome. Its members held the highest offices of the state throughout the period of the Roman Republic. The first of the Furii to attain the consulship was Sextus Furius Medullinus in 488 BC.
Gaius Servilius Ahala was a 5th-century BC politician of ancient Rome, considered by many later writers to have been a hero. His fame rested on the contention that he saved Rome from Spurius Maelius in 439 BC by killing him with a dagger concealed under an armpit. This may be less historical fact and more etiological myth, invented to explain the Servilian cognomen "Ahala"/"Axilla", which means "armpit" and is probably of Etruscan origin.
The gens Papiria was a patrician family at ancient Rome. According to tradition, the Papirii had already achieved prominence in the time of the kings, and the first Rex Sacrorum and Pontifex Maximus of the Republic were members of this gens. Lucius Papirius Mugillanus was the first of the Papirii to obtain the consulship in 444 BC. The patrician members of the family regularly occupied the highest offices of the Roman state down to the time of the Punic Wars. Their most famous member was Lucius Papirius Cursor, five times consul between 326 and 313 BC, who earned three triumphs during the Samnite Wars. Most of the Papirii who held office under the later Republic belonged to various plebeian branches of the family. Although the most illustrious Papirii flourished in the time of the Republic, a number of the family continued to hold high office during the first two centuries of the Empire.
Lucius Minucius Esquilinus Augurinus was a Roman politician in the 5th century BC, consul in 458 BC, and decemvir from 450 to 449 BC.
The gens Minucia was an ancient Roman family, which flourished from the earliest days of the Republic until imperial times. The gens was apparently of patrician origin, but was better known by its plebeian branches. The first of the Minucii to hold the consulship was Marcus Minucius Augurinus, elected consul in 497 BC.
The gens Postumia was a noble patrician family at ancient Rome. Throughout the history of the Republic, the Postumii frequently occupied the chief magistracies of the Roman state, beginning with Publius Postumius Tubertus, consul in 505 BC, the fifth year of the Republic. Although like much of the old Roman aristocracy, the Postumii faded for a time into obscurity under the Empire, individuals bearing the name of Postumius again filled a number of important offices from the second century AD to the end of the Western Empire.
The gens Servilia was a patrician family at ancient Rome. The gens was celebrated during the early ages of the Republic, and the names of few gentes appear more frequently at this period in the consular Fasti. It continued to produce men of influence in the state down to the latest times of the Republic, and even in the imperial period. The first member of the gens who obtained the consulship was Publius Servilius Priscus Structus in 495 BC, and the last of the name who appears in the consular Fasti is Quintus Servilius Silanus, in AD 189, thus occupying a prominent position in the Roman state for nearly seven hundred years.
The gens Lucretia was a prominent family of the Roman Republic. Originally patrician, the gens later included a number of plebeian families. The Lucretii were one of the most ancient gentes, and the second wife of Numa Pompilius, the second King of Rome, was named Lucretia. The first of the Lucretii to obtain the consulship was Spurius Lucretius Tricipitinus in 509 BC, the first year of the Republic.
Titus Quinctius Capitolinus Barbatus was a Roman statesman and general who served as consul six times. Titus Quinctius was a member of the gens Quinctia, one of the oldest patrician families in Rome.
Lucius Julius Vop. f. C. n. Iulus was a member of the ancient patrician gens Julia. He was one of the consular tribunes of 438 BC, magister equitum in 431, and consul in 430 BC.
Gaius Julius S. f. Vop. n. Iulus was a Roman statesman and member of the ancient patrician gens Julia. He was consular tribune in 408 and 405 BC, and censor in 393.
The gens Maelia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens are mentioned in the time of the early Republic, from just after the decemvirs down to the Samnite Wars. The Maelii belonged to the equestrian order, and were among the wealthiest of the plebeians. The most famous of the Maelii was probably Spurius Maelius, a wealthy merchant who purchased grain from the Etruscans during a famine in 440 BC, and sold it to the poor at a nominal price. The following year, the patricians accused him of conspiring to make himself king, and when he resisted arrest he was slain by the magister equitum, Gaius Servilius Ahala.
The gens Mummia was a plebeian family at Rome. Members of this gens are first mentioned after the Second Punic War, and within a generation, Lucius Mummius Achaicus became the first of the family to obtain the consulship. Although they were never numerous, Mummii continued to fill the highest offices of the state through the third century AD.
The gens Oppia was an ancient Roman family, known from the first century of the Republic down to imperial times. The gens may originally have been patrician, as they supplied priestesses to the College of Vestals at a very early date, but all of the Oppii known to history were plebeians. None of them obtained the consulship until imperial times.
Lucius Papirius Crassus was a consul of the Roman republic in 436 BC and possibly a censor in 430 BC.
Marcus Cornelius Maluginensis was a consul of the Roman Republic in 436 BC.
Gaius Servilius Axilla was an aristocrat and statesman in the early Roman Republic. He held the senior offices of consul in 427 BC and consular tribune in 419, 418 and 417 BC.