Gaius Aquillius Tuscus was

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throug ...

of the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Kin ...

in 487 BC together with

Titus Sicinius Sabinus Titus Sicinius (Sabinus?) or Siccius ( 487 BC - 480 BC) was a Roman Republican politician during the beginning of the 5th century BC. He served as Consul of Rome in 487 BC, serving together with Gaius Aquillius Tuscus.Livy, ''Ab urbe cond ...

. Aquillius led the war against the

Hernici The Hernici were an Italic tribe of ancient Italy, whose territory was in Latium between the Fucine Lake and the Sacco River (''Trerus''), bounded by the Volsci on the south, and by the Aequi and the Marsi on the north. For many years of the earl ...

. Not many details are known, but

Dionysius of Halicarnassus Dionysius of Halicarnassus ( grc, Διονύσιος Ἀλεξάνδρου Ἁλικαρνασσεύς, ; – after 7 BC) was a Greek historian and teacher of rhetoric, who flourished during the reign of Emperor Augustus. His literary sty ...

records that he was awarded an

ovation The ovation ( la, ovatio from ''ovare'': to rejoice) was a form of the Roman triumph. Ovations were granted when war was not declared between enemies on the level of nations or states; when an enemy was considered basely inferior (e.g., slaves, p ...

, a lesser form of

triumph The Roman triumph (Latin triumphus) was a celebration for a victorious military commander in ancient Rome. For later imitations, in life or in art, see Trionfo. Numerous later uses of the term, up to the present, are derived directly or indirectl ...

for his victory. C. Ampolo has argued that Aquillius was of

Etruscan __NOTOC__ Etruscan may refer to: Ancient civilization *The Etruscan language, an extinct language in ancient Italy *Something derived from or related to the Etruscan civilization **Etruscan architecture **Etruscan art **Etruscan cities ** Etrusca ...

origin, basing his argument in part on three wine pitchers of Etruscan origin, all bearing the name ''Avile Acvilnas'' (Latin, "Aulus Aquillius"). He has described the consul as an example of the horizontal social mobility that was common in the fifth and fourth centuries BC.Ampolo, "Gli Aquilii del V. Secolo a.C. e il Problema di Fasti Consolari piu antichi nell'Anno 487 BC", ''PdP'', 30 (1975), pp. 410-6; cited in Gary Forsythe, ''A Critical History of Early Rome'' (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2006), p. 164

References

Ancient sources

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Ancient Rome, Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditiona ...

, ''Roman History'
2.40
*

, ''Roman Antiquities''
viii. 64
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aquillius Tuscus, Gaius 5th-century BC Roman consuls Tuscus, Gaius