Gaius Plautius Proculus was the first member of the

gens In ancient Rome, a gens ( or , ; plural: ''gentes'' ) was a family consisting of individuals who shared the same nomen and who claimed descent from a common ancestor. A branch of a gens was called a ''stirps'' (plural: ''stirpes''). The ''gen ...

Plautia to achieve consular rank. Little is known of his life before becoming consul with Gaius Fabius Ambustus in 358 BC, although there is some archaeological evidence that his family came from Privernum.Nicola Terrenato, "Private Vis, Public Virtus: Family agendas during the early Roman expansion", in ''Roman Republican Colonization New Perspectives from Archaeology and Ancient History'', edited by Tesse D. Stek and Jeremia Pelgrom (Rome: Papers of the Royal Netherlands Institute in Rome, 2014), pp. 48f At the same time Gaius Sulpicius Peticus was made consul to deal with a

Gaulish Gaulish was an ancient Celtic language spoken in parts of Continental Europe before and during the period of the Roman Empire. In the narrow sense, Gaulish was the language of the Celts of Gaul (now France, Luxembourg, Belgium, most of Switzerl ...

threat. The two consuls led their armies against other opponents, Fabius against the

Etruscans The Etruscan civilization () was developed by a people of Etruria in ancient Italy with a common language and culture who formed a federation of city-states. After conquering adjacent lands, its territory covered, at its greatest extent, roug ...

and Plautius against raids made by the Privernates and 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 ea ...

. Although Fabius suffered a defeat in Etruria, Plautius was successful over his opponents, and after a second defeat in the following year, Privernum entered an alliance with Rome.Terrenato, "Private Vis", p. 49 In 356 BC, Plautius was appointed

Magister Equitum The , in English Master of the Horse or Master of the Cavalry, was a Roman magistrate appointed as lieutenant to a dictator. His nominal function was to serve as commander of the Roman cavalry in time of war, but just as a dictator could be nom ...

to the first

plebeian In ancient Rome, the plebeians (also called plebs) were the general body of free Roman citizens who were not patricians, as determined by the census, or in other words "commoners". Both classes were hereditary. Etymology The precise origins o ...

Dictator A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a small clique. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to rule the republic in ti ...

Gaius Marcius Rutilus Gaius Marcius Rutilus (also seen as "Rutulus") was the first plebeian dictator and censor of ancient Rome, and was consul four times. He was first elected consul in 357 BC, then appointed as dictator the following year in order to deal with an inv ...

. Nicola Terrenato interprets this as a signal that the Plautii were at the forefront of the plebeian push for more power, pointing out evidence that "it is not hard to see a political partnership between" Plautius and Rutilus.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Plautius Proculus, Gaius 4th-century BC Roman consuls Magistri equitum (Roman Republic) Proculus, Gaius