Lucius Furius Medullinus was a Roman politician active during the 5th century BC, and was consular tribune in 432, 425, and 420 BC.

Family

He was a member of the ''Furii Medullini'', a branch of the ''

gens In ancient Rome, a gens ( or , ; plural: ''gentes'' ) was a family consisting of individuals who shared the same Roman naming conventions#Nomen, nomen and who claimed descent from a common ancestor. A branch of a gens was called a ''stirps'' (p ...

Furia''. He was the son of Spurius Furius Medullinus Fusus, consul in 464 BC and the father of Lucius Furius Medullinus, consul in 413 and 409 BC, and of Marcus Furius Camillus, twice consular tribune in 403 and 381 BC. His complete name is ''Lucius Furius Sp. f. Medullinus''.

Biography

First consular tribunate

Medullinus was elected

military tribune with consular power A consular tribune was putatively a type of magistrate in the early Roman Republic. According to Roman tradition, colleges of consular tribunes held office throughout the fifth and fourth centuries BC during the so-called "Conflict of the Or ...

in 432 BC with two others:

Lucius Pinarius Mamercinus Lucius Pinarius Mamercinus was a consular tribune of the Roman republic in 432 BC. Background Pinarius belonged to the ancient patrician Pinaria gens which would fall into obscurity in the middle of the 4th century BC. Pinarius was the son of L ...

and

Spurius Postumius Albus Regillensis Spurius Postumius Albus Regillensis (died 439 BC) was a patrician politician of Ancient Rome. His filiation as reported in the ''Fasti Capitolini'' suggests he was the son of Aulus Postumius Albus Regillensis, consul 496 BC, and brother of Aulus ...

. According to Livy, the three tribunes were all newly made patricians. Livy, ''Roman History'', IV. 25 The plague did not seem to take many lives and because wheat was imported the year passed without the risk of famine. Nevertheless, social tensions remained a concern and the plebs regretted that no plebeian had been elected as a consular tribune so even that the institution of that new judiciary must have responded in kind. At the end of their term the differences between plebeian and patrician candidates was made clear: the consular tribunes had signed in a new law, the ''Lex Pinaria Furia Postumia'', which forced all candidates to carry a toga, the distinctive mark linked to their social rank. They organized the consular elections for the following year in the continuation of a '' Senatus consultum''. Livy, ''Roman History'', IV. 25.14

Second consular tribunate

In 425 BC, Medullinus was again made military tribune with consular power, with

Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus ( – ) 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. Cincinnatus was ...

, Aulus Sempronius Atratinus, and

Lucius Horatius Barbatus Marcus Horatius Turrinus Barbatus ( 450–449 BC) was a Roman senator from the early Republic, who served as consul in 449 BC alongside Lucius Valerius Poplicola Potitus. According to Roman historical tradition, he and Valerius played an importan ...

. Veientes had agreed to a twenty-year truce whereas which the Aequi obtained three years of peace. Livy, ''Roman History'', IV. 35

Third consular tribunate

In 420 BC, Medullinus was elected consular tribune for the third time, once again with Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus and Aulus Sempronius Aratinus, and with a new colleague, Marcus Manlius Vulso, all patricians. The election of the quaestors was conducted and overseen by Aulus Sempronius Atratinus who had opened the election to patrician candidates, which provoked the anger of tribunes of the plebs Aulus Antistius, Sextus Pompilius, and Marcus Canuleius. They moved to punish

Gaius Sempronius Atratinus Gaius Sempronius Atratinus was a consul of the Roman Republic in 423 BC. Sempronius belonged to the patrician Sempronia gens and the branch known as the Sempronii Atratini, one of the republic's oldest consular families, having reached the consul ...

(consul in 423 BC), the cousin of Aulus Sempronius Atratinus, for his conduct of the election for quaestors. Livy, ''Roman History'', IV. 44 The tribunes reproached Sempronius with the errors committed during the war against the Volsci at the time of his consulship and made him pay amends with a fine of 15,000 asses. It is during the third tribunal of Lucius Furius that Medullinus held the trial of the Vestal Postumia, suspected of deviant behavior, but who was finally acquitted.

References

Modern sources

Ancient sources

Bibliography

Ancient authors

* Titus Livius in ''Roman History'' book 4.

Modern authors

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Furius Medullinus, Lucius 5th-century BC Romans Medullinus, Lucius Roman consular tribunes Roman patricians