Publius Cornelius Cossus was a

consular tribune 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 408 BC 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 ...

. Cornelius belonged to the

Cornelia gens 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 othe ...

, one of the older patrician

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 ...

of the Republic. Cornelius father was the Roman hero

Aulus Cornelius Cossus __NOTOC__ Aulus Cornelius Cossus was a Roman general from the early Republic. He is most famous for being the second Roman, after Romulus, to be awarded the ''spolia opima,'' Rome's highest military honor, for killing the commander of an enemy arm ...

who had slewn the King of the

Veii Veii (also Veius; it, Veio) was an important ancient Etruscan city situated on the southern limits of Etruria and north-northwest of Rome, Italy. It now lies in Isola Farnese, in the comune of Rome. Many other sites associated with and in the ...

, Lars Tolumnius, in single combat. Cornelius had two known brothers,

, consul in 413 BC and Gnaeus Cornelius Cossus, consul in 409 BC. Following filiations it would seem that Gnaeus Cornelius Cossus, consular tribune in 406, and Publius Cornelius Cossus, consular tribune in 395 BC, were the sons of Cornelius or his namesake, Publius Cornelius Cossus, consular tribune in 415 BC.

Career

Cornelius held the '' imperium'' in 408 BC as one of three consular tribunes. His colleagues in the office were Gaius Julius Iulus and Gaius Servilius Ahala. The college contained no member who was a previous consular and was uniquely inexperienced in this regard. The college seems to have been plagued by internal strife and Cornelius colleague Servilius moved against his colleagues and appointed a dictator,

Publius Cornelius Rutilus Cossus Publius Cornelius Rutilus Cossus was a statesman and military commander from the early Roman Republic who served as Dictator in 408 BC. Family Cossus belonged to the gens Cornelia, one of the most important patrician gentes of the Republic. H ...

. Chronograph of 354 (Iulo et Cosso) While Cornelius two colleagues would continue to flourish within the political scene with both being re-elected as consular tribunes in 407 and 405 BC respectively while Servilius would even reach the tribuneship for a third term in 402 BC.Broughton, vol i

References

{{s-end 5th-century BC Romans Roman Republic Roman consular tribunes Cornelii 408 BC

Career

See also

References