Servius Sulpicius Camerinus Cornutus ( 461–446 BC) was a Roman politician in the 5th century BC,

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 th ...

in 461 BC and '' decemvir'' in 451 BC.

Family

He was the son of Quintus Sulpicius Camerinus Cornutus (consul in 490 BC), and father of Quintus Sulpicius Camerinus Cornutus (

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 402 BC and 398 BC).

Biography

Consulship

In 461 BC, he was consul with Publius Volumnius Amintinus Gallus. Their terms occurred during a period of political tensions between the

tribunes of the plebs Tribune of the plebs, tribune of the people or plebeian tribune ( la, tribunus plebis) was the first office of the Roman state that was open to the plebeians, and was, throughout the history of the Republic, the most important check on the power of ...

, who demanded that the rights of the consuls be written down (drafted in the ''lex Terentilia'') and the conservative patricians who opposed limitations to the consular power. The consuls tried to raise troops against the

Aequi 300px, Location of the Aequi (Equi) in central Italy, 5th century BC. The Aequi ( grc, Αἴκουοι and Αἴκοι) were an Italic tribe on a stretch of the Apennine Mountains to the east of Latium in central Italy who appear in the early hi ...

and the

Volsci The Volsci (, , ) were an Italic tribe, well known in the history of the first century of the Roman Republic. At the time they inhabited the partly hilly, partly marshy district of the south of Latium, bounded by the Aurunci and Samnites on the ...

, traditional enemies of

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. The tribunes used their veto to block the levy. Four of the tribunes called the people to vote on their legal draft (the ''lex Terentilia''). The consuls refused to preside over the ballot and young patricians provoked trouble. The political process was paralysed most of the year as a result. It is in this context that Aulus Verginius, one of the plebeian tribunes, brought the young

Caeso Quinctius Caeso Quinctius L. f. L. n. Cincinnatus was a son of the Roman dictator Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus. His trial for obstructing the tribunes of the plebs in 461 BC was one of the key events in the Conflict of the Orders in the years leading up to ...

to trial on a capital charge of obstructing the

based primarily on the testimony of Marcus Volscius Fictor.

''Decemvirate''

In 454 BC, the patricians and the tribunes of the plebs came to a compromise and the Senate finally approved sending a delegation of three senators, among them Servius Sulpicius, to Athens and

Southern Italy Southern Italy ( it, Sud Italia or ) also known as ''Meridione'' or ''Mezzogiorno'' (), is a macroregion of the Italian Republic consisting of its southern half. The term ''Mezzogiorno'' today refers to regions that are associated with the peop ...

in order to study Greek law.

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a 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 traditional founding in ...

refers to Publius Sulpicius being a member of the delegation. However, given that the decemvirs in the First ''Decemvirate'' appear to be former consuls, it seems probable Servius Sulpicius was a member of the delegation as well. The three Roman ambassadors returned in 452 BC and the report they gave to the Senate led to the creation of an extraordinary office, the ''decemviri consulari imperio legibus scribonis'' (decemviri writing the law with consular power). In 451 BC, Servius Sulpicius was in office while on the first commission of the decemvirs and participated in drafting the first ten of the

twelve tables The Laws of the Twelve Tables was the legislation that stood at the foundation of Roman law. Formally promulgated in 449 BC, the Tables consolidated earlier traditions into an enduring set of laws.Crawford, M.H. 'Twelve Tables' in Simon Hornblowe ...

End of Career

Fall of the decemvirs

In 449 BC, the Second ''Decemvirate'' had stayed in power illegally, contrary to the will of the patricians and the plebeians. The armies sent to combat the Aequi and the

Sabines The Sabines (; lat, Sabini; it, Sabini, all exonyms) were an Italic people who lived in the central Apennine Mountains of the ancient Italian Peninsula, also inhabiting Latium north of the Anio before the founding of Rome. The Sabines di ...

, commanded by eight of the ten decemvirs, revolted, returning to Rome and assembling on

Monte Sacro __NoToC__ The Mons Sacer, Sacer Mons, or Sacred Mount is a hill in Rome, famed as the location of the first secession of the plebs, in 494 BC.''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography'', vol. II, p. 871 ("Sacer Mons"). Geography The Mons Sacer i ...

, They demanded that the decemvirs step down. The consuls Servius Sulpicius, Spurius Tarpeius, and Gaius Julius had envoys negotiate with the plebs who had left the city. Finally, the decemvirs left their positions, eight went into exile while two were prosecuted in court, but took their own lives during the process.

Legate

In 446 BC, Servius Sulpicius would have been legate under the orders of the consuls

Titus Quinctius Capitolinus Barbatus Titus Quinctius Capitolinus Barbatus (513 BCafter 423 BC) 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. He was the son of L ...

and Agrippa Furius Fusus during the campaign conducted against the

, ''Ab urbe condita'', III. 70.2-5

References

Bibliography

Ancient bibliography

, ''

Ab urbe condita ''Ab urbe condita'' ( 'from the founding of the City'), or ''anno urbis conditae'' (; 'in the year since the city's founding'), abbreviated as AUC or AVC, expresses a date in years since 753 BC, the traditional founding of Rome. It is an ex ...

'' *

Diodorus Siculus Diodorus Siculus, or Diodorus of Sicily ( grc-gre, Διόδωρος ; 1st century BC), was an ancient Greek historian. He is known for writing the monumental universal history '' Bibliotheca historica'', in forty books, fifteen of which ...

,
Universal History
'

on the sit
Philippe Remacle
*

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 style ...

,
Roman Antiquities
'

an

at

LacusCurtius LacusCurtius is a website specializing in ancient Rome, currently hosted on a server at the University of Chicago. It went online on August 26, 1997; in July 2021 it had "3707 webpages, 765 photos, 772 drawings & engravings, 120 plans, 139 maps." T ...

Modern bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sulpicius Camerinus Cornutus, Servius 5th-century BC Roman consuls Ancient Roman decemvirs Camerinus Cornutus, Servius