__NOTOC__ Aulus Cornelius Cossus was a Roman general from the early

Republic A republic () is a " state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th ...

. He is most famous for being the second Roman, after Romulus, to be awarded the ''

spolia opima The ''spolia opima'' ("rich spoils") were the armour, arms, and other effects that an ancient Roman general stripped from the body of an opposing commander slain in single combat. The ''spolia opima'' were regarded as the most honourable of th ...

,'' Rome's highest military honor, for killing the commander of an enemy army in single combat. Only three Romans ever achieved this feat, but a fourth winner was officially denied the honor by a jealous Consul Caesar Octavianus (later

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...

) who insisted the honor was limited exclusively to Roman commanders. Cornelius Cossus proves otherwise. The achievement happened at the Battle of Fidenae in 437 BC when Rome faced the forces of Fidenae (a Roman colony in revolt) allied with both the

Falerii Falerii (now Fabrica di Roma) was a city in southern Etruria, 50 km (31 mi) northeast of Rome, 34 km (21 mi) from Veii (a major Etruscan city-state near the River Tiber) and about 1.5 km (0.9 mi) west of the ancient Via Flaminia. It was the main ...

and

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

, among Rome's most longstanding and powerful enemies. The Romans fought under the command of Dictator

Mamercus Aemilius Mamercinus Mamercus Aemilius Mamercinus was a political figure in the Roman Republic, serving as consular tribune in 438 BC and dictator three times in 437, 434, and 426 BC. Prior to gaining the imperium Aemilius was, in 446 BC, elected Quaestor together wi ...

, the enemy fought under the command of King

Lars Tolumnius Lars Tolumnius ( Etruscan: Larth Tulumnes, d. 437 BC) was the most famous king of the wealthy Etruscan city-state of Veii, roughly ten miles northwest of Rome, best remembered for instigating a war with Rome that ended in a decisive Roman victory. ...

. According to

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 ...

's account, the "remarkably handsome" cavalry officer Cornelius Cossus identified the king during battle and promptly charged him, unhorsing him with his spear. Cornelius Cossus nimbly used the spear to vault off his own horse, and as Lars Tolumnius attempted to get back on his feet, Cornelius Cossus smashed him back to the ground with the boss of his shield. As the king sprawled on the ground, Cornelius Cossus speared him several times, killing him. He then decapitated the king, spiked his head on his spear and paraded it before his now-leaderless enemy army, which panicked and fled. The People & Senate agreed to award Dictator Mamercus Aemilius Mamercinus a Triumph for the victory, but Aulus Cornelius Cossus, winner of the spolia optima, became the triumph's central focus. Following Romulus' example, Cornelius Cossus solemnly placed his spolia optima secunda (a display of the king's sword, shield, and armor) near Romulus' spolia optima prima inside the Temple of

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but slightly less than one-thousand ...

Feretrius on the

Capitoline Hill The Capitolium or Capitoline Hill ( ; it, Campidoglio ; la, Mons Capitolinus ), between the Forum and the Campus Martius, is one of the Seven Hills of Rome. The hill was earlier known as ''Mons Saturnius'', dedicated to the god Saturn. ...

. In 428 BC Cornelius Cossus was elected to Rome's highest office, at the time called praetor, later

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 throu ...

. The year was mostly known for a horrible drought and plague. There was no rain, the streams and lakes dried up, and even the Tiber barely flowed. Cattle died in huge numbers from thirst, the survivors died from disease. People began getting sick from the cattle, and all sorts of foreign superstitions took hold, and religious scammers became so common the aediles were ordered to ensure only Roman gods were worshipped in the prescribed, traditional manner. In 426 BC Cornelius Cossus was elected one of four consular tribunes ('' tribunus militum consulari potestate'') a wartime senior magistracy, abolished in 367 BC by the Lex Licinia Sextia. Cossus is to hold Rome while the other three consular tribunes (

Gaius Furius Pacilus Fusus Gaius Furius Pacilus Fusus was a Roman statesman of the early Republic.''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', vol. III, p. 80 ("Pacilus", Nos. 1, 2). He was a descendant of the ancient patrician house of the Furii, which fille ...

, Marcus Postumius and Titus Quinctius Pennus Cincinnatus) lead the Roman army to Veii, where they are defeated more by their own unwillingness to work together than they are by the Veientes. The people were panicked and demanded a

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 time ...

to avenge this defeat, so Consular Tribune Cornelius Cossus nominated his commander

from the Battle of Fidenae. Since his triumph, Aemilius Mamercinus had his citizenship degraded by the Censors in retribution for reducing their terms. The Senate agreed with the nomination and appointed Aemilius Mamercinus dictator. He, in turn, appointed Cornelius Cossus his second-in-command, magister equitum (

master of the horse Master of the Horse is an official position in several European nations. It was more common when most countries in Europe were monarchies, and is of varying prominence today. (Ancient Rome) The original Master of the Horse ( la, Magister Equitu ...

). The dictator recalled the army home from Veii and ordered them to set up a fortified position outside the Colline gate. A garrison was placed on the city walls, the city was shut down, and Mamercinus called for a public assembly. He gave a speech framing the prior defeat as nothing more than an insignificant reversal of fortune and reproached everyone for getting carried away on their emotions. He explained that the loss was not because of any deficiency of the Roman army, or any great accomplishment by the enemy but a mere failure of leadership, and reminded Rome that they have beat the Veientines already six times- they had captured Fidenae almost more often than it had been attacked. He reminded them that he'd already defeated a combined force of Veii, Fidenae, and Faliscans and his lieutenant was Cornelius Cossus, hero of Rome, the man who'd won the spolia opima! He concluded by enumerating the crimes and outrages of the enemy and promised that when he attacked the enemy he would guarantee the Roman people a far better service than the Censors who'd attacked him. On the following day, the Romans marched to within a mile of Fidenae and the battle is joined. Things were going well for the Romans until a huge army armed only with torches floods out of the city gates and into the Roman army like berserkers. The Romans panic, but Aemilius Mamercinus got them back in the fight then ordered the cavalry attack. Cornelius Cossus had already ordered his cavalry to remove the bits from their horses, and between the dust they kicked up and the smoke, the horses could not see the fire, much less be afraid of it. Everywhere the Roman cavalry went it left heaps of dead. The Romans took the enemy camp, then the enemy city, looted them both, and Aemilius Mamercinus and Cornelius Cossus once again returned to Rome at the head of victorious Roman army. Livy notes that A. Cornelius Cossus is elected Praetor (Consul) in 413 BC, but doesn't identify him as being the man who won the spolia optima; it may be his namesake son.

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 ...

and

Cassiodorus Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus Senator (c. 485 – c. 585), commonly known as Cassiodorus (), was a Roman statesman, renowned scholar of antiquity, and writer serving in the administration of Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths. ''Senator'' ...

say it was not Aulus Cornelius Cossus, but rather his son Marcus Cornelius Cossus.Broughton, pg. 76 This year is missing from the

Fasti Capitolini The ''Fasti Capitolini'', or Capitoline Fasti, are a list of the chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, extending from the early fifth century BC down to the reign of Augustus, the first Roman emperor. Together with similar lists found at Rom ...

list of Rome's highest magistrates.

References

Sources

* T. R. S. Broughton, ''The Magistrates of the Roman Republic. Vol. 1: 509 B.C. – 100 B.C.'', Case Western Reserve University Press, Cleveland/Ohio, 1951. *

Anthony Everitt Anthony Everitt (born 31 January 1940)EVERITT, Anthony Michael
''Who's Who 201 ...

, ''The Rise of Rome. The making of the Worlds's Greatest Empire'', 2012. * L. Richardson, jr, ''A New Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome'', Baltimore - London, 1992. p. 219
Livy - ''Ad Urbe Condita''

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cornelius Cossus, Aulus 5th-century BC clergy 5th-century BC Roman consuls Ancient Roman generals Characters in Book VI of the Aeneid Cossus, Aulus Magistri equitum (Roman Republic) Pontifices maximi of the Roman Republic