Gnaeus Cornelius Cossus (consul 409 BC)
Gnaeus Cornelius Cossus was a
Cornelius belonged to the Cornelia gens, one of the older patrician gentes of the Republic. Cornelius' father was the Roman hero Aulus Cornelius Cossus who had slain the King of the Veii, Lars Tolumnius, in single combat. Cornelius had two known brothers, Aulus Cornelius Cossus, consul in 413 BC and Publius Cornelius Cossus, consular tribune in 408 BC. There are no known children of Cornelius.[2]
Career
Cornelius first held the
Cornelius was elected as one of two ordinary consuls in 409 BC. His consular colleague was
Conflicting traditions and censor
The sources covering this period in the history of Rome are sporadic and usually contradictory. The identity and traditions surrounding Cornelius are no exception. Cornelius, as the consular tribune in 414 BC, was given the praenomen of Gaius by Diodorus, Gnaeus by Livy and his name was completely missing from the Fasti Capitolini. Gnaeus is preferred by most modern scholars as Gaius is otherwise unattested among the Cornelia. Diodorus again strays from our other sources in 409 BC and has Pompeius instead of Cornelius. It is again assumed that the ancient historian was incorrect in this regard as no member of the Pompeia appears again until the 2nd century BC.[11]
Cornelius could have been one of the unknown
See also
- Cornelia gens – Ancient Roman family
References
- ^ Broughton, Magistrates of the Roman Republic, 1951, vol i, pp.74-75, 77-78
- ^ Broughton, vol i
- ^ Chronograph of 354 (Vivullano II et Potito)
- Ab Urbe Condita, iv. 49.7-50.6
- ^ Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca historica, xiii 38.1
- ^ Broughton, vol i, pp.74-75
- ^ Chr.354 (Cosso et Medulliano)
- ^ Livy. iv. 54.1-56.1
- ^ Diodorus, xiii, 80.1
- ^ Broughton, vol i, pp.77-78
- ^ Broughton, vol i, pp.75 (note 1), 78 (note 1)
- ^ Suolahti, Jakkko. Roman Censors: A Study on Social Structure, 1963, pp.176, 619-620