Lucius Volumnius Flamma Violens

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Lucius Volumnius Flamma Violens was one of Rome's leading plebeian statesmen during the Samnite Wars .

First consulate (307 BC)

He came from the plebeian gens Volumnia coming from Etruria , the 461 BC. With Publius Volumnius Amintinus Gallus had already provided a consul . After the consular fast, Flamma Violens was the son and grandson of a Gaius , about whom nothing is known. His career is closely linked to that of the Roman folk hero Appius Claudius Caecus , with whom he held the consulate twice.

During his first consulate in 307 he fought successfully against the Sallentines . According to Livius, there were ambiguities among the annalists : According to some, Volumnius initially carried out his office without colleagues, since Appius is said to have been a censor and was therefore prevented from performing his official duties. Lucius Calpurnius Piso Frugi, on the other hand, skipped the whole year because he thought it was interpolated .

Second consulate (296 BC) and further life

The choice of consuls for 296 was problematic because Appius Quintus wanted Fabius Maximus Rullianus as a colleague, but this failed because two patricians were forbidden in the Oberamt; so Volumnius was chosen. The consuls of the previous year, Rullianus and Publius Decius Mus , were left with their offices. Volumnius had to fight against the Samnites and Lucanians . The help for his colleague Appius in Etruria , which he had allegedly requested by letter, met with complete refusal. It was only at the request of the soldiers that Appius was ready to act together and vowed to build a temple to Bellona , the goddess of war , whereupon the Romans achieved a brilliant victory. Volumnius now returned to his theater of war and repulsed a Samnite incursion into Campania .

He then went to Rome to hold the elections, which he conducted with prudence. He was perhaps the first plebeian to preside over an electoral assembly. After his term of office he stayed as proconsul in Samnium, where he won on Mount Tifernus and together with Appius in the ager Stellatinus . In 293 he commanded the right wing in the victorious battle of Aquilonia against the Samnites and captured the enemy camp. After that he is no longer mentioned.

Meaning and afterlife

Volumnius was married to the patrician Verginia , the daughter of an otherwise unknown Aulus Verginius . In 296 there was a scandal when Verginia was refused entry to the altar of Pudicitia patricia by the other patricians because of her improper marriage . So out of annoyance she had an altar built in her house for the Pudicitia plebeia . Volumnius was undoubtedly one of the most important plebeians of his time, who is portrayed in Livius as a moderating element to his patrician colleague Appius, who was depicted as arrogant. The successes of Decius in the year 296 were partly ascribed to him alone or together with his counterpart in the annals. Some also incorrectly named Volumnius as a participant in the Battle of Sentinum . An annalistic tradition hostile to Decius can be assumed behind this.

His second Cognomen Violens , which has hardly any evidence in the Roman nomenclature, is probably ahistorical and finds a parallel in the 1st century BC. In the urn inscription from the burial place of the Volumnii in Perusia , where a P. Volumnius A. f. Violens is called. The Etruscan rendering VILE of the Greek hero Iolaos could be hidden behind Violens . Volumnii did not reappear in public life in Rome until the late republic.

literature

  • Thomas Robert Shannon Broughton : The Magistrates of the Roman Republic . Vol. 1, New York 1951, pp. 164f. 176-178. 181.
  • Jacques Heurgon : Speaking of you cognomen Violens et you tombeau des Volumnii . In: Archeologia Classica 10, 1958, 148–158, bsd. 152.

Remarks

  1. ↑ Livy 9,42,4f.
  2. ↑ Livy 9,42,2f.
  3. ↑ Livy 9,44,3f.
  4. ↑ Livy 10.15.7-12.
  5. ↑ Livy 10.18.5-19.22.
  6. ↑ Livy 10:20, 1–21, 12.
  7. ↑ Livy 10:21, 13-22.9.
  8. ↑ Livy 10,30,5f. 31.5-7.
  9. ↑ Livy 10,40,7. 41.9-12.
  10. ↑ Livy 10:23, 3-10.
  11. ↑ Livy 10:17, 11f.
  12. ↑ Livy 10,30,6f.
  13. ↑ CIL 11, 1963 = CIE 3763: Pup. Velimna au cahatial , to which P. Volumnius A. f. Violens Cafatia natus corresponds to "Publius Volumnius Violens, son of Aulus, daughter of Cafatia", since no cognomen was set in Etruscan.
personal data
SURNAME Volumnius Flamma Violens, Lucius
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Flamma Violens, Lucius Volumnius
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Roman consul 307 BC BC and 296 BC Chr.
DATE OF BIRTH before 307 BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH after 296 BC Chr.