Marcus Horatius Pulvillus (Consul)

Marcus Horatius Pulvillus is a figure in Roman mythology . He belonged to the patrician dynasty of the Horatians . His nickname Pulvillus appears for the first time in Cicero 's de domo font .

The ancient historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus describes the participation of Marcus Horatius in the expulsion of the Tarquinians from Rome (around 510 BC), during which he met with the later consul Titus , very embellished (and therefore probably as part of a later version of the saga) Herminius is left behind in the camp of Ardea by King Tarquin . When the two heard of the coup in Rome, they refused the king's admission to the camp, concluded an armistice with the enemy and returned to Rome with the troops. Most ancient sources name Marcus Horatius as consul of the first year of the republic (509 BC) after Lucius Junius Brutus fell in battle, Spurius Lucretius Tricipitinus died after a few days and Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus went into exile. His counterpart was Publius Valerius Poplicola . With this he also led his second consulate (507 BC).

The only documented deed of Marcus Horatius that is mentioned in all sources was the consecration of the temple of Jupiter on the Capitol, built by the last Roman kings . Why he and not his older colleague Publius Valerius Poplicola was given this honor is a matter of dispute among ancient historians. Livius , Cassius Dio and Plutarch believe that it came to him by lot, while Dionysius (and Plutarch elsewhere) claim that Valerius was on a campaign at the time in question. There is also the anecdote that Marcus Horatius was informed of the death of his son during the consecration, but this did not disturb him. Livius, Plutarch and Cassius Dio try to put this passage into context with the claim that Marcus Valerius wanted to reserve the honor of consecration for his absent brother and therefore tried to break off the ceremony.

Other sources also name Marcus Horatius as a suffect consul or pontifex maximus .

literature

Karl-Ludwig Elvers: Horatius 6. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 10, Metzler, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-476-01480-0 , Sp. 589.
Friedrich Münzer: Horatius 15. In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen antiquity (RE). Volume VIII, 2, Stuttgart 1913, Col. 2401-2404.

Individual evidence

^ T. Robert S. Broughton : The Magistrates Of The Roman Republic. Volume 1: 509 BC - 100 BC (= Philological Monographs. Vol. 15, Part 1, ZDB -ID 418575-4 ). American Philological Association, New York NY 1951, p. 3, (Unchanged reprint 1968).

Web links

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personal data
SURNAME	Horatius Pulvillus, Marcus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Roman consul
DATE OF BIRTH	before 510 BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH	after 507 BC Chr.

[1] T. Robert S. Broughton : The Magistrates Of The Roman Republic. Volume 1: 509 BC - 100 BC (= Philological Monographs. Vol. 15, Part 1, ZDB -ID 418575-4 ). American Philological Association, New York NY 1951, p. 3, (Unchanged reprint 1968).