Servius Cornelius Cossus

Servius Cornelius Cossus was a consular tribune of the Roman republic in 434 BC.[1]

Cornelius belonged to the patrician Cornelia gens. Cornelius is the first named member of the branch within the gens known as the Cossi. Filiations indicate Cornelius as the son of Marcus Cornelius Maluginensis, decemvir in 450-449 BC, and brother of Aulus Cornelius Cossus, consul in 428 BC.[2]

Career

Cornelius was elected consular tribune in 434 BC. Diodorus Siculus lists him together with Marcus Manlius Capitolinus Vulso and Quintus Sulpicius Camerinus Praetextatus. This is contrasted by two narratives provided by Livy, which both excludes Cornelius from the consular college. Livy has either Manlius and Sulpicius being elected as consuls or the two consuls from 435 BC, Gaius Julius Iulus and Proculus Verginius Tricostus, servering another term. Livy bases Manlius and Sulpicius to the writings of two otherwise lost works by Valerius Antius and Aelius Tubero, and Julius and Verginius on the otherwise lost work of Licinius Macer. Modern consensus generally favor either of traditions including Manlius and Sulpicius, with the classicist Broughton commenting that the re-election of the consuls of 435 remains the least likely version.[3][4][5]

In either case, the actions of the consuls or consular tribunes of 434 BC is not well documented and they relinquished their imperium in favor of the appointment of a dictator. The dictator, Mamercus Aemilius Mamercinus, fought the Falerii and Etruria and enacted a law limiting the term of the censorship to one and a half year, down from the previous five years.[6][7][8]

See also

• Cornelia gens – Ancient Roman family

References

1. Broughton, Magistrates of the Roman Republic, 1951, vol i, pp.61-62
2. Broughton, vol i
3. Livy, Ab Urbe Condita iv, 23.1-23.3
4. Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca historica, xii, 53.1
5. Broughton, vol i, pp.61-62, (62:note 1)
6. Livy, iv, 23.1-24.9
7. Cassiodorus, Chronica
8. Broughton, vol i, pp.61-62