Dictators by the Dozen

In this episode, we delve into the craziness of the mid-430s BCE. The Romans are feeling the pressure, so they order dictators by the dozen.

Episode 131 – Dictators by the Dozen

Freaking Fidenae

In 435 BCE the Romans are once more battling the Etruscans over the issue of Fidenae. Fidenae had once been a Roman colony, until they treacherously switched their allegiances to the city of Veii. They must have felt bold, because in 435 BCE they started pillaging Roman territory.

To add insult to serious injury, the people of Fidenae and Veii crossed the River Anio and set up camp near the Colline Gate. The Romans could not ignore such provocative behaviour, even if they were suffering through a pestilence. This was scary stuff! Time for dictator number one.

Quintius Servilius was appointed dictator and he wasted no time rallying forces. The Romans found themselves besieging the people of Fidenae. Hopefully, the dictator has some clever strategies up his sleeve…

A Total Train-wreck + Dictators

434 BCE is a year so confusing that even our sources can’t work it out. We have two sets of consuls, military tribunes with consular power, dictators, AND censors. What on earth is going on?

While it is difficult to be sure of the power dynamics in the city this year, there are definitely some interesting struggles going on in Rome.

Things to Listen Out For

• Dictators… dictators everywhere!
• Cunning plans to capture cities
• Spiteful censors
• Scary tax hikes
• A lovely cross-promo from indie podcast The Delicious Legacy!

Looking to catch up the decade of the 430s and where this chaos all began? Jump back in time to the drama of 439 BCE with Episode 127: The Assassination of Spurius Maelius.

Image courtesy of the University of Michigan Press

Our Players 435 BCE

Consuls

• C. Iulius (-f. – n. Iullus?) (Pat) Cos. 447, 434?
• L. (or Proc.) Verginius – f. – n. Tricostus (Pat)

Dictator

• Q. Servilius P. f. Sp. n. Priscus Fidenas (Pat)

Master of the Horse

• Postumus Aebutius – f. – n. Helva Cornicen (Pat) Cos 442

Censors

• C. Furius – f. – n. Paculus Fusus (Pat) Cos 441, Mil. Tr. c.p. 426
• M. Geganius M. f. – n. Macerinus (Pat) Cos. 447, 443, 437

Our Players 434 BCE

Consuls

434 BCE is a a busy year and there's two sets of consuls!

• C. Iulius – f. – n. Iullus (Pat) Cos. 447, 435
• L. (or Proc.) Verginius – f. – n. Tricostus (Pat) Cos. 435

• M. Manlius – f. – n. Capitolinus (Vulso?) (Pat)
• Q. Sulpicius Ser.?f. – n. Camerinus Praetextatus (Pat)

Military Tribunes with Consular Power

• Ser. Cornelius – f. – n. Cossus (Pat)
• M. Manlius P. f. – n. Capitolinus (Vulso?) (Pat)
• Q. Sulpicius Ser.?f. – n. Camerinus Praetextatus (Pat)

Dictator

• Mam. Aemilius M. f. – n. Mamercinus (Pat) Mil. Tr. c. p. 438

Master of the Horse

• A.Postumius – f. – n. Tubertus (Pat)

Our Sources

• Dr G reads Diodorus Siculus 12.36; Cicero Cato Maior De Senectute 16.56; Cicero Mil. 3.8; Dionysius of Halicarnassus Roman Antiquities 12.1-4; Valerius Maximus 5.3.2g.
• Dr Rad reads Livy ab Urbe Condita 4.21-24.
• Broughton, T. R. S., Patterson, M. L. 1951. The Magistrates of the Roman Republic Volume 1: 509 B.C. – 100 B.C. (The American Philological Association)
• Cornell, T. J. 1995. The Beginnings of Rome: Italy and Rome from the Bronze Age to the Punic Wars (c. 1000-264 BC) (Taylor & Francis)
• Forsythe, G. 2006. A Critical History of Early Rome: From Prehistory to the First Punic War(University of California Press) 
• Wilson, M. 2021. Dictator: The Evolution of the Roman Dictatorship (University of Michigan Press).

Sound Effects

Thanks to BBC Sounds, Orange Free Sounds and Sound Bible for sound effects, and the glorious Bettina Joy de Guzman for our theme music.

While not strictly speaking a painting of a dictator, this painting certainly carries the mood of a single man in command of the Roman populace.
William Holmes Sullivan Julius Caesar', Act III, Scene 2, Marc Antony's Oration,