Mopping Up Maelius

The Aftermath of a Murder

Rome has just experienced a scandal like no other. A terrible famine had hit in the years 440-439 BCE, and this had caused political chaos. The patrician appointed to secure grain, Lucius Minucius, had not experienced much success. Into the void stepped a wealthy equestrian named Spurius Maelius.

Maelius either allowed his newfound popularity as the bringer of grain to go to his head and started plotting to seize control of Rome, or he was foisted into power by the people. Either way, his journey ended in a bloody stabbing, thanks to Master of the Horse, Servilius Ahala. Did Maelius incite the violence, or was Ahala a secret assassin? It is no wonder that we have some mopping up to do. Things are very messy.

Episode 128 – Mopping Up Maelius

Some classical reception in action with this Statue of Cincinnatus at his plough in Cincinnati, Ohio,
Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Get the Mop, and the Bulldozer

Cincinnatus, our possible dictator for 439 BCE, gave instructions for the house of Maelius to be destroyed and turned into a memorial to his crazy plans. The site became known as the Aequimaelium, and it was located on the Vicus Iugarius. The man who revealed Maelius' treachery, Lucius Minucius, received his own ox and a gilded statue outside the Porta Trigemina.

Less pleasantly, the severed heads of the traitors were placed on display by a pool in the Forum (the Lacus Servilius). What better place to reflect on poor choices.

There are strange parallels in this history and other periods in Roman history which can make one dubious of this whole affair. However, mopping up Maelius seems to have produced a number of physical reminders that were still a feature of Rome many centuries later.

Snitches Get Stitches?

On top of the statue, Lucius Minucius was transferred to the plebeian class and made a tribune of the plebs. Record scratch! Are snitches supposed to get lots of honours? They do if it benefits the powers-that-be in Rome! This might be a sign that the patricians were still wary after Maelius and wanted one of their men on the inside. One who was known to be a tattle-tale.

That's One Way to Say No

The political scene might have settled down in the city, but Rome was about to be dealt a brutal blow from a colony. Fidenae decided to throw their lot in with Veii, an Etruscan city under the control of King Lars Tolumnius.

Rome could hardly ignore such a betrayal and despatched four envoys. The people of Fidenae were not familiar with the saying, ‘Don't shoot the messenger' and executed these men. There is some confusion over their extreme actions. Lars Tolumnius was suspected of having orchestrated the deaths in an attempt to bind Fidenae closer to Veii.

How will Rome respond to such an insult? Tune in to find out!

Our Players 439 BCE

Consuls

• Agrippa Menenius T. f. Agripp. n. Lanatus (Pat.)
• T. Quinctius L.f. L.n. Capitolinus Barbatus (Pat.) – Cos. 471, 468, 465, 446, 443.

Dictator

• L. Quinctius L. f. L. n. Cincinnatus (Pat.) – Cos. Suff. 460

Master of the Horse

• C. Servilius – f. – n. Ahala (Pat.)

Praefectus Annonae

• L. Minucius (Esquilinus Augurinus) (Pat.) – Cos. Suff. 458

Wealthy Equestrian

• Spurius Maelius

Our Players 438 BCE

Military Tribunes with Consular Power

• Mam. Aemilius (M.f. – n. Mamercinus?) (Pat.)
• L. Quinctius L.f.L.n. Cincinnatus (Pat.) – Cos. 428b, Mil. Tr. c.p. 425, 420.
• L. (or C.) Iulius – f. – n. Iullus (Pat.) – Cos. 430.

Legates, Ambassadors

• C. Fulcinius
• Cloelius Tullus (Pat.)
• Sp. Antius
• L. Roscius

Tribune of the Plebs

• Q. Caecilius
• Q. Iunius
• Sex. Titinius

Etruscan King

• Lars Tolumnius

Our Sources

• Dr G reads Diodorus Siculus, 12.38
• Dr Rad reads Livy ab Urbe Condita 4.16-17.
• 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) 

Sound Credits

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