CINCINNATUS

In 463 B.C.E., a devastating plague weakened Rome and the Volsci and Aequi took advantage to do some plundering. Rome won the deciding battle so the crisis was overcome. In 459, the Aequi attacked Tusculum, an ally of Rome. Rome sent an army to lift the siege. It sent another legion to defeat the Volsci. In 458, Rome had separate engagements with the Aequi and the Sabines. The army sent against the Aequi marched into a trap in a canyon near Mount Algidus. It was surrounded. This seemed like a dictator situation, so the Senate chose a retired, well-respected politician. The Senate delegation found Cincinnatus plowing his field and enjoying the life of a farmer. They told him he was going to want to put his toga on for what they had to tell him. His wife fetched the toga and he was formally informed that he was now a dictator and what his mission was. Leaving his plow, Cincinnatus went to Rome where he raised a new army. He required his men to come back with their normal kit but also 12 valli each. A vallus was a stake used to build the wall around a Roman camp. The army marched with this unusual added burden.  When it arrived at night at the battle site, Cincinnatus had his men put the stakes around the Aequian army. The next morning the entrapped Romans attacked the Aequians from the front and Cincinnatus’ legion attacked from the rear. The enemy was caught between the two forces and badly beaten in the Battle of Mount Algidus. How badly? They were forced to do the most humiliating thing that could befall an army in ancient Italy. The soldiers were forced to walk under a “yoke.” A yoke was made by putting two spears in the ground and another as a crossbar. It formed an upside-down U. Having to walk through it was an act of submission towards the victor. The crossbar was low so you had to duck humiliatingly under it. It was the opposite vibe from a limbo contest. His mission fulfilled, Cincinnatus returned to his plow after just sixteen days, even though he could have remained dictator for the full six months. And his name was added to the role model list. (George Washington’s commanding of the Continental Army was connected to Cincinnatus’ tale by early Americans. And the “yoke” equivalent for Washington was when the British force at Yorktown was forced to surrender and march out to stack their muskets. In a famously bad statue, Washington is depicted as Cincinnatus, wearing a toga!)