Gnaeus Manlius Cincinnatus

Who is Gnaeus Manlius Cincinnatus?

Gnaeus Manlius Cincinnatus was the first of the patrician gens Manlia to obtain the consulship, which he held in 480 B.C., together with Marcus Fabius Vibulanus. His father's name was Publius.

That year, Rome was rent by internal dissension, which encouraged the Etruscans to take the field in hopes of breaking Roman power. They were led by the Veientes and reinforced by troops from other Etruscan cities. The consuls, mindful of the undisciplined conduct of the soldiers in the recent past, held their men back from fighting until repeated provocations by the Etruscan cavalry made the start of combat inevitable.

The consul Fabius compelled those of the soldiers who were most eager to engage the enemy swear to return victorious, before he would give the order for battle. Once the fight had begun, the Roman commanders fought with great vigor, particularly after Quintus Fabius, the brother of the consul, was slain. Manlius, leading the army's opposite wing, was dangerously wounded and forced to retire from the line. As his men began to fall back in disarray, Manlius' colleague Fabius arrived to prevent their slaughter and assure them that their leader was not dead. Manlius was able to appear himself and reassure the soldiers.