Gnei Cornelius Lentulus Clodian (Consul)

By birth, Gnei Cornelius belonged to the plebeian clan Klodiev , but was adopted by a representative of the ancient patrician clan Corneliev . Who exactly became his foster father is unknown; some researchers suggest that it is Lentulus Clodian that is mentioned in one Greek inscription found in Oropes , in which case his father bore the same name - Gnei ^[1] .

The future Gnei Cornelius was born around 115 BC. e. ^[2] During the reign of the Marian "party" he was absent from Rome and returned to his hometown only in 82 BC. e., together with Lucius Cornelius Sulla . After that, he began a political career. Presumably then, even before the transfer to the Cornelian family, the young noble occupied the position of a people's tribune ^[1] (this is stated in one of his speeches by Mark Tullius Cicero ^[3] ); no later than 75 BC e., taking into account the requirements of the Cornelian law, Lentulus Klodian had to go through praetorship ^[4] , and in 72 BC. e. he became consul ^[5] .

A colleague of Gnei Cornelius was the noble plebe of Lucius Gellius Publikola . The sources mention two legislative initiatives of consuls. They secured the adoption of a law according to which provincials who received Roman citizenship from Gnei Pompey the Great secured this status ^[6] ; in addition, they proposed that the Senate issue a decree prohibiting the conviction of provincial residents in absentia in criminal cases. The second initiative came in connection with news of the abuses of Guy Licinius Verres in Sicily ^{[7] [1]} .

At this time, Italy was swept by a large-scale revolt of slaves and gladiators led by Spartacus . The threat was so serious that the Senate sent both consuls to this war, giving them two legions each; in total, given the auxiliary troops, the army was to have at least 30 thousand soldiers. Historians suggest that the consuls acted in concert and wanted to attack Spartak from two sides in the area of ​​the Gargan peninsula . To this end, Pubicola moved through Campania and Puglia , and Lentulus Clodian - directly through the Apennines along the Tiburta Road ^[8] .

The rebels impeded the implementation of this plan, moving towards Lentul Clodian. The latter was attacked during the passage through the Apennines , and this attack, apparently, was unexpected: the Romans suffered serious losses and were forced to take up defense on one of the hills. At the same time, Gnei Cornelius was able to avoid a complete defeat. Later, Spartacus defeated the second consul and went to Cisalpian Gaul . In the fall of that year, he returned to Italy; the consuls joined forces to block his path at Pitsen , but were again defeated ^[9] . Panic began in Rome ^[10] . The Senate, making sure that Lentulus and Publikola could not defeat the enemy, transferred their command to Mark Licinius Crassus before the expiration of their powers ^[11] .

Despite military setbacks, Gnei Cornelius and Lucius Gellius became censors immediately after the reinstatement of this post (70 BC) ^[12] . According to Theodore Mommsen , their election was an anti-Senate action, and they acted in the interests of the consuls Pompey and Crassus, who were then engaged in the dismantling of the political regime that created Sulla. Censors staged an unprecedented purge of the Senate, excluding 64 people ^[13] , or about one-eighth of the total number of senators ^[14] . During the census of citizens (the first after 86 BC) they were first included in the lists of Italians who formally received civil status during the Allied War , and as a result they counted a record number - 910 thousand people. But researchers say that the census was still incomplete ^[15] .

In 67 BC e. Lentulus Clodian, along with Publikola, was a legate under the command of Gnei Pompey and was engaged in cleaning up the pirates of the seas that washed Italy ^{[16] [17]} . In 66 BC e. he supported the bill of Guy Manilius , which implied the transfer to Pompey of command in the Third Mithridates War ^[18] . After this, Gnei is not mentioned in the sources: apparently, he soon died ^[11] .

Presumably ^[11] it is Lentula of Clodian that Cicero means when he calls among some speakers of the Hortense era a certain Gnei of Lentulus . According to him, this noble “inflated the glory of his eloquence rather by the art of speaking, than by the abilities that he had. Although he was not a smart man, he seemed so in appearance and facial expression; and his tongue was not abundant, although such an impression was created; but by skillful respite, exclamations, a pleasant and sonorous voice, he won such admiration that no one regretted those qualities that he lacked ” ^[19] .

Gnei had a son, also named Gnei Cornelius Lentulus Clodian . He served as praetor in 59 BC. e. ^[20]

Sources

1. Appian of Alexandria . Roman history. - M .: Ladomir, 2002 .-- 880 p. - ISBN 5-86218-174-1 .
2. Titus Livy . The history of Rome from the foundation of the city. - M .: Nauka, 1994 .-- T. 3 .-- 768 p. - ISBN 5-02-008995-8 .
3. Pavel Oroziy . The story against the Gentiles. - SPb. : Publishing House of Oleg Abyshko, 2004. - ISBN 5-7435-0214-5 .
4. Mark Tullius Cicero . Brutus // Three treatises on oratory. - M .: Ladomir, 1994 .-- S. 253-328. - ISBN 5-86218-097-4 .
5. Mark Tullius Cicero. Speech (neopr.) . Date of appeal September 14, 2016.
6. Mark Tullius Cicero. Speech. - M .: Nauka, 1993 .-- ISBN 5-02-011169-4 .

Literature

1. Goroncharovsky V. Spartak War. - SPb. : Petersburg Oriental Studies, 2011 .-- 176 p. - ISBN 978-5-85803-428-6 .
2. Egorov A. Julius Caesar. Political biography. - SPb. : Nestor-Istoriya, 2014 .-- 548 p. - ISBN 978-5-4469-0389-4 .
3. Mommsen T. History of Rome. - SPb. : Science, 2005 .-- T. 3.
4. Broughton R. Magistrates of the Roman Republic. - New York, 1952. - Vol. II. - P. 558.
5. Münzer F. Cornelius 216 // Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft . - 1900. - T. VII . - S. 1380-1381 .
6. Münzer F. Cornelius 217 // Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft . - 1900. - T. VII . - S. 1381 .
7. Sumner G. Orators in Cicero's Brutus: prosopography and chronology. - Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1973. - 197 p. - ISBN 9780802052810 .

• Gnei Cornelius Lentulus Clodian (Consul) (English) . - in Smith 's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.