Appius Gerdonius

According to Livy , Gerdonius, having gathered a detachment of exiles and slaves, numbering about 2.5 thousand ^[1] , sailed along the Tiber at night, moored to the shore near the Capitol , through the Carmental gate , which had never been locked, climbed to the top of the hill and captured the fortress. Those from the garrison who refused to join him were killed, part of them fled in panic and raised the alarm in the city ^[2] .

According to Livy and Dionysius , Gerdonius hoped to seize the key points of the city, return the exiles, promise the slaves freedom, the poor - forgiveness of debts, and the plebeians - participation in the looting of the property of the patricians. In case of failure, he planned to call for help of the Sabines and Volsk ^[3] .

The Plebeian tribunes tried to use the situation and called on the people not to follow the orders of the consuls until the Terentilia law was passed . According to Dionysius, the consul Gaius Claudius proposed to dispense with the help of the plebeians altogether and storm the Capitol with the help of patricians alone, but his colleague Publius Valery convinced the senate not to bring even more discord. He agreed with the plebeians that if they would help defeat Gerdonius, he would allow a vote to be held in the People's Assembly according to the law of Terentilius ^[4] .

To the aid of the Romans came the detachments of the Tusculans sent by the dictator Lucius Mamilius . According to Livy, Mamilius sent help on his own initiative, without waiting for the Romans to turn to her. During the assault, Publius Valery died. Livy writes that the consular Publius Volumnius ordered the body to be hidden so that the death of the leader would not demoralize the soldiers, but would take his place. In the heat of battle, the Romans did not notice the substitution. According to Dionysius, on the third day, when the people of Gerdonius ran out of darts and exhausted their strength, the Romans burst into the fortress at the cost of heavy losses.

Gerdonius himself,

... distinguished by strength and masterfully possessing weapons, dotting the space around him with the bodies of enemies, he died under the blows of darts, and only a few were captured alive from those who captured the fortress with it. Most of his supporters slaughtered themselves or rushed down the cliff.

- Dionysius of Halicarnassus . Roman antiquities. X. 16, 7.

After the rebellion, the plebeian tribunes demanded that Claudius fulfill his promise made by his colleague, but the consul dragged on the matter until the election of the consul-suffice. The Patricians secured the choice of Lucius Quincius of Cincinnatus , who hated the plebs, to this post. Cincinnatus forbade the debate of the law on equality, threatening otherwise to call the plebeians to military service, declare war on the Volks and not return from the campaign until his powers expire ^[5] .

Modern historians recognize the historicity of the plot of Gerdonius, but find it difficult to explain this event, "which remains a mystery" ^[6] . The stories of Livius and Dionysius, presumably, go back to history, which could be set out in the " Beginnings " of Cato the Elder , who came from Tuscula. Cato should have known local traditions, in particular, the family traditions of the Mamiliev clan, which entered the 3rd century BC. e. into the Roman political elite ^[7] . At the same time, Livy, who also had difficulty in interpreting the event, which had no analogues in early Roman history, constructed his story under the explicit influence of the description of the conspiracy of Catilina by Cicero and Sallust , and introduced elements characteristic of a later time.

Presumably, the attempt of Gerdonius is among the events associated with the expansion of the Italian mountain tribes that unfolded in the 5th century BC. e., when the Sabines, Volsky, Equus , Samnites , Yapigis launched an attack on the cities of Latins, Etruscans and Greeks, and captured many of them. In particular, the plot of Herdonius is compared with the actions of the Samnites in Capua in 423 BC. e., when the infiltration of aliens ended with the beating of local residents and the capture of the city ^[6] .

The story of Libya about the help that the Tuskulans allegedly provided on their own initiative also does not inspire confidence. It is more likely that the Romans sent messengers to the allied cities for help, but Libya did not want to represent the Romans as petitioners ^[8] . The very next year, the Romans rendered the Tuskulans a reciprocal service, freeing their city, captured by the Ekwas as a result of the same sudden night attack ^[9] .

• Cornell TJ Rome and Latium to 390 BC // The Cambridge Ancient History. Vol. 7, part. 2. The Rise of Rome to 220 BC - Cambridge University Press, 1990. ISBN 0-521-234468
• Sanz A.-M. La République romaine et ses alliances militaires. Pratiques et représentations de la societas de l'époque du foedus Cassianum à la fin de la seconde guerre punique. TI - Paris I, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne, 2013 [1]