Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - Cincinnatus

Episode Date: July 29, 2021

Throughout human history, people have killed, robbed, and put their lives at risk in the pursuit of power. In fact, almost all of history can be thought of as people, tribes, and nations all competing for power. However, occasionally there are those who have the ability to seize power but refuse to do so. One man, in particular, did so twice. Learn more about Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Throughout human history, people have killed, robbed, and put their lives at risk in the pursuit of power. In fact, almost all of history can be thought of as people, tribes, and nations, all competing for power. However, occasionally, there are those who have the ability to seize power but refuse to do so. One man in particular did so twice. Learn more about Lucius Quintius-Cincentanatus on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. What if your perceptions about the past were wrong? throughline is a podcast that takes you back in time to uncover the parts of the story that may have gone unnoticed. It effectively turned day into night and how it shaped the world now.

Time travel with us every week on the Thurline podcast from NPR. This episode is sponsored by Skillshare. I've mentioned before about how Skillshare has videos to cover almost any subject you'd wish to learn. Well, if you're interested in launching your own podcast, Skillshare can help you out there as well. They have videos on every aspect of podcasting, from how to pick a microphone, to how to get everything set up on the back end, to how to edit your shows. With Skillshare Premium, you can have unlimited access to everything for as low as 825 per month. Go to everything-dash-everywhere.com slash Skillshare to get a free two-week trial of Skillshare Premium membership, or just click on the link in the show notes. In the 5th century BC, Rome wasn't yet the sprawling, conquering behemes.

myth that we think of today. It was one of several city-states on the Italian peninsula. They were also only a few decades into the Republican period, and they were still figuring things out. It was in this environment that we find Lucius Quintus-Cinatus. The Quintus clan was a wealthy patrician clan that dated back to even before the founding of Rome. The family had several Roman consuls, which was a point of extreme pride amongst Roman families. Lucius's Cognomen, that being his third name, was Cincinnati, which meant curly-haired. One of the biggest struggles of this period was between the patricians which were the upper class elites and the plebeians which were the common folk. The republic was set up putting all the power in the hands of the Senate, to which membership was limited to the patrician class.

Needless to say, the plebeians weren't too happy with this situation. In the year 462 BC, the plebs wanted a written constitution that would put a check in the power of the patricians. The patricians pushed back violently against this proposal, and it led to violent clashes in Rome. Cincinnati's son, Keso, was one of the leaders of the patrician forces which attacked the plebeians in the streets. In 460 BC, the plebeians led a revolt which resulted in them occupying the Capitoline Hill. During the uprising, one of the two consuls, Publius Verlius Popliacola, was killed. As there were always two councils, Cincinnati was appointed as his replacement for the remainder of the year. They took the Capitoline Hill back from the plebians, but Cincinnati's son murdered a pleb, fled from the city, and was himself killed outside of the year.

the walls of Rome. Cincinnati was so upset with the death of his son and the state of affairs in Rome that he retired from politics and left Rome to work on his farm west of the city on the Tiber River. While all this domestic strife was occurring in the city, Rome was also fighting with a nearby tribe known as the Aquee. In 458 BC, the two consuls for that year set out with two armies. One went to relieve the town of Tusculum, and the other ended up getting surrounded by the Aquee. The army that got surrounded, managed to have five horses break through the lines and send notice to the Senate. Someone needed to help the besieged army, but there was no one available to help. The Senate decided to use its emergency powers to appoint a dictator.

The position of dictator wasn't the same as what we think of when we hear the word dictator. We think of dictator as being a tyrant or an authoritarian ruler. In Rome, a dictator was a legal position appointed by the Senate. The title had a great deal of prestige and honor associated with it. In times of emergency, the Romans knew that there wasn't time for debate in petty politics. They needed one person in charge to get them out of the crisis. The dictator had absolute authority, and the term of the dictatorship lasted for six months.

The Senate picked Cincinnati to be dictator. He would be the absolute ruler of Rome. According to legend, a group of senators traveled to the farm of Cincinnati to notify him that he was appointed dictator. They found Cincinnati at his plow. supposedly he asked them, Is everything all right? And they replied, It might turn out well for both him and the country.

They requested he put on his senatorial toga to hear the news, and when he did, he accepted. After accepting the position, he quickly assembled an ad hoc army of the eligible men in Rome and took them to rescue the besieged forces. They defeated the Aquewe, took the commander's prisoner, forced them to walk under a yoke of spears, and took them back to Rome for punishment.

Cincinnati was given a triumph when he returned to Rome. Livie wrote, quote, It is said that the tables spread with provision stood before all the houses, and the features followed the chariot with Song of Triumph and the customary Jess and Lampoons, end quote. 16 days after being appointed dictator, Cincinnati resigned his position and returned to his farm.

The Romans were in awe of what Cincinnati did. In an environment where everyone was jostling and fighting for power and authority, Cincinnati gave up the ultimate authority to return to the life of a humble farm. armor. Nine years later, the Senate called upon him again. A wealthy Roman by the name of Spurius Malius was feared to be buying the loyalty of the Ployans to make himself king. The Senate appointed Cincinnati's dictator again to solve this problem. He created a Forteson garrison in the city and set out to bring Spirius Malius to him. Spurius resisted arrest, fled into a crowd where he

was then killed. Once again, 21 days after being appointed dictator, Cincinnati resigned and went back into retirement. Cincinnati went on to become a legend in Rome, as he was twice given absolute rule over Rome and didn't hold on to power a day longer than was required. He became a model of Roman virtue. Supposedly, near the end of his life, his son was charged with military incompetence. However, the jury refused to charge his son, even though he was probably guilty, because no one wanted to be the one to tell Cincinnati. The legend of Cincinnati lasted far longer than Rome did. During the American Revolution, when George Washington voluntarily stepped down, he was dubbed the American Cincinnatus. Like Cincinnati, he retreated to his farm after the war,

and also like Cincinnati, he was called to power again, this time as the first president. Veterans of the American Revolution formed an organization called the Society of Cincinnati. And of course, Cincinnati, Ohio, and Cincinnati, New York were both named in honor of Cincinnati. A more recent example might be the Cincinnati of Africa, Nelson Mandela. He was in a position where he probably could have been president for life if he wanted, but he voluntarily stepped aside and gave up his power. The legend of Cincinnati still has relevance for the world today. The desire for power is as great as it ever was.

Yet few people are still willing to step up, do what is required, and then step away from power. The associate producer of Everything Everywhere Daily is Thor Thompson. If you'd like to support the show, please donate over at patreon.com. There is content only available to supporters, merchandise, and even opportunities for a show producer credit. If you know someone you think would enjoy the show, please share it with them. Also remember, if you leave a five-stop review, I'll read your review on the show.