Marcus Furius Camillus

Marcus Furius Camillus (circa 446- 365 BC) was a Roman soldier and statesman of patrician descent. according to Livy, he was censor in 403 BC, triumphed four times, was five times dictator, and was honoured with the title of Second Founder of Rome.

When accused of having unfairly distributed the spoil taken at Veii, which he captured after a ten year long siege, he went into voluntary exile at Ardea. Along with this complaint against him was added his patrician haughtiness and his triumphal entry into Rome in a chariot drawn by white horses which, to many Romans, recalled the days of the kings. Subsequently the Romans, when besieged in the Capitol by the Gauls after the Battle of the Allia, created him dictator. After assembling the Roman forces in allied towns as well as the remnants of the army at Veii, Livy's traditional sources reported that he drove the Gauls from the streets of Rome and subsequently defeated them completely just south of the city.

He dissuaded the Romans, disheartened by the devastation wrought by the Gauls, from migrating to Veii, and persuaded them to rebuild the city. He afterwards fought successfully against the Aequi, Volsci and Etruscans, and repelled a fresh invasion of the Gauls in 367 BC. Though patrician in sympathy, he saw the necessity of making concessions to the plebeians and was instrumental in passing the Licinian laws. He died of the plague in his eighty-first year (365 BC).

The story of Camillus is no doubt largely apocryphal. To this element probably belongs the story of the schoolmaster who, when Camillus was attacking Falerii, attempted to betray the town by bringing into Camillus's camp the sons of some of the principal inhabitants of the place. Camillus, it is said, had him whipped back into the town by his pupils, and the Faliscans were so affected by this generosity that they at once surrendered.

References

• Livy v. 10, vi. 4
• Plutarch, Camillus
• Livius.org: Marcus Furius Camillus [1]
• For the Gallic retreat, see Polybius ii. 18; T. Mommsen, Römische Forschungen, ii. pp. 113-152 (1879).

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)