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Some were unclear on whether last week's discussion of the famed Roman citizen-soldier Lucius Quintius Cincinnatus was a real person.

"It is my understanding that he was a real person. However, his accomplishments have been glamorized and embellished until it is difficult to separate fact from fiction."

"He became a personification of civic virtue but he was a real person first. He was consul in 460 B.C. When his term expired he went back to his farm. In 458 B.C. he was appointed dictator for the war against the Aequians. Sixteen days later, after defeating his enemy and recapturing the legionary standards, he returned to his farm and plough.

His example of rustic virtue, civic devotion, and military skill became an example for later Romans. Here's what St. Augustine (speaking of Christians of his time who boasted of their righteous poverty) had to say about him:

"...Quintius Cincinnatus, who, possessing only four acres of land, and cultivating them with his own hands, was taken from the plough to be made dictator -- an office more honorable even than that of consul -- and that, after having won great glory by conquering the enemy, he preferred notwithstanding to continue in his poverty"

Wayne Homren, Editor

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The E-Sylum: Volume 3, Number 37, September 10, 2000, Article 7

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Wayne Homren, Editor