The New Student's Reference Work/Cincinnatus, Lucius Quintius

Cincinnatus (sĭn′sĭn-nā′tus), Lucius Quintius, was made consul of Rome in 460 B. C. When the messengers came to tell him of his election, they found him ploughing on his small farm. Two years later he was made dictator. The barbarous Æqui had surrounded the consul Lucius Minucius and defeated him. Cincinnatus marched to his aid and rescued him. Sixteen days later he laid down the unlimited power of the dictatorship and went back contentedly to his small farm on the Tiber. At the age of 80 he was again made dictator. He was a favorite hero among the later Romans, who looked on him as a model of goodness and simple manners.