Gnaeus Marcius Coriolanus (died 488 BC) was a Roman general who, in 491 BC, famously defected to his longtime enemies, the Volscians, after being banished from Rome for his staunchly reactionary and anti-democratic views. Coriolanus, so-called because of his victory over the Volscians at the Siege of Corioli in 493 BC, opposed the concessions granted to the plebeians after the 494 BC Secession of the Plebs, and his resolute opposition to the supply of free grain to starving peasants during a famine in 491 BC led to Coriolanus being tried in court by the tribunes and exiled. In 488 BC, Coriolanus would return to Rome at the head of a Volscian army, intent on avenging his fall from grace, but his family persuaded him to make peace between Rome and the Volsci, and Coriolanus did so, resulting in his assassination by the Volsci for his second betrayal.
Biography[]
Gnaeus Marcius was born in Rome, Latium, and he came from the patrician class; he was the son of Veturia and the wife of Volumnia. Marcius was, like most landowners, a staunch conservative wary of the threat of runaway mob rule; during the 494 BC Secession of the Plebs, Marcius proposed to his friend and negotiator Agrippa Menenius Lanatus that the riotous plebeians should either be enslaved or executed by hanging, drawing, and quartering. Shortly after, however, Titus Larcius announced that the Volsci and their leader Tullus Aufidius were marching on Rome, and Marcius, who had often fought againts Aufidius and greatly admired him as prey worth hunting, was persuaded to join Postumus Cominius Auruncus in doing battle against the Volsci. He took part in the Siege of Corioli, during which he not only defeated a Volscian sally, but also stormed into the city and set it on fire, capturing the town and earning himself the nickname "Coriolanus".
Coriolanus after the Siege of Corioli
Coriolanus, now a celebrity, was persuaded by his mother to run for Consul, and he initially earned the support of the Roman Senate and even the common people, whom he loathed. However, the tribunes Lucius Sicinius Vellutus and Tiberius Junius Brutus, fearful of the conservative Coriolanus becoming consul, instigated a riot against him. In the Senate, when confronted by Sicinius and Brutus over his support for grain relief for starving peasants being dependant on the reversal of pro-plebeian political reforms adopted in 494 BC, Coriolanus flew into a rage, to the chagrin of his erstwhile political allies. He claimed that the plebeians were not deserving of free grain, asking, "How shall this bisson multitude digest the Senate's courtesy?...Thus we debase the nature of our seats and make the rabble call our cares fears; which will in time break ope the locks of the Senate and bring in the crows to peck the eagles." The tribunes declared Marcius a traitor for his un-democratic words and ordered him to be banished, so Coriolanus responded that he banned Rome from his presence.
Coriolanus' body
Coriolanus then made his way to the Volscian capital of Antium (Anzio), where he was received by the Volscian king (while disguised as a supplicant) and persuaded Aufidius to break his truce with Rome and launch an invasion. Aufidius tricked the Senate into expelling the Volsci from Rome during the Great Games, stirring up anti-Roman anger among the Volscians. Coriolanus and Aufidius proceeded to lead a successful invasion of Rome, reconquering the Volscian towns of Satricum, Longula, Pollusca, and Corioli and conquering Lavinium, Corbio, Vitellia, Trebia, Lavici, and Pedum from Rome. The Volscians then besieged Rome in 488 BC and ravaged the countryside, and Coriolanus persuaded the Volscians to target the plebeians and spare the patricians. The consuls Spurius Nautius Rutilus and Sextus Furius unsuccessfully sued for peace, so the Romans sent Coriolanus' mother, wife, and two sons to the Volscian camp to implore Coriolanus to cease his attack on Rome. Coriolanus was persuaded to reconcile the Volscians with Rome and restore peace, and he negotiated a peace treaty before returning to Antium. There, the Volscians placed Coriolanus on trial for his disloyalty, and he was assassinated before the trial could be finished.