The War of the Consuls
In 499 AUC, Rome had come far. Much had happened since 450 AUC. She had bested the states of Magna Graecia. She had conquered Etruria. A solid foot hold had been gained in Greece. Cisalpine Gaul was mostly under Roman domination.
Carthage dominated in the West. In the East, Alexander’s heirs had an uneasy peace. Egypt was strong. So was the Seleucids. Macedonia had been taken over by the Antigonids, uniting their Anatolian Empire and much of Greece.
Rome, in the middle, was secure. Or as secure as a state can be in the middle of vulltures. She had a powerful legion, loyal subjects and had poured a lot of effort into military technology. She was strong, Italy was united under them. Things were well.
Then Manius Curius Dentatus happened. A man of questionable oratory skills, middling charisma and a huge ego. He was sure he was destined for greatness. For consulship. The Senate ridiculed him. The Consul scoffed at this upstart. Old, but not of importance.
But, somehow, Manius Curius Dentatus swayed the people. Not the important people, but enough people in the provinces to take notice. The Consul used questionable methods to curtain his sudden popularity. Military means. Bribery. Bashing of the man, everywhere. Some would call it tyranny. Many did.
But the worst was when the Consul changed the laws to let his consulship period last longer. He was old, older than Manius. But he was determined to see the man die before he could become Consul, however unlikely that may seem.
Then he died. The Consul that is. An emergency election was held. Manius Curius Dentatus did
not win that election. Decimus Volumnius Brutus did. A competent man, he had smooth sailing. Manius fumbled his speeches. Decimus did not. Decimus won by a land slide.
But Manius was not going to bow down. Secretly, he had convinced the governors of Rome’s Greek provinces as well as one in Cisalpine Gaul to join him in taking the consulship by force. Claiming the tyranny of his predecessor would continue under Decimus, he raised the flag of rebellion in the name of the Senate and the People. The
real Senate and the
real People.
And so the civil war named the War of the Consuls started. It began poorly for Manius. The legions did not follow him into revolt. He raised his own, but he controlled less land, split into two, and had less troops. He fought on, though.
Deciumus proved a patient man, slowly driving his foes back. First he secured Cisalpine Gaul. Then he moved against the rebellious Greek lands. Both he and Manius had little time though. Manius was sick. So was Decimus, who began showing signs of early onset dementia.
In the end, Decimus survived the war. Manius did not. When the revolt was finally quelled, his successor Gnaeus Volumnius Procyon proudly marched in chains into Rome, defiant to the last. Decimus was not amused. He ordered all rebels killed, in the most gruesome ways.
Rome was at peace again. She was whole. A few weeks later, Consul Decimus was dead too, having succumbed to his dementia. Exactly what happened, we will never know. Talk in the shadows was of an accident due to his failing mental state.
In any case, no new civil war would occur when his successor Spurius Claudius took office.