M. Manlius Capitolinus 50

vol. XIV p.1167

50) M. Manlius Capitolinus

He was a consul or consular tribune 320 = 434, at the time in which they varied between two-term and three-term eponymous collegia. <20> Diodorus' statement in XII 53, 1 is unambiguous: Ῥωμαῖοι κατέστησασν ἀντὶ τῶν ὑπάτων χιλιάρχους τρεῖς, Μάρκον Μάνιον (Vulg. Μάλλιον), Κόϊντον Σουλπίκιον Πραιτέξτατον, Σερούλιον Κορνήλιον Κόσσον; the same idea is found in the Fasti Cap., which listed a Manlius Capitolinus, Sulpicius Camerinus, and Cornelius Cossos (Capitolino et Cosso Chronogr. Capitolino et Carino Hydat. Καπετωλίνου τὸ ς' καί Καμερίνου Chron. Pasch.). <30> On the other hand, the later annalistic tradition only gave two names, and therefore handled the collegium as a pair of consuls, and Antias and Tubero gave the first of those three names: M. Manlius and Q. Sulpicius, but differing from this, Macer gives the same names again as those in the previous year: C. Iulius III and L. Verginius II, where both Macer and Tubero refer to the libri lintei (Liv. IV 23, 1-3; from that Cassiod.: C. Iulius II et L. Verginius II). <40> The way in which this matter should be resolved is shown in vol. XIII p.423f.; Beloch (Röm. Gesch. 257f., cf. 260) came to a similar conclusion at roughly the same time, without making the final deductions from this. The oldest Fasti listed the eponyms of the year without giving their positions; the later editors only knew of either consuls or consular tribunes; whoever was handling the year as a consular one felt that they were forced to get rid of one of the three names handed down, <50> or to make the assumption about all three eponyms that they had been elected, but that they hadn't actually carried out their time in office and that their predecessors had given up their place. Something like this, whether it be resignation or going into office later and therefore shortening the duration of the role of the three in power, was probably attributed to this year at the time.

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This article is referenced by: M. Manlius Capitolinus (51)