Gaius Duilius

Gaius Duilius (lived during the 3rd century BC) was a Roman politician and admiral involved in the First Punic War.[1]

Not much is known about his family background or early career, since he was a novus homo, meaning not belonging to a traditional family of Roman aristocrats. He managed, nevertheless, to be elected consul for the year of 260 BC, at the outbreak of the First Punic war. As junior partner of the patrician Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Asina, Duilius was given the command of the rear fleet, not expected to see much action. However, the naivety of Scipio Asina got him captured in the Battle of the Lipari Islands, leaving Duilius as senior commander. He encountered Hannibal Gisco and the rest of the Punic fleet soon afterwards.

The following Battle of Mylae was a stunning victory for Rome, mainly due to the use of the corvus boarding device. Duilius captured several enemy vessels, including Gisco's flagship, and was thus the first Roman successful in a naval engagement.[2] He was awarded a triumphal parade featuring the ramming "beaks" of captured Carthaginian warships that later would adorn a column, the Columna Rostrata C. Duilii, erected in Duilius' honor in the Roman Forum. When in Rome, he also had the honor of being accompanied by a torch-bearer and flute-player whenever he went out at night.

He was censor in 258 BC with Lucius Cornelius Scipio. The election of a novus homo to censorship was a very rare honour.

Ships

Four Italian warships were named after Duilius:

Battleship Duilio, entered service in 1880, was considered the world's most powerful battleship.
World War I/II-era battleship Caio Duilio.
Missile cruiser Caio Duilio, launched in 1962.
Orizzonte-class destroyer Caio Duilio, commissioned in 2009.

gollark: Unless you count specific codes, which you probably don't.

gollark: *tries to think of others, fails*

gollark: That person has cool names.

gollark: *crack*

gollark: I will make this very clear, egg - turn, or you shall not survive.

External links

Notes

Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Duilius, Gaius" . Encyclopædia Britannica. 8 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 649.
Tacitus, The Annals 2.49

Political offices
Preceded by Lucius Valerius Flaccus, Titus Otacilius Crassus	Consul of the Roman Republic 260 BC With: Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Asina	Succeeded by Lucius Cornelius Scipio, Gaius Aquillius Florus

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[1] Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Duilius, Gaius" . Encyclopædia Britannica. 8 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 649.

[ref1-2] Tacitus, The Annals 2.49