Spurius Furius Medullinus Fusus (consul 464 BC)

Spurius Furius Medullinus Fusus (died 453 BC) was a Roman politician in the 5th century BC, and was consul in 464 BC, and consul suffect in 453 BC.

Spurius Furius Medullinus Fusus
Consul of the Roman Republic
In office 1 August 464 BC [1] – 31 July 463 BC Serving with Aulus Postumius Albus Regillensis (consul 464 BC)
Preceded by	Quintus Fabius Vibulanus, Titus Quinctius Capitolinus Barbatus
Succeeded by	Publius Servilius Priscus Structus (consul 463 BC), Lucius Aebutius Elva
In office 1 August 453 BC – 453 BC Serving with Publius Curiatius Fistus Trigeminus
Preceded by	Publius Curiatius Fistus Trigeminus, Sextus Quinctilius Varus
Succeeded by	Titus Menenius Lanatus (consul 452 BC), Publius Sestius Capitolinus Vaticanus
Personal details
Born	Unknown Ancient Rome
Died	453 BC Ancient Rome

Family

Medullinus was the brother of Publius Furius Medullinus Fusus, consul in 472 BC. The cognomina Medullinus Fusus has been reconstructed from multiple sources.[2] Dionysius of Halicarnassus gives the praenomen Servius in place of Spurius.[a 1] Medullinus was the father of Lucius Furius Medullinus (military tribune with consular power in 432, 425, and 420 BC).[3]

Biography

In 464 BC, he was elected consul with Aulus Postumius Albus Regillensis.[2] The two consuls led separate campaigns against the Aequi, Medullinus in Hernician territory.[2][a 2] In an initial battle the Aequi were victorious, and the Roman forces led by Furius were besieged in their camp.[4] Later Furius led his troops in a sortie. They burst forth from their besieged camp and attacked the Aequi. The Roman attack initially succeeded, however the consul's brother Publius, (who had been consul in 472 BC and was serving as a legatus under his brother's command) led his forces too far from the main Roman force, and was cut off and killed. This led the consul to pursue him, and Spurius Furius himself was wounded, and only just rescued from the enemy. The Aequi besieged the Romans in their camp once again, and displayed the head of the consul's brother. But then the proconsul Titus Quinctius Capitolinus Barbatus arrived with Latin and Hernican forces, and attacked the Aequian army. The besieged Roman army again broke forth from the camp, and the Aequian army was soundly defeated. The Roman forces led by Quinctius and Furius then assisted the other consul Postumius in driving a separate Aequian force from Roman territory.[5]

In 453 BC a pestilence ravaged Rome. According to Dionysius of Halicarnassus, a Spurius Fusus (probably the consul of 464 BC), was made consul suffect to replace the consul Sextus Quinctilius Varus, who died from the pestilence.[a 3][a 4] Medullinus also died of the pestilence later that year.[a 5][6]

References

Modern sources

1. Robert Maxwell Ogilvie, Commentary on Livy, books 1–5, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1965, pp. 404, 405.
2. Broughton 1951, p. 34
3. Broughton 1951, p. 62
4. Livy, 3.4
5. Livy, 3.5
6. Broughton 1951, p. 44

Ancient sources

1. Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities, IX. 63.2
2. Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities, IX. 62-66
3. Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities, X. 53.3
4. Livy, Roman History, 3.32.4
5. Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities, X. 53

Bibliography

Ancient authors

• Dionysius of Halicarnassus in Romaike Archaiologia books 9 and 10.
• Titus Livius in Roman History book 3.

Modern authors

• Broughton, Thomas Robert Shannon (1951), The Magistrates of the Roman Republic, Philological Monograph No. 15, New York: American Philological Association, ISBN 0-89130-811-3CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

Political offices
Preceded by Quintus Fabius Vibulanus II Titus Quinctius Capitolinus Barbatus III	Consul of the Roman Republic with Aulus Postumius Albus Regillensis 464 BC	Succeeded by Publius Servilius Priscus Structus (consul 463 BC) Lucius Aebutius Elva
Preceded by Publius Curiatius Fistus Trigeminus Sextus Quinctilius Varus	Consul suffect of the Roman Republic with None 453 BC	Succeeded by Titus Menenius Lanatus Publius Sestius Capitolinus Vaticanus