Dentatus refusing wealth in favour of a turnip, depicted by Amigoni
Manius Curius Dentatus (d. 270 BC), son of Manius, was a plebeian hero of ancient Rome, notable for ending the Samnite War.
According to Pliny he was born with teeth, thus the cognomen "Dentatus".
He first appears as consul in 290 BC, defeating both the
Samnites and Sabines that year, and (according to the sources)
celebrating two triumphs. As suffect consul in
284 BC, he defeated the Senones, as consul again in
275 BC, he fought Pyrrhus in the inconclusive
Battle of Beneventum which nevertheless forced Pyrrhus out of Italy. He
defeated the Lucani in the following year. He was censor in 272 BC.
At home Dentatus was responsible for partly draining Lake Velinus (289 BC), and in 272 BC began the construction of the Anio Vetus, Rome's
second aqueduct.
He was supposed to have been incorruptible and frugal; the story was that when the Samnites sent ambassadors with expensive
gifts in an attempt to influence him in their favor, they found him sitting by the hearth roasting turnips. He refused the gifts, saying that he preferred ruling the possessors of gold over possessing it himself.
Although the truth of this story is unclear - it may have been an invention of Cato - it
was the inspiration for a number of paintings, by Jacopo
Amigoni, Govert Flinck, and others.
His praenomen is sometimes erroneously given as "Marcus" because the
standard abbreviation of Manius, "M'." is easily confused with the "M." abbreviation for "Marcus".
Today the Dutch Study Association 'S.V.T.B. Curius' at Delft University of Technology is named after him (see:
www.curius.nl)
Sources
- Livy, epitome, 11-14
- Polybius ii. 19
- Eutropius ii. 9, 14
- Florus i. 18
- Valerius Maximus iv. 3, 5, vi. 3, 4
- Cicero, De Senectute, 16
- Juvenal xi. 78
- Plutarch, Pyrrhus, 25
- Pliny vii. 16
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