Marcus Manlius Capitōlīnus
Manlius Capitōlīnus, Marcus, according to Roman tradition, a commander who held the Capitol against the Gauls when they sacked Rome c.390 BC. It is said that, awakened by the cackling of the sacred geese while sleeping in his house on the Capitol, dogs having failed to give warning, he summoned the guards and repulsed a surprise attack by the Gauls. Thereafter the feeding of the sacred geese was a charge on the state. In an annual commemoration geese were carried on litters with purple and gold cushions, and dogs were crucified on stakes of elder (a ritual which survived into Christian times). In the political crisis that followed the withdrawal of the Gauls, Manlius, though a patrician, is said to have supported the poor who were suffering under the stringent laws of debt. He was accused of attempting to make himself tyrant and was thrown to his death from the Tarpeian rock (see TARPEIA). After his death and disgrace no other member of the family received the praenomen Marcus.
