Coriolanus is widely believed to be a legendary figure who is said to have lived during the 5th century BC. Born Gaius Marcius, he was given the surname as a result of his action in capturing the Volscian town of Corioli in 439 BC.

"Venturia at the Feet of Coriolanus" by Gaspare Landi
Photo courtesy of The VRoma Project (http://www.vroma.org).

According to Plutarch, Coriolanus represented the Roman aristocracy and was well respected in the Roman Senate for arguing against the democratic inclinations of the plebians. He was perpetually banished from Rome upon being convicted on charges of misapropriation of public funds. He later turned against Rome and made allegiance with the same Volscians he had once fought against. Plutarch's account of his defection tells that Coriolanus donned a disguise and snuck into the home of a wealthy Volcian noble, a certain Tullus Aufidius, and appealed to him as a suppliant. Coriolanus and Aufidius then persuaded the Volscians to break their truce with Rome and raise an army to invade. When Coriolanus' Volscian troops threatened the city, Roman matrons, including his wife and mother, were sent to persuade him to call off the attack. At the sight of his mother, wife and children throwing themselves at his feet in supplication, Coriolanus relented, withdrew his troops from the border of Rome, and retired to Aufidius' home city of Antium. Aufidius then raised support to have Coriolanus put on trial by the Volcians, and then formed a conspiracy to assassinate him before the trial had ended.

The tale of Coriolanus' appeal to Aufidius is quite similar to a tale from the life of Themistocles, a leader of the Athenian democracy who was a contemporary of Coriolanus (given the important dictinction that Themistocles was an actual historical figure and Coriolanus was not). During Themistocles' exile from Athens, he travelled to the home of Admetus, King of the Molossians, a man who was his personal enemy. Themistocles came to Admetus in disguise and appealed to him as a fugitive, just as Coriolanus appealed to Aufidius. Themistocles, however, never attempted military retailiation against Athens.

Coriolanus has become better known from the play of the same name which appeared in William Shakespeare's First Folio: see Coriolanus (play).

External links

• The Life of Coriolanus, by Plutarch (http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/coriolan.html) - English translation by John Dryden