Gnaeus Marcius Coriolanus
He received his toponymic cognomen "Coriolanus" following his courageous actions during a Roman siege of the Volscian city of Corioli.
More recent scholarship has cast doubt on the historicity of Coriolanus, with some portraying him as either a wholly legendary figure or at least disputing the accuracy of the conventional story of his life or the timing of the events.
[3] Coriolanus came to fame as a young man serving in the army of the consul Postumus Cominius in 493 BC during the siege of the Volscian town of Corioli.
He quickly gathered a small force of Roman soldiers to fight against the Volscians who had sallied forth from Corioli.
Coriolanus advocated that grain should be provided only upon the reversal of the pro-plebeian political reforms arising from the first secessio plebis in 494 BC.
[6] Plutarch's account of his defection tells that Coriolanus donned a disguise and entered the home of Aufidius as a supplicant.
Coriolanus and Aufidius then persuaded the Volscians to break their truce with Rome and raise an army to invade.
Coriolanus was overcome by their pleas, and moved the Volscian camp back from the city, ending the siege.
Rome honoured the service of these women by the erection of a temple dedicated to Fortuna (a female deity).
During Themistocles' exile from Athens, he travelled to the home of Admetus, King of the Molossians, a man who was his personal enemy.
Whether or not Coriolanus himself is a historical figure, the saga preserves a genuine popular memory of the dark, unhappy decades of the early 5th century BC when the Volscians overran Latium and threatened the very existence of Rome.
Its portrayal of the hero has led to a long tradition of political interpretation of Coriolanus as an anti-populist, or even proto-fascist leader.
Inspired by Shakespeare's work, it made reference to the recent Jacobite uprisings against the Hanoverian Succession.
Heinrich Joseph von Collin's 1804 play Coriolan portrayed him in the context of German romantic ideas of the tragic hero.
His military campaign against Rome is successful and his forces are approaching the walls of the city until the appeal of the Roman women, including his patrician mother and his wife.
