Attius Tullius was a well-respected and influential political and military leader of the Volsci in the early fifth century BC. According to Plutarch, who calls him Tullus Aufidius, his home town was Antium. Tullius sheltered the exiled Roman hero Gaius Marcius Coriolanus, then incited a war with Rome, in which he and Coriolanus led the Volscian forces. He appears in William Shakespeare's tragedy Coriolanus under the name of Tullus Aufidius.
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- Attius Tullius in the context of Gaius Julius Iulus (consul 489 BC)
Attius Tullius in the context of Gaius Julius Iulus (consul 489 BC)
Gaius Julius Iullus (fl. c. 489 BC) was a Roman politician from the early Republic. He was the first from the ancient patrician clan of the Julii to attain the consulship, which he held in 489 BC as the colleague of Publius Pinarius Mamercinus Rufus.
According to Dionysius, it was during their year of office that the Volscian leader Attius Tullius provoked a confrontation with Rome. With the help of the Roman exile Coriolanus, the Volsci prepared for war and began raiding Latin territory. As planned, the impact of the Volscian operations fell more heavily on the poor, exacerbating the already tense relationship between the patricians and the plebeians. As the Senate was trying to calm the populace, a Volscian force under Coriolanus took control of the city of Circeii, where there was a Roman colony. The consuls were directed to set a watch over the city, call upon Rome's allies for help, and begin raising an army to meet the Volscian threat, but their term of office expired before these tasks could be completed. It fell to their successors to continue preparing for the inevitable confrontation with Coriolanus.
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