Record · Classical world · Europe · 458 BC · Rulers & dynasties

Cincinnatus, dictator for sixteen days and then back to his farm

Edited by Song Letter · Researched and written with AI assistance, checked against the sources below · How we make it

Published 2026-07-17 · Reviewed 2026-10-11 · 4 min read

Reconstruction: a farmer pausing at an ox-drawn plough while senators in togas wait at the field edge — Senators find Cincinnatus at his plough across the Tiber, 458 BC. AI reconstruction, based on Livy 3.26 on the delegation finding Cincinnatus at work on his four-iugera farm; early Republican dress and a wooden ard plough with oxen.

TL;DR — Called from his four-acre farm in 458 BC to rescue a blockaded Roman army, Cincinnatus resigned his six-month dictatorship on the sixteenth day.

Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus was given the whole power of Rome for six months and gave it back after sixteen days. “Quinctius resigned on the sixteenth day the dictatorship which had been conferred upon him for six months,” the Roman historian Livy writes. The summaries of Livy’s books date the episode to 458 BC: “After an unsuccessful fight against the Aequans, Lucius Quintius Cincinnatus was made dictator; because he was in the country, working on his land, it was there that he was asked to wage war.”

Quick facts

When: 458 BC by the Varronian dates in Livy's summaries; a second dictatorship late in his life
Where: Rome and its farmland across the Tiber; the war against the Aequians
Who: Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus; the consul Minucius; his wife Racilia
Outcome: He rescued the blockaded army, resigned on the sixteenth day of a six-month office and refused a share of the spoils

One-year consuls and a six-month dictator

The Republic was built to keep power short. Livy dates “the origin of liberty” to the moment when “the consular authority was limited to one year,” and notes that of the two consuls “one only, however, had the ‘fasces,’” so that the people would not see both with the symbols of power at once. The same summaries put the first year of the Republic at 509 BC.

The dictatorship was the exception. In an emergency one man could hold supreme command, but, the historian Jona Lendering writes, “his magistracy lasted half as long” as a consul’s: “at most six months. It was impossible to appeal against the measures of the dictator.” Livy himself admitted that it was “not clearly ascertained” when the office was created or who held it first.

both sides of a worn silver Roman Republic coin — Silver denarius of the Roman Republic, 179-170 BC. British Museum. CC BY 4.0. Source

A consul blockaded

The emergency came in a war with the Aequians. The consul Minucius, Livy writes, “remained timidly within his camp,” and the enemy surrounded it. Five horsemen slipped through before the lines closed and “brought to Rome the news that the consul and his army were blockaded.” The other consul did nothing equal to the danger, and “by universal consent L. Quinctius Cincinnatus was called to the office.”

Four acres across the Tiber

The Senate’s messengers found him at work. Cincinnatus, “the one hope of Rome,” Livy writes, “used to cultivate a four-acre field on the other side of the Tiber,” where the deputation found him “either digging out a ditch or ploughing.” Asked to put on his toga to hear the Senate’s mandate, he “bade his wife, Racilia, bring him his toga quickly from the cottage.” He came forward, and they “saluted him as Dictator.”

Sixteen days, and no spoils

He finished quickly. The Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus says that “in the space of sixteen days in all from that on which he had received the magistracy” he “saved an army of his fellow citizens” and “defeated a first-rate force of the enemy.” Though he had received power for six months, “he abdicated his magistracy.”

He also declined the reward. When the Senate wanted him “to accept as much of the conquered land as he wished, together with slaves and money out of the spoils,” Dionysius writes, “he refused to do so.”

Called back in old age

Rome called on him once more. When the Senate wanted a dictator to deal with the plot it charged against Spurius Maelius, it named Lucius Quinctius again, and Livy records that he at first refused, asking why they were exposing him “at the close of his life to such a bitter struggle.” Citizens who knew nothing of the plot, Livy adds, wondered what emergency “required Quinctius, after reaching his eightieth year, to assume the government of the republic.”

Key facts

Livy’s summaries date Cincinnatus’s first dictatorship to 458 BC, after a defeat by the Aequians (Livy, Periochae).
Roman consuls held office for one year (Livy 2.1); a dictator held it for at most six months, without appeal (Lendering).
The consul Minucius and his army were blockaded, and five horsemen brought the news to Rome (Livy 3.26).
The Senate’s deputation found Cincinnatus on his four-acre field across the Tiber (Livy 3.26).
He resigned on the sixteenth day of a six-month dictatorship (Livy 3.29).
He refused a share of the conquered land, slaves and money (Dionysius 10).
He was made dictator again after his eightieth year (Livy 4.13–14).

FAQ

Who was Cincinnatus?

Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus, a Roman who farmed four acres across the Tiber and was made dictator in 458 BC to rescue an army blockaded by the Aequians.

How long was Cincinnatus dictator?

Sixteen days. Livy writes that he resigned "on the sixteenth day the dictatorship which had been conferred upon him for six months."

What was a Roman dictator?

An emergency magistrate with supreme command for at most six months, against whose measures there was no appeal, according to Jona Lendering.

Did Cincinnatus take any reward?

No. Dionysius of Halicarnassus says he refused the Senate's offer of conquered land, slaves and money from the spoils.

Was Cincinnatus dictator more than once?

Yes. Livy records that he was named dictator again, after his eightieth year, to deal with Spurius Maelius.

Sources

The whole world at about the same time: The world in 500 BC

Cite this article

APA: Song Letter. (2026, October 11). Cincinnatus, dictator for sixteen days and then back to his farm. Our Earth's History. https://ourearthshistory.com/europe/classical/cincinnatus-gave-power-back/
Chicago: Song Letter. “Cincinnatus, dictator for sixteen days and then back to his farm.” Our Earth's History, October 11, 2026. https://ourearthshistory.com/europe/classical/cincinnatus-gave-power-back/.
MLA: Song Letter. “Cincinnatus, dictator for sixteen days and then back to his farm.” Our Earth's History, 11 Oct. 2026, https://ourearthshistory.com/europe/classical/cincinnatus-gave-power-back/.

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