Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 1.djvu/609

Rh CAM ILL us. CAMILLA, a daughter of king Metnbus of the Volscian town of Privernuni. When her father, expc-lled by Iiis subjects, came in his flight to the river Amascnua, he tied his infant daughter, whom he had previously devoted to the service of Diana, to a spear, and hurled it across the river. He himself then swam after it, and on reaching the op- posite bank he found his child uninjured, lie took her with him, and had her suckled by a mare. He brought her up in pure maidenhood, and she became one of the swift-footed servants of Diana, accustomed to the chase and to war. In the war between Aeneas and Turnus she assisted the iaiier, and was slain by Anms. Diana avenged her death by sending Opis to kill Aruns, and to rescue the body of Camilla. (Virg. Jen. vii. 003, &c., xi. 432, iVic, 648, &c. ; Hygin. Fab. 2o2.) Servius {ad Am. xi. 543 and 558) remarks, that she was cjilled Camilla because she was en- gaged in the service of Diana, since all youthful priestesses were called Camillae by the Etruscans. That there were such Camillae as well as Camilli at Rome is expressly stated by Dionysius. (ii. 21, c. ; Fest. s. V. Cami/lus.) [L. S.] CAMILLUS, a Gallic chief. [Brutus, No. 17.] CAMILLUS, the name of a patrician family of the Furia gens. 1. M. FuRius Camillu.s, was, according to Livy (v. 1), elected consular tribune for the first time in B. c. 403. In this year Livy mentions eight consular tribunes, a number which does not occur any where else ; and we know from Plutarch (Cam. 2), that Camillus was invested with the cen- sorship before he had held any other office. From these circumstances it has justly been inferred, that the censorship of Camillus and his colleague Postu- mius must be assigned to the year B. c. 403, and that Livy, in his list of the consular tribunes of that year, includes the two censors. (Comp. Val. Max. i. 9. § 1.) Therefore, what is commonly called the second, third, &c, consular tribunate of Camillus, must be regarded as the first, second, &c. The first belongs to b. c. 401; and the only thing that is mentioned of him during this j-ear is, that he marched into the country of the Faliscans, and, not meeting any enemy in the open field, ravaged the country. His second consular tribunate falls in the year b. c. 398, in the course of which he acquired great booty at Capena ; and as the consular tribunes were obliged by a decree of the senate to lay down their office before the end of the year, Q. Servilius Fidenas and Camillus were successively appointed iiiterreges. In b. c. 396, when the Veientines, Faliscans, and Fidenates again revolted, Camillus was made dictator for the purpose of carrying on the war against them, and he appointed P. Cornelius Scipio his magister equitum. After defeating the Falis- cans and Fidenates, and taking their camp, he marched against Veii, and succeeded in reducing the town, in the tenth year of the war. Here he acquired immense booty, and had the statue of Juno Regina removed to Rome, where it was set up in a special temple on the Aventine, which was consecrated in B.C. 391, the year in which he cele- brated the great games he had vowed. On his return from Veii, he entered Rome in triumph, riding in a chariot drawn by white horses. In B. c. 394 he was elected consular tribune for the third time, and reduced the Faliscans. The story ef the schoolmaster who attempted to betray the CAMILLUS. 591 tovm of Falerii to Camillus, belongs to this cam- paign. Camillus had him chained and sent back to his fellow-citizens, who were so much affected by the justice of the Roman general, that they sur- rendered to the Romans. (Liv. v. 27; comp. Val. Max. vi. 5. § 1, who calls Camillus consul on this occasion, although, according to the express testi- mony of Plutarch, he was never invested with the consulship.) In B. c. 391, Camillus was chosen interrex to take the auspices, as the other magistrates were attacked by an epidemic then raging at Rome, by which he also lost a son. In this year he was ac- cusL'd by the tribune of the plebs, L. Appuleius, with having made an unfair distribution of the booty of Veii ; and, seeing that his condemnation was unavoidable, he went into exile, praying to the gods that, if he was wronged, his ungrateful coun- try might soon be in a condition to stand in need of him. During his absence he was condemned to pay a fine of 15,000 heavy asses. The time for which he had prayed soon came ; for the Gauls advanced through Etruria towards Rome, and the city, with the exception of the capitol, was taken by the barbarians, and reduced to ashes. In this distress, Camillus, who was living in exile at Ar- deas, was recalled by a lex curiata, and while yet absent was appointed dictator a second time, B. c. 390. He made L. Valerius Potitus his magister equitum, assembled the scattered Roman forces, consisting partly of fugitives and partly of those who had survived the day on the Allia, and march- ed towards Rome. Here he took the Gauls by surprise, and defeated them completely. He then entered the city in triumph, saluted by his fellow- citizens as alter Romulus, pater patriae, and con- ditor alter urbis. His first care was to have the temples restored, and then to rebuild the city. The people, who were at first inclined to quit their de- stroyed homes and emigrate to Veii, were prevailed upon to give up this plan, and then Camillus laid down his dictatorship. In B. c. 389 Camillus was made interrex a se- cond time for the purpose of electing the consular tribunes ; and, as in the same year the neighbour- ing tribes rose against Rome, hoping to conquer the weakened city without any difficulty, Camillus was again appointed dictator, and he made C. Ser- vilius Ahala his magister equitum. He first de- feated the Volscians, and took their camp ; and they were now compelled to submit to Rome after a contest of seventj' years. The Aequians were also conquered near Bola, and their capital was taken in the first attack. Sutrium, which had been occu- pied by Etruscans, fell in like manner. After the conquest of these three nations, Camillus returned to Rome in triumph. In B. c. 386 Camillus was elected consular tri- bune for the fourth time, and, after having declined the dictatorship which was oflered him, he defeated the Antiates and Etruscans. In B. c. 384 he was consular tribune for the fifth, and in 381 for the sixth time. In the latter year he conquered the revolted Volscians and the Praenestines. During the war ag-ainst the Volscians L. Furius ^ledullinus was appointed as his colleague. The latter disap- proved of the cautious slowness of Camillus, and, without his consent, he led his troops agjiinst the enemy, who by a feigned flight drew him into a perilous situation and put him to flight. But C.&. millus now appeared, compelled the fugitives to