}
Aulus Aternius Varus Fontinalis ( 454–449 BC, sometimes called Aterius) was
consul
Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states thro ...
in 454 BC, with
Spurius Tarpeius Montanus Capitolinus
Spurius Tarpeius Montanus Capitolinus was consul in 454 BC, with Aulus Aternius Varus.
Consul
The consuls of the previous year, Titus Romilius and Gaius Veturius Cicurinus had defeated the Aequi at Mount Algidus, but were now prosecuted for h ...
Gaius Veturius Cicurinus
Gaius Veturius Cicurinus was a Roman consul in 455 BC with Titus Romilius Rocus Vaticanus. His term saw continued divisions between the plebeians and the patricians. His father was named Publius Veturius Cicurinus, possibly identifying him ...
had defeated the
Aequi
300px, Location of the Aequi (Equi) in central Italy, 5th century BC.
The Aequi were an Italic tribe on a stretch of the Apennine Mountains to the east of Latium in central Italy who appear in the early history of ancient Rome. After a long stru ...
at
Mount Algidus Mount Algidus (, "Chilly Mountain") is the eastern rim of the dormant Alban Volcano in the Alban Hills, about southeast of Rome, Italy. The ridge is traversed by a narrow crevasse called the . It was the site of the ancient Roman Battle of Mount ...
, but were now prosecuted for having sold the captured material and equipment in order to replenish the treasury, without having received the approval of the troops, who would otherwise have been entitled to a share of the proceeds. The former consuls were tried and fined for their misappropriation. This occurrence appears to have led to the passage of the ''
lex Aternia Tarpeia
The ''lex Aternia Tarpeia'' was a Roman law, introduced by the consuls Aulus Aternius Varus and Spurius Tarpeius Montanus Capitolinus in 454 BC, and passed during their year of office. The law concerned the regulation of payments for fines and pe ...
'', regulating the payment of fines, and fixing the maximum fine which magistrates could impose.
Aternius and Tarpeius also maintained the opposition of the
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
and the
patricians
The patricians (from ) were originally a group of ruling class families in ancient Rome. The distinction was highly significant in the Roman Kingdom and the early Republic, but its relevance waned after the Conflict of the Orders (494 BC to 287 B ...
to a law passed two years earlier by the
tribunes of the plebs
Tribune of the plebs, tribune of the people or plebeian tribune () was the first office of the Roman state that was open to the plebeians, and was, throughout the history of the Republic, the most important check on the power of the Roman Senate ...
, opening the
Aventine Hill
The Aventine Hill (; ; ) is one of the Seven Hills on which ancient Rome was built. It belongs to Ripa, the modern twelfth ''rione'', or ward, of Rome.
Location and boundaries
The Aventine Hill is the southernmost of Rome's seven hills. I ...
to settlement. With the two orders deadlocked, an agreement was forged to appoint a body consisting of both patricians and
plebeians
In ancient Rome, the plebeians or plebs were the general body of free Roman citizens who were not Patrician (ancient Rome), patricians, as determined by the Capite censi, census, or in other words "commoners". Both classes were hereditary.
Et ...
, which should pass measures for the benefit of all. Three envoys (all patricians) were sent to
Athens
Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...
, to study the laws of
Solon
Solon (; ; BC) was an Archaic Greece#Athens, archaic History of Athens, Athenian statesman, lawmaker, political philosopher, and poet. He is one of the Seven Sages of Greece and credited with laying the foundations for Athenian democracy. ...
and Greek political institutions, and report their findings upon their return. This settlement led to the creation of the '' Decemviri Legibus Scribundis'', who held power from 451 to 449, and established the
Twelve Tables
The Laws of the Twelve Tables () was the legislation that stood at the foundation of Roman law. Formally promulgated in 449 BC, the Tables consolidated earlier traditions into an enduring set of laws.Crawford, M.H. 'Twelve Tables' in Simon Hornbl ...
of Roman law.Livy, ''Ab Urbe Condita'' iii. 31, 32 ff.
The Decemvirate failed to bring about the reconciliation of the orders, and was itself abolished, as the consulship was re-instituted in 449. A plan was then proposed by which the senate would accede to the illegal re-election of several of the tribunes, if the consuls should also be re-elected. The object of this scheme was to discredit both the tribunes and the consuls, who had previously earned the people's trust. However, the president of the elections,
Marcus Duilius
The gens Duilia or ''Duillia'' was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. The first of the gens to achieve prominence was Marcus Duilius, tribune of the plebs in BC 470. The family produced several important statesmen over the first three centuries ...
, himself a former tribune, secured the pledge of the consuls not to accept a second year in office.Livy, ''Ab Urbe Condita'' iii. 65.
Duilius then called for the election of the tribunes, and refused to acknowledge the re-election of the tribunes of 449. As only five other men were elected, Duilius announced that the legally-elected tribunes should appoint five others to fill the vacancies, thereby frustrating the tribunes whom the senate had sought to return to office for a second year. As a concession to those patricians who had supported the peaceful resolution of the conflict, the tribunes chose two patricians, Aternius, and his colleague Tarpeius, to fill two of the vacant positions.
This was the only time that patricians were permitted to hold this office, in consequence of which the plebeian tribune
Lucius Trebonius Asper
Lucius is a masculine given name derived from Lucius (Latin ; ), abbreviated L., one of the small group of common Latin forenames () found in the culture of ancient Rome. Lucius probably derives from Latin word ( gen. ), meaning "light" (< succeeded in passing the ''
lex Trebonia
The ''Lex Trebonia'' was a Roman law passed in 55 BC during the second joint consulship of Marcus Licinius Crassus and Pompey, as part of their informal political arrangement known as the First Triumvirate. Sponsored by the tribune of the plebs G ...
'', requiring that in the future, votes should continue to be called until the full number of tribunes had been elected, thereby preventing future tribunes from appointing colleagues who might be opposed to the interests of the people.