Gaius Licinius Calvus was a Roman politician from the

plebeian In ancient Rome, the plebeians or plebs were the general body of free Roman citizens who were not patricians, as determined by the census, or in other words "commoners". Both classes were hereditary. Etymology The precise origins of the gro ...

Licinia gens in the fourth century BC.

Family

His grandfather was Publius Licinius Calvus Esquilinus, serving as

consular tribune A consular tribune was putatively a type of magistrate in the early Roman Republic. According to Roman tradition, colleges of consular tribunes held office throughout the fifth and fourth centuries BC during the so-called "Conflict of the Or ...

between 400 BC and 396 BC.

Career

In 368 BC, Licinius became the first plebeian

Magister equitum The , in English Master of the Horse or Master of the Cavalry, was a Roman magistrate appointed as lieutenant to a dictator. His nominal function was to serve as commander of the Roman cavalry in time of war, but just as a dictator could be n ...

and was made dictator by

Publius Manlius Capitolinus Publius Manlius Capitolinus was a Roman statesman who served as Dictator in 368 BC.Liv. 6 39 Family A member of the patrician '' gens Manlia'', Capitolinus was the brother of Marcus Manlius Capitolinus, consul in 392 BC. Career In 368 BC, Capit ...

during the battles of the plebeian consulship.

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding i ...

, ''

Ab urbe condita ''Ab urbe condita'' (; 'from the founding of Rome, founding of the City'), or (; 'in the year since the city's founding'), abbreviated as AUC or AVC, expresses a date in years since 753 BC, 753 BC, the traditional founding of Rome. It is ...

'', VI 39 In 364 he himself held the consulship and was the colleague of

Gaius Sulpicius Peticus Gaius Sulpicius Peticus was a prominent 4th-century BC Roman politician and general who served as consul five times and as dictator once. Sulpicius was a member of the gens Sulpicia, a prominent patrician family which had attained the consular di ...

. That year, Rome was once again attacked by plague. And so the first

Ludi Romani The ''Ludi Romani'' ("Roman Games"; see '' ludi'') was a religious festival in ancient Rome held annually, starting in 366 BC, from September 12 to September 14. In the 1st century BC, an extra day was added in honor of the deified Julius Caesa ...

were established to appease the gods.Livy, VII 2

References

Licinii Magistri equitum (Roman Republic) 4th-century BC Roman consuls Ancient Roman dictators {{AncientRome-politician-stub