Sextus Furius ( 488–486 BC) was a Roman politician from the early
Republic, who served as
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 th ...
in 488 BC alongside
Spurius Nautius Rutilus. It was during their term of office that Rome was besieged by
Coriolanus
''Coriolanus'' ( or ) is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1605 and 1608. The play is based on the life of the legendary Roman leader Caius Marcius Coriolanus. Shakespeare worked on it during the same ye ...
and the
Volsci
The Volsci (, , ) were an Italic tribe, well known in the history of the first century of the Roman Republic. At the time they inhabited the partly hilly, partly marshy district of the south of Latium, bounded by the Aurunci and Samnites on the ...
. Roman tradition credits the consuls with normal duties during the siege, as well as a raid on Volscian territory after their withdrawal.
Some sources suggest that Sextus Furius was among a group of nine tribunes (probably
military tribune
A military tribune (Latin ''tribunus militum'', "tribune of the soldiers") was an officer of the Roman army who ranked below the legate and above the centurion. Young men of Equestrian rank often served as military tribune as a stepping stone t ...
s) who were burnt alive in 486 BC, possibly for supporting the alleged conspiracy of the consul
Spurius Cassius
Spurius Cassius Vecellinus or Vicellinus (died 485 BC) was one of the most distinguished men of the early Roman Republic. He was three times consul, and celebrated two triumphs. He was the first ''magister equitum'', and the author of the first ag ...
.
[ Münzer, Friedrich (1910), " Furius 26" & " Furius 27", '' Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft'' (''RE'', ''PW''), volume 7, part 1, column 318.]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Furius, Sextus
5th-century BC Roman consuls
Sextus