Lucius_Sicinius_Dentatus
Lucius Siccius Dentatus
5th century BC Roman politician and soldier
Lucius Siccius or Sicinius Dentatus (died c. 450 BC) is a supposed Roman soldier, primus pilus, and tribune, famed for his martial bravery. He was cast as a champion of the plebeians in their struggle with the patricians. His cognomen Dentatus means "born with teeth".[citation needed] His exploits are likely fictitious.[1]
Dionysius of Halicarnassus gives him the crucial role in a battle between the consul Titus Romilius Rocus Vaticanus of 455 BC and the Aequi. Sent on a suicide mission against the enemy camp, instead he captured it while the main force was inconclusively fighting the enemy; Siccius' achievement panicked the Aequians and sent them fleeing from the field, and achieved victory for the Romans.[2] The following year (454 BC), after Romilius' term as consul ended, Dionysius reports that Siccius was elected as one of the tribunes of the plebs, he secured Romilius' conviction but mended relations when Romilius proposed a commission to travel to Greece and study their laws.[3]
He was supposedly murdered for his opposition to the Second Decemvirate, which itself may be fictitious.[4][5]