Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Clodianus

Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Clodianus born 114 BC, was a Roman politician and general who was one of two Consuls of the Republic in 72 BC along with Lucius Gellius Publicola. Closely linked to the family of Pompey, he is noted for being one of the consular generals who led Roman legions against the slave armies of Spartacus in the Third Servile War.

Although born into the plebeian Claudii Marcelli family, Clodianus was adopted into the patrician Cornelii Lentuli, possibly as the adoptive son of Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus. A partisan of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, he possibly served under Pompey during Pompey’s special commission in Hispania. Elected Praetor around 75 BC, his connections with Pompey ensured that he was elected consul in 72 BC .

Clodianus soon was involved in protecting Pompey’s interests, pushing a bill to validate grants of citizenship by Pompey in Hispania. He and his colleague also ensured that no Roman citizen in the provinces could be tried in absentia on a capital charge – an attempt to restrict the ravages of Gaius Verres in Sicily. Finally, Clodianus proposed a bill for recovering payment, which Lucius Cornelius Sulla had remitted, from those who had bought the confiscated property of those who suffered under the Sullan proscriptions.

However, the major event of his consulship was the revolt of Spartacus and the eruption of the Third Servile War. Having won a number of victories against ill-prepared Roman forces, the Senate now recognised Spartacus as a serious threat and sent both the consuls to confront the slave armies at the head of four legions. Clodianus moved to block Spartacus’s march northward, while his colleague Publicola moved in behind, hoping to catch the rebels between the two armies. However, Spartacus’s slave army destroyed Clodianus' legions in the Apennine Mountains (near modern Pistoia) in the valley named Lentula, and then turned and defeated the oncoming legions of Publicola. Gathering their shattered forces, both consuls gave chase but were once again defeated at a battle near Picenum.

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