Coriolanus

Coriolanus, Caius Marcius (fifth century B.C.), said to be descended from King Ancus Marcius. His mother was Volumnia, or, as some say, Veturia. He was a renowned warrior, and his exploits in the taking of Corioli gave him his name. He was an aristocrat of the aristocrats, and despised the common people, and was banished for proposing that the people, when starving, should receive none of a present of corn which had arrived from Sicily unless they gave up their tribunes. He went to the Volscians, and being put in command of their army, advanced upon Rome. His demands for the Volscians were that they should receive public land and be admitted to the privileges of Roman citizens. Overcome by the prayers of his mother, his wife, and the matrons of Rome, he forewent his intentions, and turned back, to lose his life at Volsci. Plutarch and Shakespeare have made us familiar with his name and life.