Aulus Cornelius Cossus Arvina

Aulus Cornelius Cossus Arvina was a Roman statesman and general who served as both consul and Magister Equitum twice, and Dictator in 322 BC.

Family Cossus was a member of the patrician gens Cornelia. The Cornelii were one of the most important families of the Roman Republic, first attaining the consulship in 485 BC, and remaining prominent throughout the next four hundred years, producing figures such as Scipio Africanus and Sulla. Cossus was the son of Publius and grandson of Aulus, and was a descendant of the Aulus Cornelius Cossus who as consul in 428 BC slew Lars Tolumnius, the King of Veii, to obtain the spolia opima. Publius Cornelius Arvina, consul in 306 and 288 BC, was probably his son.

Career Magister equitum Cossus first appears in history in 353 BC as magister equitum serving under the dictator Titus Manlius Torquatus. These elections were notable because the young Marcus Valerius Corvus, a military tribune in 349, was elected consul for the first time, owing in part to his heroics in battle against the Gauls. Cossus would later serve alongside Corvus during his first consulship. The senate directed Corvus to defend Capua, while Cossus was ordered to march against the Samnites. His election was secured with the aid of Marcus Valerius Corvus, his former consular partner, who was serving as interrex.

Emissary to the Samnites The next year, the consuls Spurius Postumius Albinus and Titus Veturius Calvinus were caught in an ambush at the Battle of the Caudine Forks, and their armies were made to pass under the yoke, as well as agreeing to a treaty. The senate refused to ratify the treaty, and the consuls abdicated. The following year, Postumius and his colleague surrendered themselves to the Samnites as punishment for breaking the treaty they had negotiated. The senate appointed Cossus a fetial, a type of priest who ritually presided over foreign treaties and affairs, to escort the ex-consuls to their fate. However, Gaius Pontius, the Samnite commander who had defeated the consular army, refused to accept the men, judging that to take or put them to death would give the Romans cause to pursue the war with renewed vigor. This is the final occasion that Cossus is mentioned in history.