Marcus Furius Camillus

Marcus Furius Camillus (; possibly – ) is a semi-legendary Roman statesman and politician during the early Roman republic who is most famous for his capture of Veii and defence of Rome from Gallic sack after the Battle of the Allia. Modern scholars are dubious of Camillus' supposed exploits and believe many of them are wrongly attributed or otherwise wholly fictitious. Historicity The traditional account of Camillus' life comes from Livy and Plutarch's eponymous Life. But these were based on a larger annalistic tradition which painted Camillus as the dominant figure in this period of history; Livy, for his part, organised his fifth and sixth books around Camillus' career (Camillus enters public office at the start of the fifth book and leaves it at the end of the sixth). Little evidence of this tradition survives, though fragments of Quintus Claudius Quadrigarius' work indicate that the myth of Camillus was well-established by the 80s and 70s BC. The name Camillus is attested in the Etruscan François Tomb, built near Vulci. One of the paintings therein describes a "Gneve Tarchunies Rumach" (probably Gnaeus Tarquinius the Roman) being killed by a "Marce Camitlnas" (possibly Marcus Camitilius or Marcus Camillus). It is not known, however, what specific legend the tomb depicts. Some scholars have suggested that Camitlnas refers to the Camillus of this article, but such attribution is problematic.