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. ==References==