Gaius Sulpicius Longus

Sulpicius was a member of the Patrician gens Sulpicia, a family which had achieved the consular dignity within the first ten years of the Republic's founding, acquiring the office of consul nine times and consular tribune thirteen times since. Sulpicius was a member of the Sulpicii Longii branch of the family, and was the son of Servius Sulpicius Longus and the grandson of Quintus Sulpicius Longus, consular tribune in 390 BC, the year the Gauls sacked Rome. ==First two consulships==

In 337 BC, Sulpicius was elected to his first consulship with Publius Aelius Paetus as his plebeian colleague. In this year, it came to the attention of the Senate that the Sidicini were attacking a Roman-aligned group, the Aurunci. Upon the Senate's orders, the consuls prepared for war against the Sidicini. However, once news arrived that the Aurunci were forced by the Sidicini to abandon their towns for Suessa, the Senate grew angry at the consuls for their delay in combating this enemy and ordered them to appoint a dictator. The consuls nominated Gaius Claudius Crassus as dictator. However, soon after his appointment, it was reported by the augurs that the auspices taken for his appointment were flawed, and he was forced to resign. In the remainder of the year two notable events occurred. Firstly, a Vestal virgin was put to death for her immorality, and secondly, a plebeian was elected to the position of Praetor. As he was a patrician, Sulpicius opposed the election of a plebeian into a position previously solely held by patricians. The senate, however, were unwilling to try to prevent a plebeian from entering the more minor position of a Praetor when they had already tried and failed to restrict the plebeians from achieving the higher honor of the consulate, and thus affirmed the election. In 323 BC, Sulpicius served a second term as consul alongside Quintus Aulius Cerretanus. In this year, the Second Samnite War continued and Rome was also attacked by the Apulians, with the senate assigning Sulpicius to the former campaign and Aulius to the latter. Sulpicius marched his army into Samnite territory and ravaged it, but did not encounter the Samnite army. Aulius met the same situation in Apulia, and thus there was no great victory that year. ==Third consulship==

In 314 BC, Sulpicius was elected consul for a third and final time, serving alongside Marcus Poetelius Libo. In this year, the consuls continued the siege of the Samnite aligned city of Sora from the previous year. At first the siege seemed like it would be an extended affair. This changed when a deserter from Sora proposed a plan to the consuls to take the city by trickery. Upon having his strategy approved by the consuls, the deserter sprung his plan into action, taking several cohorts of men at night to take cover in the woods, and stationing ten men on the Soran citadel to hold a narrow and rough pass against enemy attack. He then entered the city and made a ruckus, claiming that the citadel had been taken by the enemy and urgent help was needed. This caused a great panic upon the people of Sora, many of whom began to flee the city thinking all was lost, at which point the hidden Roman soldiers swooped in through an open gate, butchering the fleeing townsfolk and taking the city. By early dawn, Sulpicius and Poetelius entered the now taken city, received the surrender of those in it who survived, and set up a Roman garrison in it. Later that year, a conspiracy was formulated in the previously Roman-aligned city of Capua to revolt against Roman domination, news of which piqued the interest of the Samnites, who intended to attack Capua while they were distracted and no longer under Roman protection. The Samnites set camp at the town of Caudium in order to strike if the situation presented itself. However, the conspiracy was discovered by Rome and the leaders of it were dealt with by a specially appointed dictator, after which the consuls moved to defeat the Samnite force that was posturing to attack a now reconciled ally of Rome. ==Dictatorship==

In 312 BC, as the war in Samnium seemed to come to an end, rumors started spreading of a potential invasion of Roman territory by the Etruscans, in collaboration with the Samnites. As one of the consuls was campaigning in Samnium at the time and the other was too ill to lead a campaign, so the senate ordered the ill consul to appoint a dictator. The man that the consul appointed was Sulpicius. Sulpicius then himself appointed Gaius Junius Bubulcus Brutus as his magister equitum and conducted the levy with great vigor, as the Etruscans were a greatly feared enemy. Because the purpose of his appointment was to defend Roman territory, Sulpicius resolved not to start a campaign unless the Etruscans made the first move. However, since the Etruscans were of the same mindset, no action was undertaken before Sulpicius' resignation from the position of dictator. This is the final known mention of Sulpicius in recorded history. ==References==