Gnaeus Cornelius Cossus (consul 409 BC)

Gnaeus Cornelius Cossus was a consular tribune in 414 BC and consul in 409 BC of the Roman Republic.

Cornelius belonged to the Cornelia gens, one of the older patrician gentes of the Republic. Cornelius' father was the Roman hero Aulus Cornelius Cossus who had slain the King of the Veii, Lars Tolumnius, in single combat. Cornelius had two known brothers, Aulus Cornelius Cossus, consul in 413 BC and Publius Cornelius Cossus, consular tribune in 408 BC. There are no known children of Cornelius.

Career

Cornelius first held the imperium in 414 BC as one of four consular tribunes. His colleagues in the office were Lucius Valerius Potitus, Quintus Fabius Vibulanus and Publius Postumius Albinus Regillensis; with the exception of Fabius, all the consular tribunes were newcomers to the imperium. The consular tribunes fought a successful war against the Aequi which resulted in the capture of Bolae. This newly captured territory came to be a focal point for strife as Marcus Sextius, a tribune of the plebs, proposed an agrarian law to colonize Bolae while blaming the consular tribune Postumius for misconduct. The conflict would culminate in a mutiny among the Roman soldiers stationed at Bolae resulting in the death of both Postumius and a Roman quaestor, Publius Sestius. It is unclear what role Cornelius played during these events.