29. Cincinnatus Became Antiquity’s Iconic Good Dictator
When a delegation arrived to inform Cincinnatus that he had been appointed dictator, they found him toiling in his farm. Whatever hard feelings he might have harbored towards his countrymen over the vitriol directed his way, and the fine that had ruined him financially, Cincinnatus put those sentiments aside in his country’s hour of need.
He put aside the plow and took up the sword, and led the Romans to a swift victory. He then promptly resigned from the dictatorship and went back to laboring on his small farm. Cincinnatus was appointed dictator again in 439 BC, when Rome was threatened with an internal conspiracy. He put it down, then once more laid down his power as soon as the crisis was over, and returned to his farm.