Coriolanus, Gaius (Gnaeus) Marcius (lived 5th century BC)

Legendary Roman general of the early Republic. Named Coriolanus because of his bravery at the taking of Corioli from the Volsci, enemies of Rome, his aristocratic arrogance led to his rejection in AD 491. He fled to the Volsci, and was made general of their army by King Attius Tullius. In 489 he led a Volscian advance on Rome, but was turned back by the pleas of his wife Vetiroa and mother Volumnia. The Volscians killed him as a traitor. The story was dramatized by William Shakespeare.

In another version of the legend, he lived in exile among the Volsci until his natural death.