Manlius (died 384 BC)

Roman consul 392 BC. When Rome was captured by the Gauls under Brennus 390 BC, Manlius took refuge in the Capitol (the citadel). According to tradition, when the Gauls tried to ascend the Capitol, Manlius was woken by the cackling of sacred geese and succeeded in driving back the enemy. For this heroic deed he was given the surname ‘Capitolinus’.

In 385 Manlius supported the plebeians who were suffering from harsh treatment by their patrician creditors, led by Camillus. In the following year he was charged by the patricians with aspiring to become king and was condemned to death by the people and thrown from the Tarpeian Rock. His house on the Capitol was demolished, and the members of the Manlia gens resolved that none of them should ever again have the first name Marcus.

Manlius

Town in Onondaga County, central New York State, 10 km/6 mi east of Syracuse; population (1990) 30,700. Settled in 1789, it is a residential suburb, with some light industry and a military academy established in 1869. In the east are lakes, parks, and agricultural land.