Career
He was victorious over the Sabines and was awarded a triumph which he celebrated on 4 April, 503 British Columbia. According to Livy, he also led Roman troops against the Latin town of Pometia. According to Livy, writing five hundred years after the fact, Menenius was chosen by the patricians during the secession of the plebs in 494 British Columbia to persuade the plebs to end their secession. Livy says that Menenius told the soldiers a fable about the parts of the human body and how each has its own purpose in the greater function of the body.
The rest of the body thought the stomach was getting a free ride so the body decided to stop nourishing the stomach.
Soon, the other parts became fatigued and unable to function so they realized that the stomach did serve a purpose and they were nothing without lieutenant In the story, the stomach represents the patrician class and the other body parts represent the plebs.
Eventually, Livy says, an accord was reached between the patricians and the plebs, which included creating the office of tribune of the plebs. However, the imagery was not new, even for Livy.
lieutenant appears in Xenophon"s Memorabilia (2iii18) and in Cicero"s De Officiis (IIIv22).
One puzzle about Menenius concerns his social status: Was he patrician or plebeian? Livy asserts that he was "an eloquent man and dear to the plebeians as being one of themselves by birth." On the other hand, he was sent to the plebs as a representative of the Senate, and furthermore he had held the office of consul. The consulship, according to the traditional historiography, was at this time reserved strictly for patricians. Ancient accounts of early Roman history are compromised by uneven use of sources, the author"s bias toward either senatorial or popular interests, and sheer uncertainty.
The existence of the "plebeian" and "patrician" social division in the earliest period of Rome"s history has been questioned by modern scholars.
Whatever the state of affairs during the first six decades of the Republic, the Twelve Tables of Roman law drawn up in 451 and 450 British Columbia established a clear distinction between the two orders. Several of Menenius" descendants held the consulship after this time, from which it has been inferred that the Menenii were probably made patricians during the reign of one of the later Roman kings.
Menenius had a son who would become consul in 439 British Columbia. Menenius was also a character in William Shakespeare"s Coriolanus. Menenius died in 493 British Columbia. Livy records that during his life he had been beloved of both the senate and the plebs (particularly the latter since his involvement in ending their secession).
As his estate lacked funds to pay for his funeral, the people contributed to his funeral expenses by way of a levy.