Background
Gaius Flaminius was born in 260 B.C.
Gaius Flaminius was born in 260 B.C.
In 232 b.c., when tribune of the plebeians, he overcame strong senatorial opposition and pushed a bill through the assembly to subdivide state-owned land, the so-called Ager Picenus et Gallicus along Italy's northern Adriatic coast, and distribute it to individual settlers. Subsequently, Flaminius filled various exalted positions.
Gaius Flaminius became praetor and first governor of Sicily (227 b.c.); as consul (223 b.c.) he defeated the Gauls near the River Po. On this occasion, he postponed reading a dispatch from the Senate until after the battle, since he divined its contents-his own recall. After his victory, he celebrated a triumph. As censor (220 b.c.) he made his name immortal by constructing Rome's great northern road (Via Flaminia). In 218 b.c. he helped pass a bill debarring senators from overseas commerce. The following year he became consul again (217 b.c.). By then Hannibal had invaded Italy, and Flaminius sought to engage him in Etruria, but Hannibal ambushed and slaughtered Flaminius and his army at Lake Trasimene.
The ancient historians depict Flaminius as a turbulent, impious demagogue, who began the corruption of the Roman populace and provoked the hostility of the Gauls. These accounts, however, derive from senatorial sources and, if not wholly false, are at least grossly exaggerated.
Gaius Flaminius has a son: Guy Flaminius.