page_title: Gaius Marcius Coriolanus
section_title: Modern scepticism
hierarchical_section_title: Gaius Marcius Coriolanus / Modern scepticism
caption_attribution_description: Act V Scene 3 of Shakespeare's Coriolanus: VOLUMNIA Say my request's unjust, And spurn me back: but if it be not so, Thou art not honest; and the gods will plague thee, That thou restrain'st from me the duty which To a mother's part belongs.—He turns away: Down, ladies: let us shame him with our knees. To his surname Coriolanus 'longs more pride Than pity to our prayers. Down: an end; This is the last.—So we will home to Rome, And die among our neighbours.—Nay, behold's: This boy, that cannot tell what he would have But kneels and holds up hands for fellowship, Does reason our petition with more strength Than thou hast to deny't.—Come, let us go: Türkçe: William Shakespeare'nin Coriolanus eserinin V. Perde, 3. Sahnesi: Roma Cumhuriyeti'nden sınırdışı edilip Volscilerin yanına sığınan Gaius Martius Coriolanus Volsciler ile birlikte Roma Cumhuriyeti'ne saldırmaya başladı. Annesi Volumnia (tarihteki gerçek adı: Venturia), Coriolanus'un eşi Virgilia ve çocukları ve bir Romalı kadın ile birlikte kendisini ziyaret ederek Roma'yı yok etmemesi için yarvardı. (James Caldwell - Gavin Hamilton tablosunun gravür versiyonu, 4 June 1803)
context_page_description: Gaius Marcius Coriolanus was a Roman general who is said to have lived in the 5th century BC. He received his toponymic cognomen "Coriolanus" because of his exceptional valor in a Roman siege of the Volscian city of Corioli. He was subsequently exiled from Rome, and led troops of Rome's enemy the Volsci to besiege the city.
  In later ancient times, it was generally accepted by historians that Coriolanus was a real historical individual, and a consensus narrative story of his life appeared, retold by leading historians such as Livy, Plutarch, and Dionysius of Halicarnassus. More recent scholarship has cast doubt on the historicity of Coriolanus, with some portraying him as either a wholly legendary figure or at least disputing the accuracy of the conventional story of his life or the timing of the events.
  According to Plutarch, his ancestors included prominent patricians such as Censorinus and even an early King of Rome.
  The story is the basis for the tragedy of Coriolanus, written by William Shakespeare, and a number of other works, including Beethoven's Coriolan Overture.
context_section_description: Some modern scholars question parts of the story of Coriolanus.  It is notable that accounts of Coriolanus' life are first found in works from the third century BC, some two hundred years after Coriolanus' life, and there are few authoritative historical records prior to the Gallic sack of Rome in 390 BC.  Whether or not Coriolanus himself is a historical figure, the saga preserves a genuine popular memory of the dark, unhappy decades of the early 5th century BC when the Volscians overran Latium and threatened the very existence of Rome.
caption: Act V, Scene III of Shakespeare's Coriolanus. Engraved by James Caldwell from a painting by Gavin Hamilton.
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