FLAMINIUS, C., a Roman senator, one of the most distinguished men of his family, the chief transactions of whose life are comprehended between his tribuneship, 232, and death, 217, b. c. He was one of the most powerful supporters of the liberal party in Rome, and was amongst the first to suggest the idea of dividing the land taken from the Galli Senones, in Picenum, amongst the lower orders; a suggestion which proved ever afterwards a source of irritation between the aristocracy and plebeians. This proposal made him, of course, the favourite of the people, and detested by the senate, who lost no opportunity of mortifying and thwarting the plans of Flaminius as far as they could do so with safety to themselves. By his influence with the people he was raised to the consulship (223 b. c.), and proceeded with his colleague Furius to conduct the war against the Galli Insubres, a powerful tribe in Cisalpine Gaul, to the north of the Po, whose capital was Milan. They had scarcely arrived, when the senate, who had it always in their power to punish a magistrate whose conduct they disapproved, by pretended flaws in the election, or by sacrifices not duly performed, sent an order for their immediate return. The friends of Flaminius had advertised him of the contents of the dispatch, and he, resolving not to be baffled in his object, deposited it quietly in his portfolio, under pretence that he was too much occupied with his military manoeuvres to have time to attend to the civil affairs of Rome. But when he had struck a decisive blow against the enemy, and thus justified the support given by his friends at Rome, he opened the dispatch, and found that it contained his rccal. He felt himself, however, too powerful in the affections of the people to care for the spleen of the senate, and boldly set it at defiance, by remaining in the north of Italy till he had made a satisfactory arrangement of this part of the country. On his return he was degraded by the senate, but the people indemnified their favourite by voting him a triumph.

Flaminius continued to support every measure calculated to increase the power of the people, or to diminish that of their opponents. He procured the enactment of a law, that no senator should possess a ship of larger burden than was sufficient to contain three hundred amphorae, equal to about 900 English bushels. This increased still more his influence with the people, and he was again elected consul (217 B∙ c.), though absent at Ariminum, to which place he had retired to await the result of the election. He was fearful that the senate would manage to retain him in the city, by falsifying the auspices or delaying the celebration of the Fe- r ix Latinae. They attempted to recal him, but he disregarded their commands, and took his station at Arretium, now Arrezzo, to wait the arrival of Hannibal. But that artful general drew the army of Flaminius into the ambuscade he had laid on the Thrasymene Lake, and the result was the complete defeat of the army and death of Flaminius. (Polyb. ii. 21, 32, 33; Cic. Acad. iv. 5; Liv. xxi. xxii.)

Flaminius, T. Quinctius, an illustrious Roman senator, born about 228 b. c. , at a time when his country was engaged in important wars, which drew forth all the talent it Possessed. His early youth was passed in arms against Hannibal; and so much did he distinguish himself in the various duties he was called on to discharge, that he ventured to stand candidate for the consulate before the legal age, and without having passed through the inferior offices. ∙ His canvass was successful, and he became consul at the age of thirty (198 b. c.). I he Romans had for several years been engaged in a contest with Philip III. king of Macedon, whose supremacy extended over the whole of Greece; and he had as yet baffled all attempts made by them to bring him under subjection. The war with this monarch was entrusted to the young Flaminius; and by the wisdom and vigour of his measures he compelled Philip to retreat from a strong position on the river Apsus in Epirus, where he had hitherto been able to set the Roman generals at defiance. This opened up to him the road to Thessaly, where he had no sooner arrived than the whole country declared itself in his favour. The mildness of his manners, his affability, and constant regard to the strict rules of justice, gained him the hearts of all who approached him; but Philip was determined not to yield the power which he had inherited from his ancestors without a struggle. The armies met at Cynosce-phålae in Thessaly, to the south of the river Peneus, small hills so called from their resemblance to the heads of dogs; and the result was the entire defeat of Philip (197 b. c.). Though that monarch was entirely in his power, Flaminius restored to him his kingdom, but compelled him to renounce all claim to the sovereignty of Greece. He prevailed on the commissioners, who had been sent by the senate to assist him in settling the affairs of Greece, to declare its entire independence, and to withdraw the garrisons from all its cities. The wisdom of this policy was soon effectually proved; as Greece became more completely attached to the Roman dominion from affection than she could ever have been by force. In the latter years of his life we find him employed in a mission to which, from his noble character and humane disposition, we can scarcely give credit. He was sent (183 B. c.) by the senate to demand from Prusias king of Bithynia, that Hannibal should be given up to the Romans; and though Prusias used every intercession in favour of a man who lived with him under the sanction of hospitality, he could not prevail. Flaminius, it seems, insisted that his demand should be granted; and, to escape his enemies, Hannibal put an end to his life by poison. Plutarch states that there is some doubt whether Flaminius was employed in this embassy; and we would fain believe that he did not tarnish his character by conduct so utterly unworthy of it. (Plutarch, Life of Flaminius ; Livy, xxxii. xxxiii. xxxiv.)