A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. By various writers. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

862 CORVUS.
In the year following, B. c. 342, Corvus was
appointed dictator in consequence of the mutiny of
the army. The legions stationed at Capua and
the surrounding Campanian towns had openly rebelled, marched against Rome, and pitched their
camp within eight miles of the city. Here they
were met by Corvus at the head of an army; but
before proceeding to use force, he offered them
peace. This was accepted by the soldiers, who
could place implicit confidence in their favourite
general and a member likewise of the Valerian
house. Through his influence an amnesty was
granted to the soldiers; and this was followed by
the enactment of several important laws. Another
account, however, of this revolt has been preserved,
and the whole subject has been investigated by
Niebuhr (iii. p. 63, &c.) at great length. (Liv. vii.
40-42.)
In B. c. 335 Corvus was elected consul a fourth
time with M. Atilius Regulus, since the Sidicinians had joined the Ausonians of Cales, and the
senate was anxious that the war should be entrusted to a general on whom they could entirely
depend. The consuls accordingly did not draw
lots for their provinces, and that of Cales was
given to Corvus. He did not disappoint their expectations. Cales was taken by storm, and, in
consequence of the importance of its situation, the
Romans settled there a colony of 2,500 men.
Corvus obtained the honour of a triumph, and also
the surname of Calenus from the conquest of the
town. (Liv. viii. 1.6.)
With the exception of the years B. c. 332
and 320, in which he acted as interrex (viii. 17,
ix. 7), we do not hear of Corvus again for several
years. The M. Valerius, who was one of the legates of the dictator L. Papirius Cursor in the
great battle fought against the Samnites in B. c.
309, is probably the same as our Corvus, since
Livy says, that he was created praetor for the
fourth time as a reward for his services in this
battle, and we know that Corvus held curule dignities twenty-one times. (ix. 40, 41.)
In B. c. 301, in consequence of the dangers
which threatened Rome, Corvus, who was then in
his 70th year, was again summoned to the dictatorship. Etruria was in arms, and the Marsi, one
of the most warlike of the neighbouring people,
had also risen. But the genius of Corvus again
triumphed. The Marsi were defeated in battle;
several of their fortified towns, Milionia, Plestina,
and Fresilia, were taken; and the Marsi were
glad to have their ancient alliance renewed on the
forfeiture of part of their land. Having thus
quickly finished the war against the Marsi, Corvus
marched into Etruria; but, before commencing
active operations, he had to return to Rome to renew the auspices. In his absence, his master of
the horse was attacked by the enemy while on a
foraging expedition, and was shut up in his camp
with the loss of several of his men and some military standards. This disaster caused the greatest
terror at Rome; a "justitium" or universal cessation from business was proclaimed, and the gates
and walls were manned and guarded as if the enemy were at hand. But the arrival of Corvus in
the camp soon changed the posture of affairs. The
Etruscans were defeated in a great battle; and another triumph was added to the laurels of Corvus.
(x. 3-5.)
In B. c. 300, Corvus was elected consul for the

CORYPHASIA.
fifth time with Q. Appuleius Pansa. The state
of affairs at home rather than those abroad led to
his election this year. There must have been severe struggles between the two orders for some
time previously, and probably both of them looked
to Corvus as the man most likely to bring matters
to an amicable settlement. During his fifth consulship the Ogulnian law was passed, by which
the colleges of pontiffs and augurs were thrown
open to the plebeians. The consul himself renewed the law of his ancestor respecting the right of
appeal (provocatio) to the people, and rendered it
more certain to be observed by affixing a definite
punishment for any magistrate who transgressed
it. (x. 5, 6-9.)
In B. c. 29.9 Corvus was elected consul a sixth
time in place of T. Manlius Torquatus, who had
been killed by a fall from his horse while engaged
in the Etruscan war. The death of so great a
man, and the superstitious feeling attending it,
induced the people unanimously to appoint Corvus
to the vacant office. The Etruscans, who had
been elated by the death of Torquatus, no sooner
heard of the arrival of Corvus, than they kept
close within their fortifications, nor could he provoke them to risk a battle, although he set whole
villages on fire. (x. 11.)
From this time, Corvus retired from public life;
but he lived nearly thirty years longer, and reached the age of a hundred. His health was sound
and vigorous to the last, and he is frequently referred to by the later Roman writers as a memorable example of the favours of fortune. He was
twice dictator, six times consul, and had filled the
curule chair twenty-one times. He lived to see
Pyrrhus driven out of Italy, and the dominion of
Rome firmly established in the peninsula. lHe
died about B. c. 217, seven years before the
commencement of the first Punic war. (Cic. de
Senect. 17; Val. Max. viii. 13. ~ 1; Plin. II. N.
vii. 48. s. 49; Niebuhr, iii. p. 124.)
A statue of Valerius Corvus was erected by
Augustus in his own forum along with the statues
of the other great Roman heroes. (Gell. ix. 11;
comp. Suet. Aug. 31.)
2. M. VALERIUS M. F. M. N. MAXIMUS CORVINUS, son apparently of the preceding, was consul
with Q. Caedicius Noctua in B. c. 289; but his
name occurs only in the Fasti.
CORYBANTES. [CABEIRI and CYBELE.]
CORY'CIA (KwpvKiae or Kwpvicis), a nymph,
who became by Apollo the mother of Lycorus or
Lycoreus, and from whom the Corycian cave in
mount Parnassus was believed to have derived its
name. (Paus. x. 6. ~ 2, 32. ~ 2.) The plural,
Coryciae, is applied to the daughters of Pleistus.
(Apollon. Rhod. ii. 710; Ov. Met. i. 320, Heroid.
xx. 221.) [L. S.]
CO'RYDUS (KopuOos), a surname of Apollo,
under which the god had a temple eighty stadia
from Corone, on the sea-coast. (Paus. iv. 34. ~
4, &c.) [L. S.]
CO'RYLAS. [CoTYS, No. 1.]
CORYPHAEA (Kopvuaia), the goddess who
inhabits the summit of the mountain, a surname of
Artemis, under which she had a temple on mount
Coryphaeon, near Epidaurus. (Paus. ii. 28. ~ 2.)
It is also applied to designate the highest or
supreme god, and is consequently given as an epithet to Zeus. (Paus. ii. 4. ~ 5.) [L. S.]
CORYPHA'SIA (Kopvpatia), a surname of