Lucius Papirius Mugillanus (consul 427 BC)
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Lucius Papirius Mugillanus was a consul of the Roman Republic in 427 BC, consular tribune in 422 BC and censor in 418 BC.[1]
Papirius belonged to the patrician Papiria gens. He was the son of Lucius Papirius Mugillanus, consul suffect in 444 and censor in 443 BC. Marcus Papirius Mugillanus, consul in 418 BC, would have been a younger brother or son of Papirius, while later Papirii Mugillani, such as Lucius Papirius Mugillanus, consular tribune in 382 BC, should probably be considered grandchildren or grand-nephews.[2]
In 427 BC Papirius held the consulship together with Gaius Servilius Structus Ahala. Nothing is known of the events during their consulship.[3][4][5][6]
Five years later, in 422 BC, Papirius would again reach the imperium, this time as a consular tribune together with Lucius Manlius Capitolinus and Quintus Antonius Merenda. There is little recorded of the actions of the consular college, but the year saw a large trial being held against the former consul Gaius Sempronius Atratinus. Sempronius had the previous year held command against the Volscians and was being prosecuted for needlessly endangering his legion. The prosecution was led by the Tribunes of the Plebs, of which Lucius Hortensius was the main prosecutor. Sempronius had succeeded with getting four of his former officers elected as Tribunes of the Plebs to oppose Hortensius. The tactic only partially worked and simply delayed his conviction, which came in 420 BC in the form of heavy fines.[3][7][8][9]
In the same year as the conviction fell for Sempronius, 420 BC, Papirius was appointed as Interrex to hold the comitia. In this role he most likely oversaw the change from consuls in the previous year to a return to the use of consular tribunes.[10][11]
Papirius was elected as one of two censors in 418 BC. His colleague in the office is not known. This was the first year of consular office for his son or brother Marcus Papirius Mugillanus and the second term as consular tribune for his former consular colleague Servilius. The actions of the censors are not recorded as ancient chroniclers instead focused on the events relating to the war with the Aequi and Labici.[12][13][14]