Gaius Marcius Rutilus was the first plebeian dictator

Roman dictator

In the Roman Republic, the dictator , was an extraordinary magistrate with the absolute authority to perform tasks beyond the authority of the ordinary magistrate . The office of dictator was a legal innovation originally named Magister Populi , i.e...

 and censor

Censor (ancient Rome)

The censor was an officer in ancient Rome who was responsible for maintaining the census, supervising public morality, and overseeing certain aspects of the government's finances....

 of ancient Rome

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

, and consul

Consul

Consul was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Empire. The title was also used in other city states and also revived in modern states, notably in the First French Republic...

 four times.

He was first elected consul in 357 BC

357 BC

Year 357 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Rutilus and Imperiosus...

, then appointed as dictator the following year in order to deal with an invasion by the Etruscans. He surprised the enemy's camp and drove them out of Roman territory, for which he was granted a triumph

Roman triumph

The Roman triumph was a civil ceremony and religious rite of ancient Rome, held to publicly celebrate and sanctify the military achievement of an army commander who had won great military successes, or originally and traditionally, one who had successfully completed a foreign war. In Republican...

 by the people, against the Senate

Roman Senate

The Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic, however, it was not an elected body, but one whose members were appointed by the consuls, and later by the censors. After a magistrate served his term in office, it usually was followed with automatic...

's wishes.

Rutilus was again elected consul in 352

352 BC

Year 352 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Poplicola and Rutilus...

. At the end of his term, he ran for censor and won, despite patrician opposition. He was also consul in 344

344 BC

Year 344 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Rutilus and Torquatus...

 and 342

342 BC

Year 342 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Ahala and Rutilus...

, when he led the army in the Samnite Wars

Samnite Wars

The First, Second, and Third Samnite Wars, between the early Roman Republic and the tribes of Samnium, extended over half a century, involving almost all the states of Italy, and ended in Roman domination of the Samnites...

.

His son of the same name was Tribune of the Plebs in 311 BC and Consul in 310

310 BC

Year 310 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Rullianus and Censorinus...

.

according to Fergus Millar

Fergus Millar

-External links:* staff page at the Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Oxford* announcement of "History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ."...

in "The Roman Republic and Augustan Revolution, this Son was one of the first Plebian Augurs under the Lex Ogulnia and also held the position of Censor twice, the first time in 294 BC and the second time in 265 BC,