Gaius Flaminius

Gaius Flaminius (died 217 bc), Roman statesman and general, of plebeian family. He was tribune in 232 bc, when, in opposition to conservative members of the Senate, he succeeded in having a law enacted for the distribution among the plebeians of a tract of land south of Ariminum (now Rimini) newly conquered from the Gauls. During his term as censor in 220 he extended to Ariminum the military road known as the Flaminian Way, which ran from Rome to Spoletium (now Spoleto). He also built the Circus Flaminius and in all probability inaugurated the plebeian games. In 218 he further incurred the enmity of the conservatives by supporting a measure barring senators and their sons from owning seagoing vessels except to transport the produce of their own estates. Elected consul once more in 217, he assumed command of the army to oppose the advance of the Carthaginian general Hannibal. Flaminius led his troops from Ariminum to Arretium (now Arezzo) but was surprised on the shores of Lake Trasimenus and was slain in a violent battle in which half of his army of 30,000 perished.