Cincinnatus and George Washington: The Leaders Who Walked Away from Power
- Dillon Wall
- Jun 15
- 4 min read
The Story of Cincinnatus
Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus was no king, general, or man with ambition for these titles. By the time he solidified his legend, he had already retired from politics- living modestly on his small farm just outside the city walls. He was not wealthy or well connected, nor was he especially liked by much of the Senate. But, he had something important: reputation.
Cincinnatus had served as consul once before, which was the highest elected political office- but it wasn’t a throne. Two consuls were elected annually and ruled together with the power to veto each other’s decisions. They commanded armies, presided over the Senate, managed state affairs, and had near-kinglike authority- but only for a year. When Cincinnatus served as consul around 460 BC, he was seen as stern and principled. He was not a career politician.
In 458 BC, Rome was on the verge of collapse as a neighboring tribe called the Aequi had ambushed a Roman army and trapped it in the mountains. The Senate found themselves scrambling with no time to debate. They utilized a constitutional mechanism written into Rome’s early legal framework to appoint a dictator. It was a safeguard that was used sparingly in times of crisis when normal republican processes were too slow or divided to respond quick enough. Here’s how it worked:
The Roman Dictatorship
The dictatorship was established shortly after the founding of the republic in 509 BC and was a fully legal office dedicated to times of emergency.
Only the Senate could authorize the appointment.
One of the consuls would nominate the dictator, but only with the Senate’s approval.
The dictator was given complete and unquestioned authority over civil and military matters.
The position had a strict six month term limit.
With Quintus Minucius Esquilinus, one of the sitting consuls, being trapped by the Aequi, Gaius Horatius Pulvillus, the other sitting consul, formally appointed Cincinnatus as dictator. He suggested that among the ruling class, no one else had the authority, reputation, or neutrality to command instant loyalty as Cincinnatus. The Senate knew he would not cling to this power.
According to the story, the Senate’s envoys found him plowing his fields when they arrived with the news. Cincinnatus accepted taking the power without ceremony. He took command in the middle of the night and summoned every available fighting man, ordering them to muster fully armed at dawn on the Caelian Hill. Each man was ordered to bring five days of rations and twelve stakes for building a palisade (a temporary fortification).
The urgency was real as the consul Minucius and his army were trapped in a valley in the modern-day Alban Hills southeast of Rome. The Aequi had them surrounded, cutting off supplies and slowly letting them die.
Cincinnatus and his civilian army, on the other hand, did not charge in with brute force. While the Aequi were focused on the trapped army, Cincinnatus constructed a fortified ring around the Aequi by torchlight, effectively trapping the trappers.
By morning, the Aequi found themselves sandwiched between two Roman armies. Minucius’s starving army on one side and Cincinnatus’s fresh and fortified army on the other.
Cincinnatus ordered a battle cry from both fronts. The Aequi panicked as they found themselves overwhelmed on both fronts. Realizing they were surrounded, the Aequi surrendered. Their lives were spared and they were stripped of everything but a single garment each. The commanders were taken as prisoners and humiliated as a show of control.
When Cincinnatus returned to Rome, he found the Roman equivalent of a national parade celebrating the victory. Minucius, the rescued consul, resigned from his office in shame and hailed Cincinnatus as the true commander.
But, Cincinnatus didn’t relish in the glory. He didn’t consolidate power. After just 15 days, Cincinnatus resigned the dictatorship and walked back to his farm. He didn’t faulter to the temptation of power and showed moral victory as well as a military victory.
America’s Cincinnatus - George Washington
Two thousand years after Cincinnatus showed the world his virtue, another man showed his. Before he was the first president of the United States, George Washington was a general and Virginia landowner. He fought out of necessity, not ambition. When the Revolutionary War ended in 1783, the army was loyal to Washington, not Congress. Some people though he should declare himself king.
Instead of using this opportunity to take power, he gave it up.
" Having now finished the work assigned me, I retire from the great theatre of Action. " Washington’s Address to Congress resigning his commission | Tuesday, December 23, 1783
Washington, much like Cincinnatus, returned to his land in Mount Vernon to farm and ride fences and to fade away- if history allowed it.
Five years later, the young republic was faltering and Washington was called upon once more. Not as a general, but as President of the United States of America. He accepted and stabilized the nation, leading with prudence and always knowing that his actions would set the precedent of leaders to come.
After two terms, Washington refused to run for a third. In 1797, he gave his farewell address and left public life for good, once again returning to Mount Vernon.
Legacy and Restraint
The legacy of Washington and Cincinnatus live on in the world today. City names, policies, and precedents all reflect the virtuous restraint that Washington and Cincinnatus showed the world.
The society of the Cincinnati, a fraternal organization founded in 1783 by Washington and his fellow officers was built to preserve this ideology- the citizen-soldier, the reluctant leader, the man who serves and steps aside. Their Latin motto said it all:
Omnia relinquit servare rempublicam | He gave up everything to serve the Republic.
The city Cincinnati, Ohio was also named after Cincinnatus in 1790 by territorial governor Arthur St. Clair, a member of the Society of Cincinnati. It was meant to honor George Washington by invoking Cincinnatus who Washington was often compared to.
Conclusion: The Power to Walk Away
We live in a world where power is rarely walked away from. Dictators in foreign countries and career politicians at home in America. But in the stories of Washington and Cincinnatus, we see a different kind of power. The rare and virtuous ability to walk away.
Both men proved that greatness does not come from how long you hold power, but how you carry this power and how you let it go.
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