Cincinnatus

He lived in a magnificent hotel and was one of the matadors of finance, did business with Ouvrard, kept open house, and led the scandalous life of the period,--the life of a Cincinnatus, on sacks of corn harvested without trouble, stolen rations, "little houses" full of mistresses, in which were given splendid fetes to the Directors of the Republic.

"Not bad, my Cincinnatus! But you'll give me that dinner at the Rocher de Cancale."

THERE'S A PERSISTENT American fantasy of a CEO president: a corporate Cincinnatus uncorrupted by elected experience who steps in to right the ship of state through sheer executive will.

Identified by Marlin Herbst, Merrill, Iowa; Alan Easley, Columbia, Mo.; Gary Cooper, Fontanelle, Fla.; Dwayne Hanson; Dale Martin, Ephrata, Pa.; Duane Bjerketvedt; Fred Yutzy; Dean Delavan, Cincinnatus, N.Y.; Bruce Ward, Rice Lake, Wis.; John Ernst; Mark Oliphant, Ocala, Fla.; and Harry Jones.

He cites the Roman Republic where the same thing held true and is embodied in the legend of Cincinnatus who came from his farm for 16 days of absolute power and saved Rome from what historians think was an uprising of the common people which threatened the patrician upper classes, and after success returned to his farm.

"Despite the imperfections of our present charter, the latter, drafted by persons of integrity, laid down the hopes and aspirations of our people, and importantly, like Cincinnatus of Rome, and George Washington before her, when the time came to give up power, Corazon Cojuangco Aquino willingly did so even when the legal experts agreed that the prohibition in the Charter did not apply to her," he noted.

So the Romans reached out to Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus and offered him the job of Emperor, the most esteemed and powerful political position in all the ancient world.

"It remained an instrument so long as the slaveowners worked closely with their slaves, often in the fields themselves, as Cincinnatus was doing when appointed dictator [of Rome] because then the surplus from the slave labor which accumulated to the owner from his legal rights over his slaves could be used for some productive use, since the owner's personal knowledge of the agricultural process permitted him to judge where such investment could best be made."

For example, Cincinnatus meant curly, Crassus fat, Tacitus silent and Naso having a big nose.