 | GenghisTheHun (168)
09/14/2007 |  This is an excellent title. It shows the people familiar with the classics, that Washington had the supreme power but gave it up and went home. This comes from the legend surrounding Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus, the noble Roman from the 6th Century B. C. Cincinnatus was viewed by later historians as one of the heroes of early Rome and as a model of Roman virtue and simplicity.
He lived on his small farm in simple circumstances. So small and lean were his holdings, that if he didn't attend to them his family would starve.
Two enemies were invading Rome from two different directions, and the Roman Senate pleaded with Cincinnatus to assume the mantle of dictator in order to save the city.
He didn't hesitate, and it is said that he left his plow in the field and tied the team the the standing plow. He left and in sixteen days had whipped the enemy. He immediately resigned the dictatorship and went home.
His immediate resignation of his absolute authority with the end of the crisis has often been cited as an example of good leadership, service to the public good, and the virtue of modesty.
This indeed was the model that Washington followed.
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 | irishgit (138)
09/14/2007 | Speaks to a bygone era when people had some understanding of classical history and literature.
Cincinnatus was a hero of early Rome who was granted the absolute authority of dictatorship when the city was under threat from external enemies.
After saving Rome, Cincinnatus immediately resigned the dictatorship and went home to his farm.
The parallel with Washington's actions was evident to people of his era.
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