Cincinnatus

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Cincinnatus is recalled by Cacciaguida in Canto XV of Paradiso. Verse 129 places him in a simile: just as today Cincinnatus and Cornelia would be extraordinary, in the time of Florence's origins a dissolute woman or a corrupt political man would have been extraordinary, according to the argument developed in verses 127-128. The authorized note to Canto XV clarifies that Dante, "as always," rather than limiting himself to an abstract idea makes "use of concrete names, well known to his readers," and that such figures "appear vivid and meaningful in the verse." The name is thus inserted, alongside Cornelia, Bellincion Berti, and Cianghella, in a gallery of exempla that opposes ancient morality to contemporary decadence, a central theme of Cacciaguida's Florentine recollection. No further element about his life, works, or historical roles can be added on the basis of the verses still provided.