HORTENSIUS

hortensius, quintus, dictator of rome 286 b.c. when the people, pressed by their patrician creditors, "seceded" to the janiculum, he was commissioned to put an end to the strife. he passed a law whereby the resolutions of the multitude (_plebiscita_) were made binding on all the citizens, without the approval of the senate being necessary. this was not a mere re-enactment of previous laws. another law, passed about the same time, which declared the _nundinae_ (market days) to be _dies fasti_ (days on which legal business might be transacted), is also attributed to him. he is said to have died while still dictator. aulus gellius xv. 27; pliny, _nat. hist._ xvi. 15; macrobius, _saturnalia_ i. 16; livy, _epit._ ii.