Why Is an American City Named After a Roman Farmer?

In 458 BC, Rome handed a farmer absolute power to save a trapped army. He won, and gave the power back on the sixteenth day. Two thousand years later, his choice shaped how Americans saw George Washington, and gave its name to the city of Cincinnati, Ohio. The story of Cincinnatus, told as an illustrated history: the crisis at Mount Algidus, the envoys who found him at his plow, the night march, his return to the farm, and the long road from ancient Rome to the Ohio River. Sources: Livy, History of Rome, Book 3; the Society of the Cincinnati; city records of Cincinnati, Ohio. Chapters: 0:00 A Gift of Absolute Power 0:23 Rome in Danger 1:01 The Farmer Across the Tiber 1:55 The Night March 2:38 Sixteen Days 3:20 Washington, the American Cincinnatus 4:00 How Cincinnati Got Its Name 4:41 The Plow Over the Crown