Postumus Aebutius Elva, surnamed Cornicen, was consul

Roman consul

A consul served in the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic.Each year, two consuls were elected together, to serve for a one-year term. Each consul was given veto power over his colleague and the officials would alternate each month...

 at Rome

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

 in 442 BC, and magister equitum

Master of the Horse

The Master of the Horse was a position of varying importance in several European nations.-Magister Equitum :...

 in 435 BC.

Consulship

Aebutius was elected consul for the year 442 BC, with Marcus Fabius Vibulanus. Their year of office was peaceful, and commissioners were appointed to establish a colony at Ardea

Ardea (RM)

Ardea is an ancient town and comune in the province of Rome, 35 km south of Rome and about 4 km from today's Mediterranean coast....

. Many Romans wanted the colony to receive the majority of the land distributed, but it was decided to allot it first to the Rutuli

Rutuli

The Rutuli or Rutulians were members of a legendary Italic tribe...

, who were native to Ardea, and give the Roman colonists the remaining land. One of the commissioners was Marcus Aebutius Elva, probably a relative of the consul.

Magister Equitum

In 435 BC, a force of Fidenates

Fidenae

Fidenae, or Fidenes, home of the Fidenates, was an ancient town of Latium, situated about 8 km north of Rome on the Via Salaria, which ran between it and the Tiber. As the Tiber was the border between Etruria and Latium, the left-bank settlement of Fidenae represented an extension of Etruscan...

, with re-inforcements from Veii

Veii

Veii was, in ancient times, an important Etrurian city NNW of Rome, Italy; its site lies in Isola Farnese, a village of Municipio XX, an administrative subdivision of the comune of Rome in the Province of Rome...

, took advantage of a pestilence at Rome. They entered Roman territory, and crossing the Anio

Aniene

-External links:* http://www.humnet.ucla.edu/humnet/horaces-villa/glossary/Anio.gloss.html*...

, advanced almost as far as the Colline Gate

Porta Collina

The Colline Gate was a landmark in ancient Rome, supposed to have been built by Servius Tullius, semi-legendary king of Rome 578–535 BC. The gate stood at the north end of the Servian Wall, and past it were two important streets, the Via Salaria and Via Nomentana. Within this area the Alta Semita...

, when Quintus Servilius Priscus Structus was appointed dictator

Roman dictator

In the Roman Republic, the dictator , was an extraordinary magistrate with the absolute authority to perform tasks beyond the authority of the ordinary magistrate . The office of dictator was a legal innovation originally named Magister Populi , i.e...

. Postumus Aebutius was named magister equitum, and the two gathered a volunteer force just outside the gate. This induced the Fidenates to retreat, but Servilius and Postumius pursued them to Fidenae. Finding that normal siege tactics would be ineffective against the fortified hilltop, the Romans breached the walls with sapper

Sapper

A sapper, pioneer or combat engineer is a combatant soldier who performs a wide variety of combat engineering duties, typically including, but not limited to, bridge-building, laying or clearing minefields, demolitions, field defences, general construction and building, as well as road and airfield...

s, and took the citadel, bringing Fidenae under Roman control.