Lucius Aemilius Paullus, Roman consul and general
Lucius Aemilius Paullus (consul 219 BC)
Lucius Aemilius M.f.M.n. Paullus, also spelled Paulus, was a consul of the Roman Republic twice, in 219 and 216 BC. He is primarily remembered for being one of the commanders of the Roman army at the Battle of Cannae, and for his death in the same battle.
Roman consul
The consuls were the two highest elected public officials of the Roman Republic. Romans considered the consulship the second-highest level of the cursus honorum—an ascending sequence of public offices to which politicians aspired—after that of the censor, which was reserved for former consuls. Each year, the centuriate assembly elected two consuls to serve jointly for a one-year term. The consuls alternated each month holding fasces when both were in Rome. A consul's imperium extended over Rome and all its provinces.