Aulus Sempronius Atratinus (consular tribune 444 BC)

Aulus Sempronius Atratinus was a Roman politician who served as one of the first consular tribunes in 444 BC. This was a newly created magistracy, intended as a compromise between the patricians and plebeians during a period of social and political tension in the early Roman Republic. The office of consular tribune allowed for multiple individuals, typically three, to exercise consular power, and was open to both patricians and, theoretically at least, plebeians.

The circumstances surrounding the creation of the consular tribunate in 444 BC were complex. The traditional annual consuls, who were always patricians, were temporarily replaced by these consular tribunes, ostensibly because of unfavorable omens that allegedly arose during the consular elections of that year, according to Livy. This allowed the patricians to circumvent the Licinian-Sextian laws, which aimed to make the consulship accessible to plebeians.

Aulus Sempronius Atratinus served alongside two other consular tribunes: Lucius Atilius Luscus and Titus Cloelius Siculus. Their tenure was short-lived. According to some accounts, they abdicated or were forced to resign due to defects in their election or the same unfavorable omens that had prompted the change in magistracy in the first place. The consuls were then restored for the remainder of the year. Consequently, the exact scope of the powers and responsibilities exercised by Aulus Sempronius Atratinus and his colleagues during their brief term remains somewhat unclear and subject to historical debate. The events of 444 BC highlighted the ongoing struggle for power between the patrician and plebeian orders in early Rome.