one of the officers of the cavalry under the consul C. Sempronius Atratinus, in the war against the Volscians, B. C. 423. It was chiefly through the exertions of Tempanius that the Roman army was saved from defeat; and the people out of gratitude elected him tribune on the plebs in the following year. When one of his colleagues L. Hortensius attempted to bring Sempronius to trial for his misconduct in the war, Tempanius generously came forward in defence of his former commander. (Liv. 4.38-42; comp. V. Max. 6.5.2.)
A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology
Smith, William
A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. William Smith, LLD, ed. 1890