Lucius Cincius Alimentus

Life

L. Cincius Alimentus was part of the Cincia clan of ancient Rome. He served as praetor in Sicily 210 BC and as propraetor in 209 BC, again in Sicily, commanding two legions. His most important legislation was the Cincian Law (Lex Cincia), which forbade the acceptance of payment for legal services.

Alimentus was captured in one of the early battles of the Second Punic War. He spent years as a prisoner of the Carthaginian general Hannibal, who—according to Alimentus's later account—confided in the Roman the details of his crossing of the Alps. He is last attested as an envoy in 208 BC. Scholar Bruce W. Frier mentions that none of the envoys are heard of again in the written records, and argues that the legation may have been captured while in Bruttium, Alimentus' release thus resulting from the peace treaty after Zama.