A legendary Roman general who was said to have lived in the 6th and 5th centuries B.C., Coriolanus received his surname for his valor at the siege of Corioli (in 493) in the war against the Volsci. During the 491 famine which plagued Rome, Coriolanus suggested that the government withhold grain until the people consented to the abolition of the Tribune of the Plebs. For this the tribunes demanded his exile, and Coriolanus took refuge with the Volsci, eventually leading their army to battle against the Roman forces. However, pleas from his mother and wife caused Coriolanus to withdraw the Volscian forces from Rome. Although the specifics of his fate remain unclear to historians, it seems that Coriolanus did not participate in the war again, and he died among the Volsci. The story of Coriolanus' life has been retold by such leading historians as Plutarch, Livy, and Dionysius of Halicarnassus. Additionally, Coriolanus is the subject of Shakespeare's play, Coriolanus.