Gaius Aurelius Cotta was also known for his fairness and principles.  

At one point early in his public life, his work to extend civil rights to other Italians outside of the city of Rome got him prosecuted by the power establishment and exiled.  When he was later brought back to serve as consul, he might easily have exploited his power to settle old scores.

He didn’t, though.

This kind of strength of character was a characteristic that I noticed in many of the other Cottas I read about—to the point where I began to take it as a kind of genetic marker.