Quintus Fabius Maximus Rullianus (or Rullus) was a patrician, politician and soldier of the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( ) was the era of Ancient Rome, classical Roman civilisation beginning with Overthrow of the Roman monarchy, the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with the establis ...

during the fourth and early third century BC. He was the son of Marcus Fabius Ambustus, of the patrician

Fabii The gens Fabia was one of the most ancient patrician families at ancient Rome. The gens played a prominent part in history soon after the establishment of the Republic, and three brothers were invested with seven successive consulships, from ...

, was five times

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states thro ...

dictator A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute Power (social and political), power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a polity. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to r ...

once (possibly twice), censor, and a hero of the

Samnite Wars The First, Second, and Third Samnite Wars (343–341 BC, 326–304 BC, and 298–290 BC) were fought between the Roman Republic and the Samnites, who lived on a stretch of the Apennine Mountains south of Rome and north of the Lucanian tribe. ...

. He was brother to Marcus Fabius Ambustus , who was named after their father, and the grandfather (or great-grandfather) of

Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus (), surnamed Cunctator ( 280 – 203 BC), was a Roman statesman and general of the third century BC. He was Roman consul, consul five times (233, 228, 215, 214, and 209 BC) and was appointed Roman dictator, dict ...

(hero of the

Second Punic War The Second Punic War (218 to 201 BC) was the second of Punic Wars, three wars fought between Ancient Carthage, Carthage and Roman Republic, Rome, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean Basin, Mediterranean in the 3rd century BC. For ...

). His first appearance in surviving records is as

magister equitum The , in English Master of the Horse or Master of the Cavalry, was a Roman magistrate appointed as lieutenant to a dictator. His nominal function was to serve as commander of the Roman cavalry in time of war, but just as a dictator could be n ...

in 325 BC, when he won a daring victory against the

Samnites The Samnites () were an ancient Italic peoples, Italic people who lived in Samnium, which is located in modern inland Abruzzo, Molise, and Campania in south-central Italy. An Oscan language, Oscan-speaking Osci, people, who originated as an offsh ...

at Imbrinium. However, he had acted without the authority of the

Lucius Papirius Cursor Lucius Papirius Cursor (c.365–after 310 BC) was a celebrated politician and general of the early Roman Republic, who was five times consul, three times magister equitum, and twice Roman dictator, dictator. He was the most important Roman command ...

, who was angry and demanded that the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

punish Fabius for disobeying orders.

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding i ...

(8.31-36) describes a tense scene where Papirius stood nearly alone against the Senate and people, who supported Fabius because of his victory, but who also did not wish to undercut the absolute authority they had given Papirius; finally Fabius threw himself at the feet of the dictator and asked forgiveness, which was granted. Fabius became consul for the first time in 322 BC, although little is said of his time in office. The following year (321) he serves a

Interrex The interrex (plural interreges) was an extraordinary magistrate during the Roman Kingdom and Republic. Initially, the interrex was appointed after the death of the king of Rome until the election of his successor, hence its name—a ruler "betwee ...

. He appears next as a dictator himself in 315 BC, successfully besieging

Saticula Saticula was a Caudini city near the frontier of Campania in southern Italy. In 343 BC, during the First Samnite War, the Roman consul Cornelius attacked it during the campaign against the Samnites in the Battle of Saticula. Its archaeological ...

and then, less successfully, fighting at Lautulae (

Diodorus Diodorus Siculus or Diodorus of Sicily (; 1st century BC) was an ancient Greek historian from Sicily. He is known for writing the monumental universal history '' Bibliotheca historica'', in forty books, fifteen of which survive intact, b ...

mentions another dictatorship in 313 BC, but this is probably mistaken). As consul in 310 BC, Fabius fought the

Etruscans The Etruscan civilization ( ) was an ancient civilization created by the Etruscans, a people who inhabited Etruria in List of ancient peoples of Italy, ancient Italy, with a common language and culture, and formed a federation of city-states. Af ...

at Sutrium, then followed them when they fled into the Ciminian Forest and defeated them again. Consul again in 308 BC, he defeated

Perusia The ancient Perusia, now Perugia, first appears in history as one of the 12 confederate cities of Etruria. It is first mentioned in the account of the war of 310 or 309 BC between the Etruscans and the Romans. It took, however, an important pa ...

and

Nuceria Alfaterna Nocera Superiore ( or ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Salerno in the Campania region of south-western Italy. It was the core of the ancient city of ', later known as ', ' and then ' (), which also included the nowadays territories ...

. He then served as censor with Decius Mus beginning in 304 BC. The last

Lustrum A lūstrum (, plural lūstra) was a term for a five-year period in Ancient Rome. It is distinct from the homograph ''lustrum'' ( ): a haunt of wild beasts (and figuratively, a den of vice), plural ''lustra'' ( ).Oxford Latin Desk Dictionary (2 ...

was shortened to speed up Rullianus taking up the office, because they wanted him overturn the reforms

Appius Claudius Caecus Appius Claudius Caecus ( 312–279 BC) was a statesman and writer from the Roman Republic. He is best known for two major building projects: the Appian Way (Latin: Via Appia), the first major Roman road, and the first Roman aqueduct, aqueduc ...

had instituted during his censorship. Caecus had admitted citizens without property (a very numerous group) to all Roman tribes; Rullianus limited them to the four urban tribes and by doing so took away most of their newly achieved political power. For his censorship he received the

cognomen A ''cognomen'' (; : ''cognomina''; from ''co-'' "together with" and ''(g)nomen'' "name") was the third name of a citizen of ancient Rome, under Roman naming conventions. Initially, it was a nickname, but lost that purpose when it became hereditar ...

''Maximus'', the first of his line to get the honorific name. A further measure he took was to institute an annual parade for the equites on the 15th of July. Fabius was consul for the fourth time in 297 BC, defeating the Samnites at Tifernum by sending part of his line around the hills behind the enemy. In 296 BC, as Lucius Volumnius and

were consuls, he and Publius Decius Mus were made

proconsul A proconsul was an official of ancient Rome who acted on behalf of a Roman consul, consul. A proconsul was typically a former consul. The term is also used in recent history for officials with delegated authority. In the Roman Republic, military ...

and their

imperium In ancient Rome, ''imperium'' was a form of authority held by a citizen to control a military or governmental entity. It is distinct from '' auctoritas'' and '' potestas'', different and generally inferior types of power in the Roman Republic a ...

was prolonged by six months. In 295 BC he was elected unanimously for a fifth term, where he won lasting fame for defeating a coalition of Etruscans, Samnites, and

Gaul Gaul () was a region of Western Europe first clearly described by the Roman people, Romans, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Northern Italy. It covered an area of . Ac ...

s in the epic

Battle of Sentinum The Battle of Sentinum was the decisive battle of the Third Samnite War, fought in 295 BC near Sentinum (next to the modern town of Sassoferrato, in the Marches region of Italy), in which the Romans overcame a formidable coalition of Samni ...

. Rullianus' son was Quintus Fabius Maximus Gurges, and his grandson or great-grandson the famous

, surnamed "Cunctator", of the

. His son, Gurges, was defeated in Samnium and being spared a recall from the army and humiliation by the intervention of Rullianus who promised to help him as second-in-command (senior

legate Legate may refer to: People * Bartholomew Legate (1575–1611), English martyr * Julie Anne Legate (born 1972), Canadian linguistics professor * William LeGate (born 1994), American entrepreneur Political and religious offices *Legatus, a hig ...

). The two men defeated the Samnites and captured

Gaius Pontius Gaius Pontius (fl. 321 BC), sometimes called Gavius Pontius, was a Samnite commander during the Second Samnite War. He is most well known for his victory over the Roman legions at the Battle of the Caudine Forks in 321 BC. He was eventually capt ...

, the Samnite commander, who was paraded in the triumph and beheaded. Rullianus became

Princeps Senatus The ''princeps senatus'' ( ''principes senatus''), in English the leader of the senate, was the first member by precedence on the membership rolls of the Roman Senate. Although officially out of the ''cursus honorum'' and possessing no ''imperium ...

in his later years. Although Rullianus' fame is undoubted, the main source of his life is Livy, who in turn worked from annals by Fabius Pictor and others, and many of the details are suspiciously similar to stories of the Cunctator. The agnomen (actually more likely an extra cognomen) "Rullus" appears to mean "uncultivated, boorish" or "beggar".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fabius Maximus Rullianus, Quintus 4th-century BC Roman consuls 3rd-century BC Roman consuls Ancient Roman dictators Ancient Roman generals Ancient Roman censors Magistri equitum (Roman Republic)

Quintus Quintus is a male given name derived from ''Quintus (praenomen), Quintus'', a common Latin language, Latin forename (''praenomen'') found in the culture of ancient Rome. Quintus derives from Latin word ''quintus'', meaning "fifth". Quintus is ...

4th-century BC births 3rd-century BC deaths

See also

References