Gaius Fabius Pictor was a Roman politician in the third century BC.

Family

He was a member of gens Fabia. His father, after the end of the

Second Samnite War 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 Lucanians, Lucania ...

, had made a vow to the Temple of Quirinius, and in 304 BC ordered it to be decorated with painted images, thus his cognomen ''Pictor.''Eutropius II, 16 Gaius Fabius Pictor's brother was the consul Numerius Fabius Pictor in 266 BC.

Career

Gaius himself served as consul in 269 BC with Quintus Ogulnius Gallus as his colleague.Zonaras VIII, 7 In that year, he waged war against the tribes of 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 ...

and the

Messapians The Messapians were an Iapygian tribe who inhabited Salento in classical antiquity. Two other Iapygian tribes, the Peucetians and the Daunians, inhabited central and northern Apulia respectively. All three tribes spoke the Messapian language, ...

. In addition, silver coins were first minted in Italy.Pliny the Elder, Natural History 33, 44

References

Fabii 3rd-century BC Roman consuls Ancient Roman politicians Samnite Wars Military history of ancient Rome {{AncientRome-bio-stub