Quintus Fabius Maximus Allobrogicus, was a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

statesman and general who was elected

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 ...

in 121 BC. During his consulship he fought against the

Arverni The Arverni (Gaulish: *''Aruernoi'') were a Gallic people dwelling in the modern Auvergne region during the Iron Age and the Roman period. They were one of the most powerful tribes of ancient Gaul, contesting primacy over the region with the n ...

and the

Allobroges The Allobroges (Gaulish language, Gaulish: *''Allobrogis'', 'foreigner, exiled'; ) were a Gauls, Gallic people dwelling in a large territory between the Rhône river and the Alps during the Iron Age Europe, Iron Age and the Roman period. The Allob ...

whom he defeated in 120 BC. He was awarded a triumph and the

agnomen An ''agnomen'' (; : ''agnomina''), in the Roman naming convention, was a nickname, just as the ''cognomen'' had been initially. However, the ''cognomina'' eventually became family names, and so ''agnomina'' were needed to distinguish between sim ...

Allobrogicus for his victory over the Gauls.

Career

Fabius Maximus Allobrogicus was the son of

Quintus Fabius Maximus Aemilianus Quintus Fabius Maximus Aemilianus was a Roman statesman and consul (145 BC). Fabius was by adoption a member of the patrician gens Fabia, but by birth he was the eldest son of Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus and Papiria Masonis and the eld ...

, the

Roman consul The consuls were the highest elected public officials of the Roman Republic ( to 27 BC). Romans considered the consulship the second-highest level of the ''cursus honorum''an ascending sequence of public offices to which politicians aspire ...

of 145 BC, and a member of the patrician '' gens Fabia''.Allobrogicus was a member of the ''gens Fabia'' through the adoption of his father; his paternal grandfather was

Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus (c. 229 – 160 BC) was a Roman consul, consul of the Roman Republic, as well as a general, who conquered the kingdom of Macedon, Macedonia during the Third Macedonian War. Family Paullus' father was Luc ...

. His first appearance was during the elections for

quaestor A quaestor ( , ; ; "investigator") was a public official in ancient Rome. There were various types of quaestors, with the title used to describe greatly different offices at different times. In the Roman Republic, quaestors were elected officia ...

in 134 BC; he was recommended to the voters as a candidate by his biological uncle

Scipio Aemilianus Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus Aemilianus (185 BC – 129 BC), known as Scipio Aemilianus or Scipio Africanus the Younger, was a Roman general and statesman noted for his military exploits in the Third Punic War against Carthage and durin ...

, and after Allobrogicus was elected, Scipio took him as his quaestor to

Hispania Citerior Hispania Citerior (English: "Hither Iberia", or "Nearer Iberia") was a Roman province in Hispania during the Roman Republic. It was on the eastern coast of Iberia down to the town of Cartago Nova, today's Cartagena in the autonomous community of ...

where they fought in the Second Numantine War. While there, Allobrogicus was placed in charge of 4,000 volunteers. By 124 BC, he had been elected to the office of

praetor ''Praetor'' ( , ), also ''pretor'', was the title granted by the government of ancient Rome to a man acting in one of two official capacities: (i) the commander of an army, and (ii) as an elected ''magistratus'' (magistrate), assigned to disch ...

, since in 123 BC, he was appointed

propraetor In ancient Rome, a promagistrate () was a person who was granted the power via '' prorogation'' to act in place of an ordinary magistrate in the field. This was normally ''pro consule'' or ''pro praetore'', that is, in place of a consul or praet ...

(governor) of one of the

Hispania Hispania was the Ancient Rome, Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula. Under the Roman Republic, Hispania was divided into two Roman province, provinces: Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior. During the Principate, Hispania Ulterior was divide ...

s (Citerior or Ulterior). Whilst there, he was censured by 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 ...

, following a motion by

Gaius Gracchus Gaius Sempronius Gracchus ( – 121 BC) was a reformist Roman politician and soldier who lived during the 2nd century BC. He is most famous for his tribunate for the years 123 and 122 BC, in which he proposed a wide set of laws, i ...

, for extorting gifts of grain from a Spanish town. Then in 121 BC, he was elected consul alongside

Lucius Opimius Lucius Opimius was a Roman politician who held the consulship in 121 BC, in which capacity and year he ordered the execution of 3,000 supporters of popular leader Gaius Gracchus without trial, using as pretext the state of emergency declared aft ...

. During his consulship, he campaigned in

Gallia Transalpina Gallia Narbonensis (Latin for "Gaul of Narbonne", from its chief settlement) was a Roman province located in Occitania and Provence, in Southern France. It was also known as Provincia Nostra ("Our Province"), because it was the first Ro ...

(in the modern day

Auvergne Auvergne (; ; or ) is a cultural region in central France. As of 2016 Auvergne is no longer an administrative division of France. It is generally regarded as conterminous with the land area of the historical Province of Auvergne, which was dis ...

and

Rhône-Alpes Rhône-Alpes () was an administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it is part of the new region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It is located on the eastern border of the country, towards the south. The region was named after the river Rhône a ...

regions) with Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus against the Gallic tribes of the

and

. After his consulship expired, he replaced Domitius Ahenobarbus as

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 ...

in Gaul (120 BC), during which time he completed the defeat of the Allobroges and Arverni. For this he was awarded the honour of a triumph and given the

''Allobrogicus''. The triumph he held was famous for its spectacle, including the captive Arvernian king

Bituitus Bituitus (''fl.'' 2nd century BCE) was a king of the Arverni, a Gaulish tribe living in what is now the Auvergne region of France. The Arverni were a powerful opponent of the Roman Republic during the 3rd and 2nd centuries under the leadership of ...

in his silver battle armor. From the plunder of the Auvergne, Fabius erected the '' Fornix Fabianus'' (121 BC) crossing the ''

Via Sacra The Via Sacra (, "''Sacred Street''") was the main street of ancient Rome, leading from the top of the Capitoline Hill, through some of the most important religious sites of the Forum (where it is the widest street), to the Colosseum. The road ...

'' at the ''

Forum Romanum A forum (Latin: ''forum'', "public place outdoors", : ''fora''; English : either ''fora'' or ''forums'') was a public square in a municipium, or any civitas, of Ancient Rome reserved primarily for the vending of goods; i.e., a marketplace, along ...

'', placing a statue of himself on top of the arch. In 113 BC, he may have been the Quintus Fabius who was the leader of an embassy sent to

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

to help end some internal disputes between various cities on the island. Then in 108 BC, either he or

Quintus Fabius Maximus Eburnus Quintus Fabius Maximus Eburnus (fl. 2nd century BC) was a Roman statesman of the patrician ''gens'' Fabia. He was consul in 116 BC. Family Eburnus was the son of Quintus Fabius Maximus Servilianus, consul in 142 BC, himself adopted from the g ...

was appointed to the office of Censor. He was a known

orator An orator, or oratist, is a public speaker, especially one who is eloquent or skilled. Etymology Recorded in English c. 1374, with a meaning of "one who pleads or argues for a cause", from Anglo-French ''oratour'', Old French ''orateur'' (14 ...

and a man of letters. Upon the death of his blood uncle

in 129 BC, Fabius presented a banquet to the citizenry of Rome and pronounced the funeral oration of the deceased general. He had at least one son, also named Quintus Fabius Maximus Allobrogicus, who was notorious for his vices. His grandson was Quintus Fabius Maximus.

Notes

References

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fabius Maximus Allobrogicus, Quintus 2nd-century BC Roman consuls Senators of the Roman Republic Roman governors of Hispania

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 ...

Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown