Quintus Fabius Maximus Rullianus

Quintus Fabius Maximus Rullianus (or Rullus ), son of Marcus, from the Roman patrician family of the Fabians , was a Roman statesman and general. He was in the 4th and 3rd centuries BC. BC five times consul and achieved great fame through his successes in the Samnite Wars .

Its first mention in the surviving documents is as a Magister equitum in 325 BC. When he fought a daring victory against the Samnites at Imbrinium . The attack took place without the consent of the Roman dictator Lucius Papirius Cursor , who was angry about this procedure and demanded that the Senate punish Fabius for disobeying orders. describes a tense scene in which Papirius stood almost alone against the Senate and the people, who supported Fabius because of his victory, but also did not want to undermine the power they had given Papirius. Fabius finally ended the crisis by throwing himself at the dictator's feet, asking for forgiveness and receiving it.

Fabius first became consul in 322 BC. Then appears in 315 as a dictator with a successful siege of Saticula , and then, less successful, in the Battle of Lautulae ( Diodorus Siculus mentions another dictatorship in 313, but is probably subject to an error). As consul in 310, Fabius fought against the Etruscans at Sutrium , pursued them on their escape to the Cimian Forest , where he defeated them again. One more time consul in 308, he suggested Perusia and Nuceria Alfaterna . From 304 he served as a censor .

Fabius was consul for the fourth time in 297, when he defeated the Samnites at Tifernum by sending some of his forces around a hill in the rear of the enemy. In 295 he was unanimously elected (together with Publius Decius Mus ) for a fifth term, during which he gained permanent fame through the Battle of Sentinum (now Sassoferrato ), in which he defeated a coalition of Etruscans, Samnites and Gauls.

Rullianus' son was Quintus Fabius Maximus Gurges , his great-grandson Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus , called Cunctator, the procrastinator of the Second Punic War .

Although Rullianus' fame is beyond doubt, details of his life strikingly resemble stories from the life of Cunctator. The main source for his vita is Livius, who made use of the annals of Quintus Fabius Pictor and others.

literature

Hans Georg Gundel : Fabius II. 38. In: The Little Pauly (KlP). Volume 2, Stuttgart 1967, column 493.

Remarks

↑ On the official career of Fabius Maximus Rullianus see: T. Robert S. Broughton : The Magistrates Of The Roman Republic. Volume 1: 509 BC - 100 BC (= Philological Monographs. Vol. 15, Part 1, ZDB -ID 418575-4 ). American Philological Association, New York NY 1951, pp. 147 f. (Magister equitum 325), p. 149 f. (Consul I 322), p. 156 f. (Dictator 315), pp. 161-163 (Konsul II 310), p. 164 (Konsul III 308), p. 175 (Konsul IV), pp. 177-179 (Konsul V 295), (Unchanged reprint 1968).
↑ Titus Livius , Ab urbe condita 8: 31-36.

personal data
SURNAME	Fabius Maximus Rullianus, Quintus
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Maximus Rullianus, Quintus Fabius
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Roman consul and general in the Samnite Wars
DATE OF BIRTH	before 325 BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH	after 295 BC Chr.

[1] On the official career of Fabius Maximus Rullianus see: T. Robert S. Broughton : The Magistrates Of The Roman Republic. Volume 1: 509 BC - 100 BC (= Philological Monographs. Vol. 15, Part 1, ZDB -ID 418575-4 ). American Philological Association, New York NY 1951, pp. 147 f. (Magister equitum 325), p. 149 f. (Consul I 322), p. 156 f. (Dictator 315), pp. 161-163 (Konsul II 310), p. 164 (Konsul III 308), p. 175 (Konsul IV), pp. 177-179 (Konsul V 295), (Unchanged reprint 1968).

[2] Titus Livius , Ab urbe condita 8: 31-36.