(Quintus Fabius Maximus Rullianus)d. 291 BC
|SCENE FROM THE SAMNITE WARS|
Quintus Fabius Rullianus was a long-serving general of the Second and Third Samnite
Wars. His career got off to an auspicious start, when he went against an order from Papirius, the
dictator, and won a great battle. Papirius tried to have him put to death,
but was unsuccessful. Three years later, when Fabius was consul for the first time,
a crisis arose which required him to appoint his foe Papirius as dictator. After
this, the two generals served together with mutual respect.
Fabius's most famous victory was
Sentinum. During this battle, his co-consul, Publius Decius Mus, son of Decius Mus,
sacrificed his life in a manner similar to his father, but a great victory for Rome
was won. Three years after Sentinum, Fabius's son was elected consul. When he was
ambushed, Fabius went to his rescue with reinforcements and served under him.
In the victory that followed, Pontius, the Samnite leader of Caudine Forks, was
captured, taken to Rome for a triumph, and beheaded.
Key events during the life of Fabius Rullianus:
||Disobeys order from Dictator L. Papirius, and gains his enmity.
||Elected consul, in crisis, appoints his enemy Papirius as dictator
||Fifth consulship, with Decius Mus (the son); led Rome against Samnites at Sentinum.
||When his son's army became trapped, Fabius brought re-enforcements; served under his son.
||Samnite general who captured the Romans at Caudium Pass.
|L. Papirius Cursor
||General who was alternately friend and foe of Fabius.
|Publius Decius Mus
||Son of Decius Mus, sacrificed himself, like his father, for a Roman victory.
||Leader of the Samnites at the Battle of Sentinum.