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Fabius

Pictor, Fabius: see under Fabius.

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Fabius, ancient Roman gens. The family was most distinguished from the 5th cent. B.C. onward. However, little is known of the early members. Quintus Fabius Vibulanus, fl. 450 B.C., was consul three times (467, 465, 459) and a member of the decemvirate. Although he had served Rome well in battle, he was exiled with the other decemvirs. His descendant, Quintus Fabius Maximus Rullianus or Rullus, d. c.291 B.C., was consul five times (322, 310, 308, 297, 295) and dictator (315). He attacked the Samnites in 325 and was victorious, but his disobedience of orders brought his condemnation by Lucius Papirius Cursor, who was dictator at the time. Rullianus was renowned as a general, especially for his victory over the Etruscans, the Samnites, and their allies at Sentinum (295). His descendant, Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus, d. 203 B.C., the opponent of Hannibal, was called Cunctator [Lat.,=delayer] because of his tactics, from which the term Fabian, referring to a waiting policy, is derived. He was consul five times (233, 228, 215, 214, 209) and dictator (217). Fabius kept his army always near Hannibal's but never attacked, harassing Hannibal continually, but never joining battle. The Romans tired of Fabius' policy, and he was supplanted (216); the rout at Cannae was the result. In his last consulship Fabius took Tarentum (now Taranto) from Hannibal, a signal victory. Another branch of the family was represented by Caius Fabius Pictor [Lat.,=the painter], fl. 302 B.C., who painted the temple of Salus at Rome, the first recorded Roman painting. His grandson was Quintus Fabius Pictor, fl. 225 B.C., the first Roman annalist; his history covered Rome from Aeneas to the Second Punic War. His work is lost. Quintus Fabius Labeo, fl. 180 B.C., praetor (189), was commander of the fleet in an eastern campaign. He seems to have used his power largely for his own aggrandizement. An adoptive member of the gens was Quintus Fabius Maximus, fl. 121 B.C., consul (121), called Allobrogicus, because of his victory over the Allobroges in Gaul.

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Fabius

Fabius, Laurent, 1946- French politician. After graduating from the École National d'Administration, he became an auditor at the Council of State and has been a Socialist National Assembly deputy since 1978. He became (1984) minister of industry and research and, from 1984 to 1986, was President François Mitterrand's premier. After two years out of government, he lost a party leadership fight to Pierre Mauroy in 1988 but later (1992-93) held the post. In 1995 he became president of the Socialist bloc in the National Assembly; he was president of the National Assembly from 1988 to 1992 and again from 1997 to 2000. He was finance minister under Premier Lionel Jospin from 2000 to 2002. Fabius broke with his party in 2005 and campaigned against the proposed European Union constitution, which French voters rejected. In 2006 he was an unsuccessful candidate for the Socialist party's nomination for the presidency.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia Copyright © 2004.
Licensed from Columbia University Press

Fabius

''For other people, places and things named Fabius, see Fabius (disambiguation).

The family name "Fabius" was the nomen of the gens Fabia of ancient Rome, that derived from the Latin faba for the broad bean, an important food crop in the Roman Empire. The Fabii (such as Fabii Maximi) were one of the several leading patrician families (gentes maiores) of the city. Of all the Roman Patrician families, the Fabii can be considered to have consolidated the most political power in the early Republic.

Ambustus, Maximus, Pictor, and Vibulanus were cognomina of Fabii. Fabius Maximus Rullianus, five times a consul, was a hero of the Samnite Wars; but even he was eclipsed by the Fabius Maximus who fought against Hannibal in the Second Punic War. The last known descendants of the family was Nikephoros III, who ruled Eastern Roman Empire between 1078 and 1081 and his grandson

Possible forms:

Fabius, male singular (nominative)

Fabia, female singular (nominative)

Fabii, male plural (nominative).