Caeso Fabius Vibulanus was

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 throug ...

of the

Roman republic The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Kin ...

in 484, 481, and 479 BC. He had earlier held the office of quaestor parricidii in 485 BC in connection with the trial and execution of

Spurius Cassius Vecellinus Spurius Cassius Vecellinus or Vicellinus (died 485 BC) was one of the most distinguished men of the early Roman Republic. He was three times consul, and celebrated two triumphs. He was the first ''magister equitum'', and the author of the first a ...

. For a seven-year period from 485 to 478 BC, one of the two consuls was a member of the

gens Fabia In ancient Rome, a gens ( or , ; plural: ''gentes'' ) was a family consisting of individuals who shared the same nomen and who claimed descent from a common ancestor. A branch of a gens was called a ''stirps'' (plural: ''stirpes''). The ''gen ...

, a domination of the office Gary Forsythe describes as "unparalleled in the consular ''fasti'' of the Roman Republic." His brothers were

Quintus Quintus is a male given name derived from '' Quintus'', a common Latin forename (''praenomen'') found in the culture of ancient Rome. Quintus derives from Latin word ''quintus'', meaning "fifth". Quintus is an English masculine given name and ...

(consul in 485 and 482 BC) and Marcus (consul in 483 and 480 BC). According to

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Ancient Rome, Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditiona ...

, the

plebs In ancient Rome, the plebeians (also called plebs) were the general body of free Roman citizenship, Roman citizens who were not Patrician (ancient Rome), patricians, as determined by the capite censi, census, or in other words "commoners". Both ...

disliked the name of the Fabii on account of Caeso's brother Quintus who, as consul in 485 BC, had incurred the anger of the plebs by lodging the spoils of a victory with the publicum. However, Livy says, the senate succeeded in having Caeso elected in 484 BC notwithstanding. His election in that year stirred up the anger of the plebs even further. In that year Caeso and his colleague

Lucius Aemilius Mamercus Lucius Aemilius Mamercus was a Roman statesman who served as consul three times: in 484, 478 and 473 BC.Livy, '' Ab urbe condita'', 2.42 In 484 BC, as consul, Aemilius led the Roman forces in battle against the Volsci and Aequi. The Romans were ...

worked with the senate to oppose increases to the powers of the tribunes. During Fabius' second consulship in 481 BC Fabius was given command of an army against the

Aequi 300px, Location of the Aequi (Equi) in central Italy, 5th century BC. The Aequi ( grc, Αἴκουοι and Αἴκοι) were an Italic tribe on a stretch of the Apennine Mountains to the east of Latium in central Italy who appear in the early his ...

, who had laid siege to the Latin town of

Ortona Ortona (Neapolitan language, Abruzzese: '; grc, Ὄρτων, Órtōn) is a coastal town and municipality of the Province of Chieti in the Italy, Italian region of Abruzzo, with some 23,000 inhabitants. In 1943 Ortona was the site of a Battle o ...

. Fabius and his army met the Aequi in battle, and routed them solely by a cavalry charge. However, due to popular discontent amongst the Roman army, both with the

patricians The patricians (from la, patricius, Greek: πατρίκιος) were originally a group of ruling class families in ancient Rome. The distinction was highly significant in the Roman Kingdom, and the early Republic, but its relevance waned after ...

and with Fabius himself, the Roman infantry refused to pursue the enemy. Fabius exhorted them to attack the fleeing enemy, but they refused, and returned to camp. Nevertheless, Fabius and the army returned to Rome victorious. In his third consulship in 479 BC, Fabius sought to heal the discord between patricians and plebeians by proposing an

agrarian law Agrarian laws (from the Latin ''ager'', meaning "land") were laws among the Romans regulating the division of the public lands, or ''ager publicus''. In its broader definition, it can also refer to the agricultural laws relating to peasants and hu ...

to distribute land won in recent wars amongst the plebs. The senate rejected the proposal.Livy, 2.48 In the same year the Aequi

threatened Threatened species are any species (including animals, plants and fungi) which are vulnerable to endangerment in the near future. Species that are threatened are sometimes characterised by the population dynamics measure of ''critical depensat ...

the Latin territory, and Fabius was assigned an army to deal with the threat. No significant battle was fought, because the Aequi retreated to their walled towns. When word arrived that the other consul

Titus Verginius Tricostus Rutilus Titus Verginius Tricostus Rutilus (died 463 BC), was consul of the Roman Republic in 479 BC. He held the office with Caeso Fabius Vibulanus. According to Livy, he was assigned the war with the Veientes, but because of his temerity his army wa ...

was threatened by the Veientes, Fabius took his army to rescue his colleague. In the same year the Fabii addressed the senate, proposing that their family alone bear the financial and military burden of the war with Veii. The senate agreed, with thanks, and the people extolled the name of the Fabii. The following day the Fabii armed themselves and, numbering 306 including the consul, marched through Rome and out of the right side of the

Carmental gate The Carmental Gate, also known by its Latin name as the Porta Carmentalis, was a double gate in the Servian Walls of ancient Rome. It was named for a nearby shrine to the goddess or nymph Carmenta, whose importance in early Roman religion is also ...

. Heading north, they set up camp at the

Cremera The Cremera is a Italian stream in Lazio (and previously in Etruria) which runs past Sacrofano, Formello, and Campagnano di Roma before falling into the Tiber about north of Rome. It connects to the Tiber just as the Via Flaminia intersects the ...

and fortified a post. According to Roman historical tradition, all of the male members of the ''gens Fabia'' except one perished in the

Battle of the Cremera A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

in 477 BC. If this tradition is correct, then Caeso died that year in the disaster.Livy, 2.50; Dionysius of Hallicarnasus, 9.20-1

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fabius Vibulanus, Caeso 477 BC deaths 5th-century BC deaths 5th-century BC Roman consuls Vibulanus, Caeso Year of birth unknown