Marcus Fabius Ambustus (
fl.
''Floruit'' (; abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for "they flourished") denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indicatin ...
360–351 BC) was a statesman and general of the
Roman Republic. He was the son of
Numerius Fabius Ambustus.
He served as
consul three times: in 360, 356, and 354 BC. His consulships occurred during a time in which Rome was reasserting itself following its defeat at the hands of the Gauls in the
Battle of the Allia of 387 BC. He defeated the
Hernici in 356, and
Tibur in 354, earning a
triumph for the latter victory. He further succeeded against the
Falisci, but was defeated by
Tarquinia.
As he was absent from Rome when the time came for holding the ''
comitia'', the senate, which did not like to entrust them to his colleague, who had appointed a plebeian dictator, and still less to the dictator himself, nominated ''
interreges
The interrex (plural interreges) was literally a ruler "between kings" (Latin ''inter reges'') during the Roman Kingdom and the Roman Republic. He was in effect a short-term regent.
History
The office of ''interrex'' was supposedly created follow ...
'' for the purpose. The object of the patricians was to secure both places in the consulship for their own order again, which was effected by Ambustus, who seems to have returned to Rome in the meantime.
He was appointed the eleventh ''interrex'' in 355, and declared two patricians consuls in violation of the
Licinian law (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 ...
had been made eligible for the consulship again, over his objections),
although he was not successful in his object. He served as ''interrex'' again in 351, and as
dictator in 351.
There is some disagreement between scholars over whether he ever served as
censor, possibly in 358, and as ''
princeps senatus
The ''princeps senatus'' ( ''principes senatus'') was the first member by precedence on the membership rolls of the Roman Senate. Although officially out of the ''cursus honorum'' and possessing no ''imperium'', this office conferred prestige on t ...
'' later in life (the two questions are connected, as all ''principes'' prior to 209 BC were ''censorii'').
He was possibly the interrex appointed in 340 BC named M. Fabius, other possibilities includes his son,
Marcus Fabius Ambustus or another contemporary Fabii,
Marcus Fabius Dursuo, consul in 345 BC.
He was alive in 325, when his son,
Quintus Fabius Maximus Rullianus, was
Master of the Horse to
Lucius Papirius Cursor, and fled to Rome to implore protection from the vengeance of the dictator. He interceded on his son's behalf both with the senate and the people.
[Livy, ''Ab Urbe Condita'' viii. 33] He was also father of
Marcus Fabius Ambustus, who also served as Master of the Horse.
See also
*
Fabius Ambustus
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fabius Ambustus, Marcus
Fabii Ambusti
4th-century BC Roman consuls
Ancient Roman generals
Ancient Roman dictators
Year of death unknown
Year of birth unknown