Episode 89 – A Fabian Abroad

The Partial Historians

It’s a brand new edition of the Partial Historians covering the Early Roman Republic™! And as the title ‘A Fabian Abroad’ hints, the Fabians are back in the political scene!

The main players

Consuls for c. 467
BCE

• Titus Aemilius Mamercus (cos. II), previously consul in c. 470 BCE
• Quintus Fabius Vibulanus

Consuls for c. 466
BCE

• Spurius Postumius Albinus Regillensis
• Quintus Servilius Priscus (Structus) (cos II), previously consul in c. 468 BCE

Triumvirs for the
granting of land… triumviri agro dando

• Titus Quintius Capitolinus
• Lucius Furius / Publius Furius Medullinus Fusus
• Aulus Verginius

There’s nothing we enjoy more than some controversy in the source material and oooo boy does the narrative get hazy with the return of a Fabian back in the scene. We explore some of the challenges with this situation in order to get a better sense of what might be happening in the family history.

It’s Retro Year

The Fabians are not the only blast from the past worth considering in this year, but land reform is back on the agenda. The patricians have a great new plan for land re-distribution. We’ll explore just what the plebeians seem to have thought about this and consider some of the consequences as they play out.

Stay tuned for the appearance of the Roman allies,the Latins and Hernicans!

What’s Going on with Antium?

It’s a good question and there are some issues with our sources about just how Rome is managing their recent conquest of Antium.

Antium is one of theimportant port cities of the Volscii to the south of Rome, so the conquest of this region is bound to have some far reaching implications.

If your suspicion is that things are about to get messy, you’d be right. We’re on hand to sift through the controversies as Aemilius heads out towards Sabine territory and Fabius heads towards the Aequians…

Things to look forward to:

• The challenges Rome faces with her relationship with neighbouring territories continues apace in the following year.
• The increasing divergence in our source material
• General diplomatic mayhem including the possibility of kidnapping!

Hear it all here! Episode 89 – A Fabian Abroad

Thomas Cole 1836 The Consummation of Empire from The Course of the Empire
Image Source: Wikimedia Commons

It’s getting quite tricky to find period-specific artwork for the early Republic, so instead of another map, we’ve gone for this gorgeous example of classical reception.