Quintus Fabius Ambustus was a politician in the Roman Republic

Roman Republic

The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...

, the son of Marcus Fabius Ambustus (pontifex maximus 390 BC)

Marcus Fabius Ambustus (pontifex maximus 390 BC)

Marcus Fabius Ambustus was a statesman of ancient Rome who served as Pontifex Maximus in the year that Rome was taken by the Gauls, 390 BC. His three sons--Caeso, Numerius, and Quintus--were sent as ambassadors to the Gauls, when the latter were besieging Clusium, and participated in an attack...

. In 390 BC

390 BC

Year 390 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Tribunate of Ambustus, Longus, Ambustus, Fidenas, Ambustus and Cornelius...

, when his father was pontifex maximus

Pontifex Maximus

The Pontifex Maximus was the high priest of the College of Pontiffs in ancient Rome. This was the most important position in the ancient Roman religion, open only to patricians until 254 BC, when a plebeian first occupied this post...

, he and two of his brothers, Numerius

Numerius Fabius Ambustus

Numerius Fabius Ambustus was an ancient Roman commander who was the son of Marcus Fabius Ambustus, and brother to Caeso and Quintus. In 406 BC, he and his forces captured the Volscian city of Anxur by securing the high ground above the town, from which they were able to launch attacks against its...

 and Caeso

Caeso Fabius Ambustus

Caeso Fabius Ambustus, was an ancient Roman who was the son of Marcus Fabius Ambustus, and brother to Numerius and Quintus. He was quaestor 409 BC with three plebeians as his colleagues, which was the first time that quaestors were chosen from the plebs...

, were sent as emissaries to a Gaulish army besieging Clusium

Clusium

Clusium was an ancient city in Italy, one of several found at the site. The current municipality of Chiusi partly overlaps this Roman walled city. The Roman city remodeled an earlier Etruscan city, Clevsin, found in the territory of a prehistoric culture, possibly also Etruscan or proto-Etruscan...

. Instead of entering into negotiations, however, the three Fabii gathered their forces and aided the citizens of Clusium in an attack against the Gauls, in which Quintus Fabius himself was said to have killed one of the Gaulish leaders.

Outraged, the Gauls demanded that the senate hand over the three brothers for violating "the law of nations". Instead, all three were honored by election as consular tribunes. Further incensed, the Gauls marched on Rome, defeated the Roman Army at the battle of the Allia

Battle of the Allia

The Battle of the Allia was a battle of the first Gallic invasion of Rome. The battle was fought near the Allia river: the defeat of the Roman army opened the route for the Gauls to sack Rome. It was fought in 390/387 BC.-Background:...

, and sacked the city. In 389 BC he was supposed to have been prosecuted for his actions at Clusium, but died before the trial could take place.

Many scholars believe the entire story of the events at Clusium to be fiction, as Clusium had no real reason to appeal to Rome for help, and the Gauls needed no real provocation to sack Rome. The story, it is hypothesized, exists to provide an explanation for an otherwise unmotivated attack on Rome, and to depict Rome as a bulwark of Italy against the Gauls.

In popular culture

Quintus Fabius Ambustus was played by Tony Kendall

Tony Kendall (actor)

Tony Kendall was an Italian model turned film actor with over 50 film credits that reflect the trends of popular European cinema in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.-Biography and filmography:...

 in the 1963 film Brennus, Enemy of Rome

Brennus, Enemy of Rome

Brenno il nemico di Roma is a 1963 film about the sack of Rome in 387 BC....

.