Famous Men of Rome · Ch. IX · Unit 2: The early Republic
11. The Fabii
Goal: Your child can tell how the Fabius family changed from unpopular nobles to friends of the people, and what happened to them on the Cremera.
You'll need
- The book, open to this chapter
- Paper and colored pencils
What's in the book
Chapter IX: the powerful Fabius family at first treats the plebeians harshly, then wins their love by caring for wounded soldiers and asking for land for the poor. Angry nobles push them out, so the Fabii move to the River Cremera and fight the Veientians at their own cost. The Veientians ambush them on their way to worship, unarmed.
The lesson, step by step
Set the scene
SayLast time we heard about the quarrel between patricians and plebeians. Today a whole noble family changes sides.
Read the chapter
Read Chapter IX aloud. It begins:
At about the time in which Coriolanus lived the family of the Fabii were very powerful in Rome.
Tell it back
Prompts:
- Why were the soldiers angry with Quintus Fabius?
- What did Marcus and Caeso Fabius do that changed people's minds?
- Where did the Fabii go, and what did they offer the Senate?
- How were they finally defeated?
Words from Rome
SaySpoils were the valuable things taken from a defeated enemy. Roman generals usually shared them with the soldiers; that was how soldiers were paid then.
Talk it over
Read the promise of Caeso Fabius:
We will carry on the war with our own men and at our own cost.
Ask: The book calls the Veientians cowardly for the ambush. Why? (Think about where the Fabii were going and what they carried.)
Remember it
SayFabii is the plural of Fabius. The book says only one young man escaped. We will meet another famous Fabius later, in the war with Hannibal.
Answers to the book's problems
The Fabii were going to worship and carried no weapons, because going armed to worship was thought improper. Attacking them then was an unfair trick.
Worked out for this site from the scan. If a number in your copy differs, trust the book.