A Follower In A Son’s Triumph

Valerius Maximus, 5.7.1

“Fabius Rullianus who served as consul five times and  had exemplified every feature of virtue and life, was not reluctant to go as legate to his own son Fabius Gurges in carrying out a dangerous and difficult war. Indeed, he went to war as nearly only a mind without a body since he was readier for a rest in bed than the work of battles. But because he considered it a great pleasure to follow a son’s triumph on horse when he had carried him as a little boy in his own triumphs, he seemed to be not a simple follower in that glorious parade but its author.”

Fabius Rullianus, quinque consulatibus summa cum gloria peractis omnibusque et virtutis et vitae <e>meritis stipendiis, legatus ire Fabio Gurgiti filio ad bellum difficile et periculosum conficiendum gravatus non est, paene ipso per se dumtaxat animo sine corpore militaturus, utpote propter ultimam senectutem lectuli otio quam labori proeliorum habilior. idem triumphantem equo insidens sequi, quem ipse parvulum triumphis suis gestaverat, in maxima voluptate posuit, nec accessio gloriosae illius pompae sed auctor spectatus est.

Reconstructed Relief from the Arch of Titus

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