Fabius instantly called an assembly, and entreated the soldiers to "show the same courage in protecting him, under whose conduct and auspices they had conquered, from the outrageous cruelty of the dictator, which they had so lately displayed in defending the commonwealth from its most inveterate enemies. He was now coming," he told them, "frantic with envy; enraged at another's bravery and success, he was mad, because, in his absence, the business of the public had been executed, with remarkable success; and if he could change the fortune of the engagement, would wish the Samnites in possession of victory rather than the Romans. He talked much of contempt of orders; as if his prohibition of fighting were not dictated by the same motive, which caused his vexation at the fight having taken place. He wished to shackle the valour of others through envy, and meant to take away the soldiers' arms when they were most eager for action, and that no use might be made of them in his absence: he was further enraged too, because without Lucius Papirius the soldiers were not without hands or arms, and because Quintus Fabius considered himself as master of the horse, not as a beadle to the dictator. How would he have behaved, had the issue of the fight been unfortunate; which, through the chances of war and the uncertainty of military operations, might have been the case; since now, when the enemy has been vanquished, (as completely, indeed, as if that leader's own singular talents had been employed in the matter,) he yet threatens the master of the horse with punishment? Nor is he more incensed against the master of the horse, than against the military tribunes, the centurions, and the soldiers. On all, he would vent his rage if he could; and because that is not in his power, he vents it on one. Envy, like flame, soars upwards; aims at the summit; that he makes his attack on the head of the business, on the leader. If he could put him out of the way, together with the glory of the service performed, he would then lord it, like a conqueror over vanquished troops; and, without scruple, practise against the soldiers what he had been allowed to act against their commander. That they should, therefore, in his cause, support the general liberty of all. If the dictator perceived among the troops the same unanimity in justifying their victory that they had displayed in the battle, and that all interested themselves in the safety of one, it would bend his temper to milder counsels. In fine," he told them, "that he committed his life, and all his interests, to their honour and to their courage."
His speech was received with the loudest acclamations from every part of the assembly, bidding him "have courage; for while the Roman legions were in being, no man should offer him violence." Not long after, the dictator arrived, and instantly summoned an assembly by sound of trumpet. Then silence being made, a crier cited Quintus Fabius, master of the horse, and as soon as, on the lower ground, he had approached the tribunal, the dictator said, "Quintus Fabius, I demand of you, when the authority of dictator is acknowledged to be supreme, and is submitted to by the consuls, officers endowed with regal power; and likewise by the prætors, created under the same auspices with consuls; whether or no you think it reasonable that it should not meet obedience from a master of the horse? I also ask you whether, when I knew that I set out from home under uncertain auspices, the safety of the commonwealth ought to have been endangered by me, whilst the omens were confused, or whether the auspices ought to be newly taken, so that nothing might be done while the will of the gods remained doubtful? And further, when a religious scruple was of such a nature as to hinder the dictator from acting, whether the master of the horse could be exempt from it and at liberty? But why do I ask these questions, when, though I had gone without leaving any orders, your own judgment ought to have been regulated according to what you could discover of my intention? Why do you not answer? Did I not forbid you to act, in any respect, during my absence? Did I not forbid you to engage the enemy? Yet, in contempt of these my orders, while the auspices were uncertain, while the omens were confused, contrary to the practice of war, contrary to the discipline of our ancestors, and contrary to the authority of the gods, you dared to enter on the fight. Answer to these questions proposed to you. On any other matter utter not a word. Lictor, draw near him." To each of these particulars, Fabius, finding it no easy matter to answer, at one time remonstrated against the same person acting as accuser and judge, in a cause which affected his very existence; at another, he asserted that his life should sooner be forced from him, than the glory of his past services; clearing himself and accusing the other by turns; so then Papirius' anger blazing out with fresh fury, he ordered the master of the horse to be stripped, and the rods and axes to be got ready. Fabius, imploring the protection of the soldiers, while the lictors were tearing his garments, betook himself to the quarters of the veterans, who were already raising a commotion in the assembly: from them the uproar spread through the whole body; in one place the voice of supplication was heard; in another, menaces. Those who happened to stand nearest to the tribunal, because, being under the eyes of the general, they could easily be known, entreated him to spare the master of the horse, and not in him to condemn the whole army. The remoter parts of the assembly, and the crowd collected round Fabius, railed at the unrelenting spirit of the dictator, and were not far from mutiny; nor was even the tribunal perfectly quiet. The lieutenants-general standing round the general's seat besought him to adjourn the business to the next day, and to allow time to his anger, and room for consideration; representing that "the indiscretion of Fabius had been sufficiently rebuked; his victory sufficiently disgraced; and they begged him not to proceed to the extreme of severity; not to brand with ignominy a youth of extraordinary merit, or his father, a man of most illustrious character, together with the whole family of the Fabii." When they made but little impression either by their prayers or arguments, they desired him to observe the violent ferment of the assembly, and told him that "while the soldiers' tempers were heated to such a degree, it became not either his age or his wisdom to kindle them into a flame, and afford matter for a mutiny; that no one would lay the blame of such an event on Quintus Fabius, who only deprecated punishment; but on the dictator, if, blinded by resentment, he should, by an ill-judged contest, draw on himself the fury of the multitude: and lest he should think that they acted from motives of regard to Quintus Fabius, they were ready to make oath that, in their judgment, it was not for the interest of the commonwealth that Quintus Fabius should be punished at that time."
When by these expostulations they rather irritated the dictator against themselves, than appeased his anger against the master of the horse, the lieutenants-general were ordered to go down from the tribunal; and after several vain attempts were made to procure silence by means of a crier, the noise and tumult being so great that neither the voice of the dictator himself, nor that of his apparitors, could be heard; night, as in the case of a battle, put an end to the contest. The master of the horse was ordered to attend on the day following; but when all assured him that Papirius, being agitated and exasperated in the course of the present contention, would proceed against him with greater violence, he fled privately from the camp to Rome; where, by the advice of his father, Marcus Fabius, who had been three times consul, and likewise dictator, he immediately called a meeting of the senate. While he was strenuously complaining before the fathers of the rage and injustice of the dictator, on a sudden was heard the noise of lictors before the senate-house, clearing the way, and Papirius himself arrived, full of resentment, having followed, with a guard of light horse, as soon as he heard that the other had quitted the camp. The contention then began anew, and the dictator ordered Fabius to be seized. Where, when his unrelenting spirit persisted in its purpose, notwithstanding the united intercessions of the principal patricians, and of the whole senate, Fabius, the father, then said, "Since neither the authority of the senate has any weight with you; nor my age, which you wish to render childless; nor the noble birth and merit of a master of the horse, nominated by yourself; nor prayers which have often mitigated the rage of an enemy, and which appease the wrath of the gods; I call upon the tribunes of the commons for support, and appeal to the people; and since you decline the judgment of your own army, as well as of the senate, I call you before a judge who must certainly be allowed, though no other should, to possess more power and authority than yourself, though dictator. I shall see whether you will submit to an appeal, to which Tullus Hostilius, a Roman king, submitted." They proceeded directly from the senate-house to the assembly; where, being arrived, the dictator attended by few, the master of the horse by all the people of the first rank in a body, Papirius commanded him to be taken from the rostrum to the lower ground; his father, following him, said, "You do well in ordering us to be brought down to a place where even as private persons we have liberty of speech." At first, instead of regular speeches, nothing but altercation was heard; at length, the indignation of old Fabius, and the strength of his voice, got the better of noise, while he reproached Papirius with arrogance and cruelty. "He himself," he said, "had been dictator at Rome; and no man, not even the lowest plebeian, or centurion, or soldier, had been outraged by him. But Papirius sought for victory and triumph over a Roman commander, as over the generals of the enemy. What an immense difference between the moderation of the ancients, and modern oppression and cruelty. Quinctius Cincinnatus when dictator exercised no further severity on Lucius Minucius the consul, although rescued by him from a siege, than leaving him at the head of the army, in the quality of lieutenant-general, instead of consul. Marcus Furius Camillus, in the case of Lucius Furius, who, in contempt of his great age and authority, had fought a battle with a most disgraceful result, not only restrained his anger at the time so as to write no unfavourable representation of his conduct to the people or the senate; but after returning home, when the patricians gave him a power of electing from among his colleagues whoever he might approve as an associate with himself in the command, chose that very man in preference to all the other consular tribunes. Nay, that not even the resentment of the people, with whom lay the supreme power in all cases, was ever exercised with greater severity towards those who, through rashness and ignorance, had occasioned the loss of armies, than the fining them in a sum of money. Until that day, a capital prosecution for ill conduct in war had never been instituted against any commander, but now generals of the Roman people when victorious, and meriting the most honourable triumphs, are threatened with rods and axes; a treatment which would not have been deemed allowable, even towards those who had been defeated by an enemy. What would his son have to suffer, if he had occasioned the loss of the army? if he had been routed, put to flight, and driven out of his camp? To what greater length could his resentment and violence be stretched, than to scourge him, and put him to death? How was it consistent with reason, that through the means of Quintus Fabius, the state should be filled with joy, exulting in victory, and occupied in thanksgivings and congratulations; while at the same time, he who had given occasion to the temples of the gods being thrown open, their altars yet smoking with sacrifices, and loaded with honours and offerings, should be stripped naked, and torn with stripes in the sight of the Roman people; within view of the Capitol and citadel, and of those gods not in vain invoked in two different battles? With what temper would the army which had conquered under his conduct and auspices have borne it? What mourning would there be in the Roman camp! what joy among their enemies!" This speech he accompanied with an abundant flow of tears; uniting reproaches and complaints, imploring the aid both of gods and men, and warmly embracing his son.
On his side stood the majesty of the senate, the favour of the people, the support of the tribunes, and regard for the absent army. On the other side were urged the inviolable authority of the Roman government and military discipline; the edict of the dictator, always observed as the mandate of a deity; the orders of Manlius, and his postponing even parental affection to public utility. "The same also," said the dictator, "was the conduct of Lucius Brutus, the founder of Roman liberty, in the case of his two sons. That now fathers were become indulgent, and the aged indifferent in the case of the authority of others being despised, and indulge the young in the subversion of military order, as if it were a matter of trifling consequence. For his part, however, he would persevere in his purpose, and would not remit the smallest part of the punishment justly due to a person who fought contrary to his orders, while the rites of religion were imperfectly executed, and the auspices uncertain. Whether the majesty of the supreme authority was to be perpetual or not, depended not on him; but Lucius Papirius would not diminish aught of its rights. He wished that the tribunitian office, inviolate itself, would not by its interposition violate the authority of the Roman government; nor the Roman people, to their own detriment particularly, annihilate the dictator and the rights of the dictatorship together. But if this should be the case, not Lucius Papirius but the tribunes and the people would be blamed by posterity in vain; when military discipline being once dissolved, the soldier would no longer obey the orders of the centurion, the centurion those of the tribune, the tribune those of the lieutenant-general, the lieutenant-general those of the consul, nor the master of the horse those of the dictator. No one would then pay any deference to men, no, nor even to the gods. Neither edicts of generals nor auspices would be observed. The soldiers, without leave of absence, would straggle at random through the lands of friends and of foes; and regardless of their oath would, influenced solely by a wanton humour, quit the service whenever they might choose. The standards would be unattended and forsaken: the men would neither assemble in pursuance of orders, nor would any distinction be made as to fighting by night or by day, on favourable or unfavourable ground, by order or without the orders of the general; nor would they observe standards or ranks; the service, instead of being solemn and sacred, would be confused and the result of mere chance, like that of freebooters. Render yourselves then, tribunes of the commons, accountable for all these evils to all future ages. Expose your own persons to these heavy imputations in defence of the licentious conduct of Quintus Fabius."
The tribunes now confounded, and more anxiously concerned at their own situation than at his for whom their support was sought, were freed from this embarrassment by the Roman people unanimously having recourse to prayers and entreaties, that the dictator would, for their sakes, remit the punishment of the master of the horse. The tribunes likewise, following the example set them of employing entreaties, earnestly beseech the dictator to pardon human error, to consider the immaturity of the offender's age; that he had suffered sufficiently; and now the youth himself, now his father, Marcus Fabius, disclaiming further contest, fell at the dictator's knees and deprecated his wrath. Then the dictator, after causing silence, said, "Romans, it is well. Military discipline has prevailed; the majesty of government has prevailed; both which were in danger of ceasing this day to exist. Quintus Fabius, who fought contrary to the order of his commander, is not acquitted of guilt; but after being condemned as guilty, is granted as a boon to the Roman people; is granted to the college of tribunes, supporting him with their prayers, not with the regular power of their office. Live, Quintus Fabius, more happy in this united sympathy of the state for your preservation, than in the victory in which you lately exulted. Live, after having ventured on such an act, as your father himself, had he been in the place of Lucius Papirius, would not have pardoned. With me you shall be reconciled whenever you wish it. To the Roman people, to whom you owe your life, you can perform no greater service than to let this day teach you a sufficient lesson to enable you to submit to lawful commands, both in war and peace." He then declared, that he no longer detained the master of the horse, and as he retired from the rostrum, the senate being greatly rejoiced, and the people still more so, gathered round him and escorted him, on one hand commending the dictator, on the other congratulating the master of the horse; while it was considered that the authority of military command was confirmed no less effectually by the danger of Quintus Fabius than the lamentable punishment of young Manlius. It so happened, that, through the course of that year, as often as the dictator left the army the Samnites were in motion: but Marcus Valerius, the lieutenant-general who commanded in the camp, had Quintus Fabius before his eyes for an example, not to fear any violence of the enemy, so much as the unrelenting anger of the dictator. So that when a body of his foragers fell into an ambuscade and were cut to pieces in disadvantageous ground, it was generally believed that the lieutenant-general could have given them assistance if he had not been held in dread by his rigorous orders. The resentment for this also alienated the affections of the soldiery from the dictator, already incensed against him because he had been implacable towards Quintus Fabius, and because he had granted him pardon at the intercession of the Roman people, a thing which he had refused to their entreaties.