of the Fabii, the Papirii and the Claudii, urged that Fabius be relieved of his authority and degraded from consular rank as a punishment for his incompetence. In opposition to this, Fabius' father, Rullianus, urged that his son be permitted to redeem himself, volunteering to serve personally as his son's lieutenant on a subsequent campaign. Thus spared public humiliation, Fabius made good on his father's word, defeating the Samnites, taking several towns, and capturing Pontius, the Samnite general. In recognition of his victories, the senate honoured Fabius with a triumph; the occasion was the more remarkable because the elder Fabius rode beside his son's chariot. Fabius continued in command against the Samnites as proconsul in 291, and was besieging the town of Cominium, when the consul Lucius Postumius Megellus assumed command of the siege, and ordered Fabius to withdraw from Samnium. Fabius was consul for the second time in 276 BC, with Gaius Genucius Clepsina. Fabius led an army into southern Italy, where he defeated the Samnites, Lucani, and Bruttii, receiving a second triumph. Rome suffered a particularly difficult pestilence this year. In 273, Fabius led a delegation of ambassadors to the court of Ptolemy II Philadelphus of Egypt. He was accompanied by his cousin, Numerius Fabius Pictor, and Quintus Ogulnius Gallus, each of whom would later hold the consulship. On their departure for Rome, Ptolemy presented the ambassadors with rich gifts, which they subsequently deposited in the Roman treasury. However, as a gesture of gratitude and respect, the Roman Senate decreed that the gifts be returned to the ambassadors. Consul for the third time in 265 BC, with Lucius Mamilius Vitulus, Fabius was sent to aid the elders of Volsinii during a revolt of that city's plebeians against the aristocracy. Fabius was wounded in fierce fighting, and subsequently died. In the same year, his son, Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus, who would go on to become consul five times, and twice dictator, was consecrated an augur. At an uncertain time before his death, Fabius was named princeps senatus, a position of honour that had previously been held by his father and grandfather, and which would later be bestowed upon his son. Historical uncertainty Although Quintus Fabius Maximus Gurges has traditionally been identified as the father of Verrucosus, a minority view espoused by Beloch and Degrassi holds that Verrucosus was the grandson of Gurges, consul in 292 and 276, and that