Ab urbe condita

Q. Fabius is not acquitted of guilt in having fought against his commander's orders, but though condemned as guilty he is restored as a free gift to the people of Rome, to the authority of the tribunes, who protected him not by exercising their legal powers but by their intercession.

Live, Q. Fabius; happier now in the unanimous desire of your fellow-citizens to defend you than in the hour of exultation after your victory! Live, though you dared to do what even your father, had he been in the place of Papirius, could not have pardoned!

As for me, you shall be restored to favour whenever you please. But to the Roman people to whom you owe your life you can make no better return than to show that you have this day learnt the lesson of submission to lawful commands in peace and in war.”