A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology

1. C.FabiusDorso, greatly distinguished himself at the time when the Capitol was besieged by the Gauls. (B. C. 390.) The Fabian gens was accustomed to celebrate a sacrifice at a fixed time on the Quirinal hill, and accordingly, at the appointed time, C. Dorso, who was then a young man, descended from the Capitol, carrying the sacred things in his hands, passed in safety through the enemy's posts, and, after performing the sacrifice, returned in safety to the Capitol. (Liv. 5.46, 52; V. Max. 1.1.11.) The tale is somewhat differently related by other writers. Dio Cassius (Fragm. 29, ed. Reimar.) speaks of the sacrifice as a public one, which Fabius, whom he calls Caeso Fabius, had to perform as one of the pontiffs. Florus (1.13) also calls him a pontiff, who was sent by Manlius, the commander on the Capitol, to celebrate the sacred rite on the Quirinal. Appian, on the other hand, who quotes Cassius Hemina as his authority, says that the sacrifice was performed in the temple of Vesta. (Celt. 6.)