A man of sterling qualities, frugal and unostentatious, after his public life he retired to his farm and spent the remainder of his days in seclusion as a simple peasant.
GAIUS FABRICIUS, like Dentatus, was from the peasants.

He was a Hernican.

As a soldier he was successful.

As a statesman he was incorruptible, and of great use to his country.

Previous to the battle of Asculum, Pyrrhus attempted to bribe him by large sums of money, and, failing in this, thought to frighten him by hiding an elephant behind a curtain; the curtain was suddenly removed, but Fabricius, though immediately under the elephant's trunk, stood unmoved.
In this generation we find Roman character at its best.