Fabricius was appointed commander of the force sent against Pyrrhus; [he was] a man long known to the king and someone who exhibited a palpable token of his greatness of spirit.[1] For when the armies were facing each other, a certain man who was on night watch -- whether a doctor or another of the king's domestic attendants -- came to Fabricius offering to kill Pyrrhus with noxious poisons, if Fabricius would make it financially worth his while. Fabricius loathed the man for the attempt and sent him to Pyrrhus in chains. Pyrrhus was of course astonished at the action and is said to have cried out: "this man is a true Fabricius, whom it is more difficult for someone to turn aside from his native virtue than the sun from its accustomed orbit". Pyrrhus then gambled everything [sc. as if] on a throw of the dice and was beaten.