Eburnus may have been a "monetalis" around 134 BC. He was most likely the Quintus Fabius Maximus who was quaestor in 132, serving in Sicily under his father-in-law Publius Rupilius, who was a consul that year. Eburnus was held responsible for losing control of the city of Tauromenium to the slave uprising, and he was sent back to Rome "in disgrace" even though the Roman siege eventually succeeded. A considerable gap in his career followed.