Ancient sources report that three men were exiled but later restored in the Early Republic. These accounts are not authentic, but are later inventions. Numerous authors mention the recall of Camillus in 390 following the Gallic sack of Rome. The tradition of his return and subsequent heroics probably originated in the late third century. R M Ogilvie's dating of the origin of this story to no earlier than 217 is persuasive. In addition to Camillus, Cicero cites the restorations of Caeso Quinctius and C. Servilius Ahala. He is alone in this assertion, however. Livy depicts Caeso as having died in banishment by 458 and has the prosecution of Servilius only threatened by his enemies, but never accomplished. Although Valerius Maximus states that Servilius went into exile, he does not mention that he was ever restored. Cicero's source (if he did not invent the variants himself) was evidently outside the mainstream annalistic tradition later used by Livy. Perhaps his information derived from optimate propaganda of the late second century. As conservative Romans who opposed demagogues with force, Caeso and Servilius would have been powerful symbols during the political struggles in the age of the Gracchi. Indeed, these stories are remarkably anachronistic and seem to reflect the internal situation of the late Republic rather than early Rome. The tales of their restoration may have been invented to validate optimate violence or even to provide a precedent for the recall of Popillius Laenas.