Fabius Maximus

For other members of the gens Fabii, see Fabius.

Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus (c. 275 BC-203 BC), called Cunctator (the Delayer), was a Roman politician and soldier, born in Rome around 275 BC and died in Rome in 203 BC. He was consul five times (233 BC, 228 BC, 215 BC, 214 BC and 209 BC) and was twice dictator in 221 and again in 217 BC. He reached the office of censor in 230 BC. His epithet Cunctator (akin to the English noun cunctation) means "delayer" in Latin, and refers to his tactics in deploying the troops during the Second Punic War. His cognomen Verrucosus means warty, a reference to the wart above his upper lip.

Accomplishments

Beginnings

Descended from an ancient patrician gens Fabii, he was a grandson of Quintus Fabius Maximus Gurges and a great-grandson of Quintus Fabius Maximus Rullianus, both famous consuls. He probably participated in the First Punic War, although no details of his role are known. After the end of the war he rapidly advanced his political career. He served twice as consul and censor and in 218 BC he took part in the embassy to Carthage. It was Fabius who formally declared war in the Carthaginian senate after the capture of Saguntum by Hannibal (Liv. Ab Urbe Cond. xii. xviii). The Senate named him dictator in 217 BC after the disaster at the Battle of Lake Trasimene in June of that year; this was unusual, as dictators were usually named by consuls.

Dictator

Fabius was well aware of the military superiority of the Carthaginians, and when Hannibal invaded Italy he refused to meet him in a pitched battle. Instead he kept his troops close to Hannibal, hoping to exhaust him in a long war of attrition. Fabius was able to harass the Carthaginian foraging parties, limiting Hannibal's ability to wreak destruction while conserving his own military force.

The Romans were unimpressed with this defensive strategy and at first gave Fabius his epithet as an insult. The strategy was in part ruined because of a lack of unity in the command of the Roman army: Fabius' magister equitum, Minucius, was a political enemy of Fabius. It was only after Fabius had saved him from an attack by Hannibal that Minucius placed himself under Fabius' command. Minucius had been named a co-commander of the Roman forces by Fabius' detractors in the Senate. Minucius openly claimed that Fabius was cowardly because he failed to confront the Carthaginian forces. Near the present-day town of Larino in the Molise (then called Larinum), Hannibal had taken up position in a town called Gerione. In the valley between Larino and Gerione, Minucius decided to make a broad frontal attack on Hannibal's troops. Several thousand men were involved on either side. It appeared that the Roman troops were winning but Hannibal had set a trap. Soon the Roman troops were being slaughtered. Fabius, despite Minucius' earlier arrogance, rushed to his co-commander's assistance and Hannibal's forces immediately retreated. After the battle there was some feeling that there would be conflict between Minucius and Fabius. However, the younger soldier marched his men to Fabius' encampment and he is reported to have said, "My father gave me life. Today you saved my life. You are my second father. I recognize your superior abilities as a commander."

At the end of Fabius' dictatorship, the command was given back to the consuls Gnaeus Servilius Geminus and Marcus Atilius Regulus. In the following year, the new consuls Lucius Aemilius Paullus and Gaius Terentius Varro were defeated at the battle of Cannae, and the wisdom of Fabius' strategy was understood. Thus Cunctator became an honorific title. This tactic was followed for the rest of the war, as long as Hannibal remained in Italy.

Honors and death

Fabius' own military success was small, aside from the reconquest of Tarentum in 209 BC. When, some years afterwards , M. Livius Macatus, the governor of Tarentum claimed the merit of recovering the town, Fabius rejoined, "Certainly, had you not lost it, I would have never retaken it." (Plut. Fab. 23) After serving as dictator he served as consul twice more in 215 BC, 214 BC, and for a fifth time in 209 BC. He was also Chief Augur and Pontifex Maximus - a combination not repeated until Julius Caesar. In the senate he opposed the young and ambitious Scipio Africanus, who wanted to carry the war to Africa. Fabius died in 203, before he could see the eventual Roman victory in Africa won by Scipio Africanus.

Legacy

Later, he became a legendary figure and the model of a tough, courageous Roman. According to Ennius, unus homo nobis cunctando restituit rem – "one man, by delaying, restored the state to us." While Hannibal is mentioned in the company of history's greatest generals, military professionals have bestowed Fabius' name on an entire strategic doctrine known as "Fabian strategy."

External links

Fabius, by Plutarch

275 BC births | 203 BC deaths | Roman dictators | Roman generals | Roman Republican consuls