So
where we left off, Rome is in a pretty bad place after two great losses. So
Rome had no choice but to go to an age old tradition, the dictator. Now the
modern lexicon has a different meaning to us than the Romans. A dictator was
actually an elected position. When the republic was in great peril they would elect
a citizen as a sort of supreme commander.
He could bypass the senate and had more power than the consuls. However,
the dictatorship was a temporary office and after the threat was gone he would
step down and the government would be put back in place. Most would be
surprised to find out that most dictators did this until Julius Caesar who
elected himself dictator for life.
So
Rome named Quintus Fabius Maximus as the dictator and Marcus Minucius Felix as
his master of horse (second in command dictator).[1] Now Fabius realized the
mistakes of the past consuls and decided to follow his own strategy. Fabius
basically had no intention of fighting Hannibal where Hannibal wanted to fight
the Romans.[2] Fabius would shadow the
Carthaginian army but would always choose hills where Hannibal’s greatest
asset, his cavalry, would no longer have the advantage. So Fabius keep
attacking and foraging parties and scouts, slowly picking off Hannibal’s troops.[3] Hannibal continued to try
and bring Fabius into a pitched battle but he would not oblige his enemy’s
wishes because that’s exactly what Hannibal wanted. Hannibal ravaged the
countryside and Fabius still wouldn't attack.
Fabius in deep thought about how to win the Chess game of the Second Punic War.
This
tactic was ultimately successful for it gave the Romans time to rebuild their
forces. However, it was extremely unpopular. The Romans loved their direct
battles and victories so the strategy was un-Roman to them. [4] Furthermore, Hannibal, being as clever as he
was, started destroying all lands he could find except lands belonging to
Fabius. This caused the senate to think maybe Hannibal and Fabius were in
league together against Rome. However
Fabius’ moment came when Hannibal finally made a mistake. Hannibal had led his
men into a valley with only a couple ways to escape. Fabius set up his troops at
the entrances trapping Hannibal within the valley. But Hannibal had an idea to escape. During
the night he tied burning brands to the horns of over 2000 cattle. He moved the cattle up to the Romans guarding
a pass.[5] The Romans there retreated
thinking that the entire army was there. However, Hannibal used it as
distraction and escaped.
Unhappy
with the escape of Hannibal, the senate named Minucius co-dictator. However, at
the battle of Geronium, Minucius planned into Hannibal’s hands and his army was
going to lose. Overlooking the battle Fabius came and saved his co-dictator and
the Roman army.[6] Carthage and Rome’s forces broke off but
Carthage had a tactical victory there. Minucius handed supreme command to the
Fabius and took his subordinate position back.
Years
later Fabius was remembered as the great delayer and thought of as a great
tactician. So much so that today people refer to the strategy of indirect
fighting and war of attrition as Fabian strategy. George Washington and Russia
both used this kind of strategy to help defeat the British and Napoleon respectively. So the year without a victory as some call
it was probably one of the reasons that Rome could continue to fight through
the rest of the war.
Dang it I was hoping George won the war with Bald Eagles and Freedom.
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