Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus
Quintus Fabius Maximus saved Rome from Hannibal by refusing to fight him. Born around 280 BC into one of the most distinguished patrician families, he was consul twice before the Second Punic War and had held a censorship and a triumph over the Ligurians. He had a wart on his upper lip, from which the family name Verrucosus came, and as a boy was thought slow, earning the nickname Ovicula, little sheep. After Hannibal destroyed a Roman army at Lake Trasimene in 217 BC, Fabius was appointed dictator. His strategy was to shadow Hannibal's army, keep to high ground where cavalry could not be used, cut off foragers and stragglers, devastate the countryside ahead of him, and never accept a pitched battle. It was based on an accurate reading of the position: Hannibal was in hostile territory without a secure base or reinforcement, and Rome could replace losses while he could not. It was deeply unpopular. He was called Cunctator, the delayer, as an insult, and Hannibal manoeuvred to make him look passive — famously driving cattle with burning brands on their horns up a hillside at night to slip past a blocked pass. His own master of horse Minucius was given equal authority by an angry assembly, engaged, and had to be rescued by Fabius. His dictatorship lapsed, the consuls of 216 BC sought battle, and about fifty thousand Romans died at Cannae. The strategy was then adopted permanently. Fabius held three further consulships and died in 203 BC. He opposed Scipio's plan to invade Africa, which won the war two years after his death.
- Lived: 280 BCE – 203 BCE
- Nationality: Roman
- Roles: statesman, military_leader, dictator
