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Episode 69, the Second Punic War, Hannibal at the Gates In the wake of the panic caused by Trasamine, one man rose to take control of the situation,

Quintus Fabius Maximus Verucosus, an unflattering surname bestowed upon him due to a pronounced wart on his upper lip.

A taciturn and somewhat unassuming figure, he was a member of the Fabi, probably the most

prestigious gnomal family of his day.

Fabius previously served as consul of 233 and oversaw a successful campaign against the Ligurians.

He was also part of the embassy that was sent to Carthage to declare war after Hannibal's

destruction of Saguntum.

Possessing a solid reputation among his peers, Fabius was unanimously elevated to the seat

of dictator, a position that would grant him near absolute authority over the conduct

of the Republic, and reserved for

only times of great crisis, serving second in command as his master of horse would be Marcus

Minucius Rufus. With the powers vested in him, it was up to Fabius to restore order and devise a plan

to do with the Garthaginians before they arrived at Rome's doorstep. As both Trebia and

Trasamine demonstrated, to face Hannibal in open battle was tantamount to throwing the legionaries

into a meat grinder. Fabius recognized that a war of attrition was needed to achieve victory.

The so-called Fabian strategy stressed the need to avoid a decisive confrontation,

instead saying just within sight of the enemy army, but only getting involved in smaller

engagements and raids before retreating out of reach. Roman troops constantly harassing and

henpecking at the Harthaginian army would wear them down, and Hannibal could not easily replace his

casualties. Though they may have captured the grain depot of Clesidium the year prior, Hannibal and his

men were foraging off the land, and this dictated their movements throughout the most agriculturally

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