Plutarch: Lives of the noble Grecians and Romans
The enemies of Fabius thought they had sufficiently humiliated and
subdued him by raising Minucius to be his equal in authority; but they
mistook the temper of the man, who looked upon their folly as not his
loss, but like Diogenes, who, being told that some persons derided him,
made answer, "But I am not derided," meaning that only those were really
insulted on whom such insults made an impression, so Fabius, with great
tranquillity and unconcern, submitted to what happened, and contributed
a proof to the argument of the philosophers that a just and good man is
not capable of being dishonored. His only vexation arose from his fear
lest this ill counsel, by supplying opportunities to the diseased
military ambition of his subordinate, should damage the public cause.
Lest the rashness of Minucius should now at once run headlong into some
disaster, he returned back with all privacy and speed to the army; where
he found Minucius so elevated with his new dignity, that, a
joint-authority not contenting him, he required by turns to have the
command of the army every other day. This Fabius rejected, but was
contented that the army should be divided; thinking each general singly
would better command his part, than partially command the whole. The
first and fourth legion he took for his own division, the second and
third he delivered to Minucius; so also of the auxiliary forces each
had an equal share.
Minucius, thus exalted, could not contain himself from boasting of his
success in humiliating the high and powerful office of the dictatorship.
Fabius quietly reminded him that it was, in all wisdom, Hannibal, and
not Fabius, whom he had to combat; but if he must needs contend with his
colleague, it had best be in diligence and care for the preservation of
Rome; that it might not be said, a man so favored by the people served
them worse than he who had been ill-treated and disgraced by them.
The young general, despising these admonitions as the false humility of
age, immediately removed with the body of his army, and encamped by
himself. Hannibal, who was not ignorant of all these passages, lay
watching his advantage from them. It happened that between his army and
that of Minucius there was a certain eminence, which seemed a very
advantageous and not difficult post to encamp upon; the level field
around it appeared, from a distance, to be all smooth and even, though
it had many inconsiderable ditches and dips in it, not discernible to
the eye. Hannibal, had he pleased, could easily have possessed himself
of this ground; but he had reserved it for a bait, or train, in proper
season, to draw the Romans to an engagement. Now that Minucius and
Fabius were divided, he thought the opportunity fair for his purpose;
and, therefore, having in the night time lodged a convenient number of
his men in these ditches and hollow places, early in the morning he sent
forth a small detachment, who, in the sight of Minucius, proceeded to
possess themselves of the rising ground. According to his expectation,
Minucius swallowed the bait, and first sends out his light troops, and
after them some horse, to dislodge the enemy; and, at last, when he saw
Hannibal in person advancing to the assistance of his men, marched down
with his whole army drawn up. He engaged with the troops on the
eminence, and sustained their missiles; the combat for some time was
equal; but as soon as Hannibal perceived that the whole army was now
sufficiently advanced within the toils he had set for them, so that
their backs were open to his men whom he had posted in the hollows, he
gave the signal; upon which they rushed forth from various quarters, and
with loud cries furiously attacked Minucius in the rear. The surprise
and the slaughter was great, and struck universal alarm and disorder
through the whole army. Minucius himself lost all his confidence; he
looked from officer to officer, and found all alike unprepared to face
the danger, and yielding to a flight, which, however, could not end in
safety. The Numidian horsemen were already in full victory riding about
the plain, cutting down the fugitives.
Fabius was not ignorant of this danger of his countrymen; he foresaw
what would happen from the rashness of Minucius, and the cunning of
Hannibal; and, therefore, kept his men to their arms, in readiness to
wait the event; nor would he trust to the reports of others, but he
himself, in front of his camp, viewed all that passed. When, therefore,
he saw the army of Minucius encompassed by the enemy, and that by their
countenance and shifting their ground, they appeared more disposed to
flight than to resistance, with a great sigh, striking his hand upon his
thigh, he said to those about him, "O Hercules! how much sooner than I
expected, though later than he seemed to desire, hath Minucius destroyed
himself!" He then commanded the ensigns to be led forward and the army
to follow, telling them, "We must make haste to rescue Minucius, who is
a valiant man, and a lover of his country; and if he hath been too
forward to engage the enemy, at another time we will tell him of it."
Thus, at the head of his men, Fabius marched up to the enemy, and first
cleared the plain of the Numidians; and next fell upon those who were
charging the Romans in the rear, cutting down all that made opposition,
and obliging the rest to save themselves by a hasty retreat, lest they
should be environed as the Romans had been. Hannibal, seeing so sudden
a change of affairs, and Fabius, beyond the force of his age, opening
his way through the ranks up the hill-side, that he might join Minucius,
warily forbore, sounded a retreat, and drew off his men into their camp;
while the Romans on their part were no less contented to retire in
safety. It is reported that upon this occasion Hannibal said jestingly
to his friends: "Did not I tell you, that this cloud which always
hovered upon the mountains would, at some time or other, come down with
a storm upon us?"
Fabius, after his men had picked up the spoils of the field, retired to
his own camp, without saying any harsh or reproachful thing to his
colleague; who also on his part, gathering his army together, spoke and
said to them: "To conduct great matters and never commit a fault is
above the force of human nature; but to learn and improve by the faults
we have committed, is that which becomes a good and sensible man. Some
reasons I may have to accuse fortune, but I have many more to thank her;
for in a few hours she hath cured a long mistake, and taught me that I
am not the man who should command others, but have need of another to
command me; and that we are not to contend for victory over those to
whom it is our advantage to yield. Therefore in everything else
henceforth the dictator must be your commander; only in showing
gratitude towards him I will still be your leader, and always be the
first to obey his orders." Having said this, he commanded the Roman
eagles to move forward, and all his men to follow him to the camp of
Fabius. The soldiers, then, as he entered, stood amazed at the novelty
of the sight, and were anxious and doubtful what the meaning might be.
When he came near the dictator's tent, Fabius went forth to meet him, on
which he at once laid his standards at his feet, calling him with a loud
voice his father; while the soldiers with him saluted the soldiers here
as their patrons, the term employed by freedmen to those who gave them
their liberty. After silence was obtained, Minucius said, "You have
this day, O dictator, obtained two victories; one by your valor and
conduct over Hannibal, and another by your wisdom and goodness over your
colleague; by one victory you preserved, and by the other instructed us;
and when we were already suffering one shameful defeat from Hannibal, by
another welcome one from you we were restored to honor and safety. I
can address you by no nobler name than that of a kind father, though a
father's beneficence falls short of that I have received from you. From
a father I individually received the gift of life; to you I owe its
preservation not for myself only, but for all these who are under me."
After this, he threw himself into the arms of the dictator; and in the
same manner the soldiers of each army embraced one another with gladness
and tears of joy.
Not long after, Fabius laid down the dictatorship, and consuls were
again created. Those who immediately succeeded, observed the same
method in managing the war, and avoided all occasions of fighting
Hannibal in a pitched battle; they only succored their allies, and
preserved the towns from falling off to the enemy. but afterwards, when
Terentius Varro, a man of obscure birth, but very popular and bold, had
obtained the consulship, he soon made it appear that by his rashness and
ignorance he would stake the whole commonwealth on the hazard. For it
was his custom to declaim in all assemblies, that, as long as Rome
employed generals like Fabius there never would be an end of the war;
vaunting that whenever he should get sight of the enemy, he would that
same day free Italy from the strangers. With these promises he so
prevailed, that he raised a greater army than had ever yet been sent out
of Rome. There were enlisted eighty-eight thousand fighting men; but
what gave confidence to the populace, only terrified the wise and
experienced, and none more than Fabius; since if so great a body, and
the flower of the Roman youth, should be cut off, they could not see any
new resource for the safety of Rome. They addressed themselves,
therefore, to the other consul, Aemilius Paulus, a man of great
experience in war, but unpopular, and fearful also of the people, who
once before upon some impeachment had condemned him; so that he needed
encouragement to withstand his colleague's temerity. Fabius told him,
if he would profitably serve his country, he must no less oppose Varro's
ignorant eagerness than Hannibal's conscious readiness, since both alike
conspired to decide the fate of Rome by a battle. "It is more
reasonable," he said to him, "that you should believe me than Varro, in
matters relating to Hannibal, when I tell you, that if for this year you
abstain from fighting with him, either his army will perish of itself,
or else he will be glad to depart of his own will. This evidently
appears, inasmuch as, notwithstanding his victories, none of the
countries or towns of Italy come in to him, and his army is not now the
third part of what it was at first." To this Paulus is said to have
replied, "Did I only consider myself, I should rather choose to be
exposed to the weapons of Hannibal than once more to the suffrages of my
fellow-citizens, who are urgent for what you disapprove; yet since the
cause of Rome is at stake, I will rather seek in my conduct to please
and obey Fabius than all the world besides."
These good measures were defeated by the importunity of Varro; whom,
when they were both come to the army, nothing would content but a
separate command, that each consul should have his day; and when his
turn came, he posted his army close to Hannibal, at a village called
Cannae, by the river Aufidus. It was no sooner day, but he set up the
scarlet coat flying over his tent, which was the signal of battle. This
boldness of the consul, and the numerousness of his army, double theirs,
startled the Carthaginians; but Hannibal commanded them to their arms,
and with a small train rode out to take a full prospect of the enemy as
they were now forming in their ranks, from a rising ground not far
distant. One of his followers, called Gisco, a Carthaginian of equal
rank with himself, told him that the numbers of the enemy were
astonishing; to which Hannibal replied, with a serious countenance,