Plutarch: Lives of the noble Grecians and Romans
consider it your fault, if you apply yourself to any but to me;" and
when he had so spoken, he bestowed an excellent horse and other presents
upon him; and, from that time forwards, there was not a faithfuller and
more trusty man in the whole army. With good reason he judged, that, if
those who have the government of horses and dogs endeavor by gentle
usage to cure their angry and untractable tempers, rather than by
cruelty and beating, much more should those who have the command of men
try to bring them to order and discipline by the mildest and fairest
means, and not treat them worse than gardeners do those wild plants,
which, with care and attention, lose gradually the savageness of their
nature, and bear excellent fruit.
At another time, some of his officers informed him that one of their men
was very often absent from his place, and out at nights; he asked them
what kind of man he was; they all answered, that the whole army had not
a better man, that he was a native of Lucania, and proceeded to speak of
several actions which they had seen him perform. Fabius made strict
inquiry, and discovered at last that these frequent excursions which he
ventured upon were to visit a young girl, with whom he was in love.
Upon which he gave private order to some of his men to find out the
woman and secretly convey her into his own tent; and then sent for the
Lucanian, and, calling him aside, told him, that he very well knew how
often he had been out away from the camp at night, which was a capital
transgression against military discipline and the Roman laws, but he
knew also how brave he was, and the good services he had done;
therefore, in consideration of them, he was willing to forgive him his
fault; but to keep him in good order, he was resolved to place one over
him to be his keeper, who should be accountable for his good behavior.
Having said this, he produced the woman, and told the soldier, terrified
and amazed at the adventure, "This is the person who must answer for
you; and by your future behavior we shall see whether your night rambles
were on account of love, or for any other worse design."
Another passage there was, something of the same kind, which gained him
possession of Tarentum. There was a young Tarentine in the army that
had a sister in Tarentum, then in possession of the enemy, who entirely
loved her brother, and wholly depended upon him. He, being informed
that a certain Bruttian, whom Hannibal had made a commander of the
garrison, was deeply in love with his sister, conceived hopes that he
might possibly turn it to the advantage of the Romans. And having first
communicated his design to Fabius, he left the army as a deserter in
show, and went over to Tarentum. The first days passed, and the
Bruttian abstained from visiting the sister; for neither of them knew
that the brother had notice of the amour between them. The young
Tarentine, however, took an occasion to tell his sister how he had heard
that a man of station and authority had made his addresses to her; and
desired her, therefore, to tell him who it was; "for," said he, "if he
be a man that has bravery and reputation, it matters not what countryman
he is, since at this time the sword mingles all nations, and makes them
equal; compulsion makes all things honorable; and in a time when right
is weak, we may be thankful if might assumes a form of gentleness."
Upon this the woman sends for her friend, and makes the brother and him
acquainted; and whereas she henceforth showed more countenance to her
lover than formerly, in the same degrees that her kindness increased,
his friendship, also, with the brother advanced. So that at last our
Tarentine thought this Bruttian officer well enough prepared to receive
the offers he had to make him; and that it would be easy for a mercenary
man, who was in love, to accept, upon the terms proposed, the large
rewards promised by Fabius. In conclusion, the bargain was struck, and
the promise made of delivering the town. This is the common tradition,
though some relate the story otherwise, and say, that this woman, by
whom the Bruttian was inveigled, to betray the town, was not a native of
Tarentum, but a Bruttian born, and was kept by Fabius as his concubine;
and being a countrywoman and an acquaintance of the Bruttian governor,
he privately sent her to him to corrupt him.
Whilst these matters were thus in process, to draw off Hannibal from
scenting the design, Fabius sends orders to the garrison in Rhegium,
that they should waste and spoil the Bruttian country, and should also
lay siege to Caulonia, and storm the place with all their might. These
were a body of eight thousand men, the worst of the Roman army, who had
most of them been runaways, and had been brought home by Marcellus from
Sicily, in dishonor, so that the loss of them would not be any great
grief to the Romans. Fabius, therefore, threw out these men as a bait
for Hannibal, to divert him from Tarentum; who instantly caught at it,
and led his forces to Caulonia; in the meantime, Fabius sat down before
Tarentum. On the sixth day of the siege, the young Tarentine slips by
night out of the town, and, having carefully observed the place where
the Bruttian commander, according to agreement, was to admit the Romans,
gave an account of the whole matter to Fabius; who thought it not safe
to rely wholly upon the plot, but, while proceeding with secrecy to the
post, gave order for a general assault to be made on the other side of
the town, both by land and sea. This being accordingly executed, while
the Tarentines hurried to defend the town on the side attacked, Fabius
received the signal from the Bruttian, scaled the walls, and entered the
town unopposed.
Here, we must confess, ambition seems to have overcome him. To make it
appear to the world that he had taken Tarentum by force and his own
prowess, and not by treachery, he commanded his men to kill the
Bruttians before all others; yet he did not succeed in establishing the
impression he desired, but merely gained the character of perfidy and
cruelty. Many of the Tarentines were also killed, and thirty thousand
of them were sold for slaves; the army had the plunder of the town, and
there was brought into the treasury three thousand talents. Whilst they
were carrying off everything else as plunder, the officer who took the
inventory asked what should be done with their gods, meaning the
pictures and statues; Fabius answered, "Let us leave their angry gods to
the Tarentines." Nevertheless, he removed the colossal statue of
Hercules, and had it set up in the capitol, with one of himself on
horseback, in brass, near it; proceedings very different from those of
Marcellus on a like occasion, and which, indeed, very much set off in
the eyes of the world his clemency and humanity, as appears in the
account of his life.
Hannibal, it is said, was within five miles of Tarentum, when he was
informed that the town was taken. He said openly, "Rome, then, has also
got a Hannibal; as we won Tarentum, so have we lost it." And, in
private with some of his confidants, he told them, for the first time,
that he always thought it difficult, but now he held it impossible, with
the forces he then had, to master Italy.
Upon this success, Fabius had a triumph decreed him at Rome, much more
splendid than his first; they looked upon him now as a champion who had
learned to cope with his antagonist, and could now easily foil his arts
and prove his best skill ineffectual. And, indeed, the army of Hannibal
was at this time partly worn away with continual action, and partly
weakened and become dissolute with overabundance and luxury. Marcus
Livius, who was governor of Tarentum when it was betrayed to Hannibal,
and then retired into the citadel, which he kept till the town was
retaken, was annoyed at these honors and distinctions, and, on one
occasion, openly declared in the senate, that by his resistance, more
than by any action of Fabius, Tarentum had been recovered; on which
Fabius laughingly replied: "You say very true, for if Marcus Livius had
not lost Tarentum, Fabius Maximus had never recovered it." The people,
amongst other marks of gratitude, gave his son the consulship of the
next year; shortly after whose entrance upon his office, there being
some business on foot about provision for the war, his father, either by
reason of age and infirmity, or perhaps out of design to try his son,
came up to him on horseback. While he was still at a distance, the
young consul observed it, and bade one of his lictors command his father
to alight, and tell him that, if be had any business with the consul, he
should come on foot. The standers by seemed offended at the
imperiousness of the son towards a father so venerable for his age and
his authority, and turned their eyes in silence towards Fabius. He,
however, instantly alighted from his horse, and with open arms came up,
almost running, and embraced his son, saying, "Yes, my son, you do well,
and understand well what authority you have received, and over whom you
are to use it. This was the way by which we and our forefathers
advanced the dignity of Rome, preferring ever her honor and service to
our own fathers and children."
And, in fact, it is told that the great-grandfather of our Fabius, who
was undoubtedly the greatest man of Rome in his time, both in reputation
and authority, who had been five times consul, and had been honored with
several triumphs for victories obtained by him, took pleasure in serving
as lieutenant under his own son, when he went as consul to his command.
And when afterwards his son had a triumph bestowed upon him for his good
service, the old man followed, on horseback, his triumphant chariot, as
one of his attendants; and made it his glory, that while he really was,
and was acknowledged to be, the greatest man in Rome, and held a
father's full power over his son, he yet submitted himself to the laws
and the magistrate.
But the praises of our Fabius are not bounded here. He afterwards lost
this son, and was remarkable for bearing the loss with the moderation
becoming a pious father and a wise man, and, as it was the custom
amongst the Romans, upon the death of any illustrious person, to have a
funeral oration recited by some of the nearest relations, he took upon
himself that office, and delivered a speech in the forum, which he
committed afterwards to writing.
After Cornelius Scipio, who was sent into Spain, had driven the
Carthaginians, defeated by him in many battles, out of the country, and
had gained over to Rome many towns and nations with large resources, he
was received at his coming home with unexampled joy and acclamation of
the people; who, to show their gratitude, elected him consul for the
year ensuing. Knowing what high expectation they had of him, he thought
the occupation of contesting Italy with Hannibal a mere old man's
employment, and proposed no less a task to himself than to make Carthage
the seat of the war, fill Africa with arms and devastation, and so
oblige Hannibal, instead of invading the countries of others, to draw
back and defend his own. And to this end he proceeded to exert all the
influence he had with the people. Fabius, on the other side, opposed
the undertaking with all his might, alarming the city, and telling them
that nothing but the temerity of a hot young man could inspire them with
such dangerous counsels, and sparing no means, by word or deed, to
prevent it. He prevailed with the senate to espouse his sentiments; but
the common people thought that he envied the fame of Scipio, and that he
was afraid lest this young conqueror should achieve some great and noble
exploit, and have the glory, perhaps, of driving Hannibal out of Italy,