In the crucible of any nation, there arrives a time where the promise of her greatness is tested in a decisive conflict. This clash comes both as a sacrament to the Gods of the founding and as a test that must be passed. For the Roman nation, it came in the form of the Punic Wars against Carthage. Her Nemesis came in the form of Hannibal, who until late in the empire, when Carthage was long since salted from the earth, was a used as a boogey man for young children misbehaving. “Hannibal ad portas” was enough to send a shiver down a young lad’s spine a thousand years later, and rightfully so. Legions of strong Roman men were sent to Hades at the behest of Hannibal’s commands and battlefield skill. Yet, it was in this conflict that Rome showed herself to be worthy, and it owed its victory to none other than the great Dictator, Fabius Maximus.
As Plutarch describes, Fabius was a youth of slight stature and demeanor. He had a hard time with sports, learning, and was generally derisively described as “lamb-like” by his peers. Yet through his own discipline and hard work he ascended and manifested himself into a man of strong physical bearing, persuasive rhetoric, and shrewd patience. As son of a prominent aristocratic family, he embraced the duty of his ancestors and was elected to several offices. It was Fabius himself, in fact, that delivered the formal declaration of war between the Roman Republic and Carthage to the Carthaginian senate. His time as consul had already elapsed and left the prosecution of the war to others.
Following Hannibal crossing the Alps, scoring two deadly defeats on the Roman consular armies at Trebia and Lake Trasimene, the Republic invested Fabius with the power of Dictator. This was when Rome was just hitting her stride as a powerful Republic. She was the center of many different civitae whose allegiance to Rome was new and fragile. This clash was an existential one where the future of, not just Rome, but the entire Latin civilization was threatened. Under such immense social pressure is the context that Fabius was put under and to which he manfully rose to the occasion. Still more, he used his powers and public trust to set Rome on a new war path. One yet untested. Fabius set about the policy of waging attritional warfare on Hannibal and his Carthaginian host. To summarize his plan of action, Fabius focused his military efforts on cutting off the supplies and logistical support bases of Hannibal instead of confronting him head on where Hannibal had an outrageous advantage.[1]
The idea was that, over enough time, Hannibal would wither on the vine since he would be unable to replenish lost men or source food and fodder. This, however, was antithetical to the hot-headed attitudes of the Romans, and already at the outset was an extremely unpopular course of action to take. Thus, the immense challenge was stacked against Fabius from the start.
The most immediate challenge that Fabius faced was one of morale. At the heels of these massive defeats and the deaths of thousands, Rome was shaken to her core. In a masterful stroke, Fabius put aside the enormous social pressure he was under and had the clarity of mind to appeal to the Gods for consecration. To us moderns, who are generally impious and atheistic, this comes as a fool’s errand because we do not place emphasis on this kind of ‘superstition’. Superstition or not, we have to understand the power of psychology when it comes to questions of morale. Placebo effect is a very real phenomenon and has been shown to cause miraculous material manifestations from sheer belief alone. Whether or not that belief is justified, as a leader, you have to remember that perception is reality, and piety is the most powerful chord in a man’s heart. Observe the Gods, and they will watch over your mission with divine favor. Consecrate your enterprise, and allow no man to deride the Gods’ names. Here Fabius knew how to buttress the hearts of his soldiers and make them stout again.
With divine confidence restored in their hearts, the Roman legions marched out to face their Semitic foe. Immediately, Fabius sent out reinforcements to the allied garrisons of all the civitae under Roman control. The presence of Roman troops garrisoning had a double effect: first, it ensured the loyalty of the cities the legionaries were stationed in, second, they bolstered the local force strength preventing the Carthaginians from taking any one city without a prolonged siege.[2]
At the head of a consular army, Fabius pursued the host of Hannibal all over the peninsula. He took care, however, to always keep to the high ground and harass the enemy foragers and supply train. In one swoop, Fabius denied Hannibal the possibility of having any Latin ally turn on Rome while also denying Hannibal food and fodder for his army. Any loss felt by Hannibal was dear and carried with it a more impactful loss than any comparative Roman casualty.
Months of this campaign, though effective, was not decisive and caused the men under Fabius to increasingly become unruly. Rumors swirled around camp and in the Senate alike serving to steadily undermined Fabius’ authority by insinuating, or outright saying, that he was a coward. Worse still, Hannibal when raiding the countryside, made sure to leave the estates of Fabius alone to increasingly undermine the military authority of the venerable Dictator. This too, Fabius with much guile addressed. To sustain the pay of the army, Fabius sent his son to Rome and sold his estates so that his men could stay paid and provisioned. Yet this was not enough, and the eroding political support for Fabius led to the promotion of a lieutenant commander named Mencius as co-leader.
Mencius was consistent in his disobedience to orders and the general disposition of the army. He would often galvanize his troops against Fabius whenever he could. His bluster, however, would only reveal Fabius’ virtue as both a man and a commander. On a maneuver, Mencius was lured out from the advantageous position in a bid to confront and defeat a rearguard of Hannibal directly. However, Hannibal had shrewdly predicted Mencius’ rash action and took him into a trap. There the fight was almost a certain defeat for Mencius if it had not been for Fabius sending a relief force to extricate him from that dire position. Here, Fabius was proved to be a great man in both his magnanimity to a compatriot, who had only done him harm, as well as proving the efficacy of the Fabian strategy which thereby underscored his judgement as leader.
Fabius’ successes as military commander of all the Roman legions in the field ended after his one-year term as Dictator finished. Ultimately, his foresight was not appreciated among the political classes simply because it brought no real decisive end to the Carthaginian menace. It was the twin Consuls Varro and Paulus [3] who foolishly convinced the intemperate Senate to concentrate the legions and march against Hannibal. There, before their vices, came the fall. Cannae is a battle that transcended in fame beyond the times of both the Carthaginians and the Romans. It was at Cannae that Varro overwhelmed and outclassed the Carthaginians with almost ninety thousand men under arms arrayed against Hannibal’s coalition forces of some fifty thousand. When the battle was met, Hannibal ingeniously enveloped his larger enemy and made minced meat of them by assailing their flanks. It was a disaster of epic proportions, and which took the sons of many families across Latium.
Defeated and distraught, Varro returned to the eternal city with much shame on his shoulders and holding the body of his colleague, Paulus, in his arms who was slain on the field of battle. Almost immediately, without being appealed to by his peers or prompted by any duty of office, Fabius once again rose to the occasion to take the initiative. Stilling the hearts of the Roman citizenry, he ordered first that the guards be doubled at the gates of Rome and decreed that holy observances be carried out at every level of society down to the individual family to make penance for this bloodguilt. Fabius, no more than a simple senator, acted with such authority and fatherly bearing that Rome was saved once again. Re-instilling the discipline needed to continue the fight, Fabius would forever be remembered among the Romans for his sound judgement. He became a semi-divine character in Roman memory who was remembered for his will to, against all social pressure, perceive the correct course of action without conceding his integrity. From the jaws of complete defeat, Fabius led his patria through its most dire period of adversity and secured for Rome the means for ultimate Victory. It was on the shoulders of Fabius’ success that Publius Scipio was able to mount a decisive blow against Carthage herself at Zama, ten years later, and bring a successful end to a seventeen-year war.
As leaders, you will face points in time where good judgement will be a path taken against the grain of both your subordinates and your commanders. However, it is up to you to have the intestinal fortitude to make the right call and stick to that decision. To command men is to understand that responsibility rests on your shoulders alone. The leader has complete ownership of everything he does and fails to do. Fabius Maximus knew this well and chose his courses of action based on their impact and never allowed the bluster of lesser men to cloud his conscience. Rome owed her laurels to Fabius for his magnificent personal virtue. Your victories will be won based on the quality of your character alone. Discipline yourself in mind and body, take ownership of everything you do and fail to do, and seek constant improvement every day, and one day you may rise to the heights of the great Dictator, Fabius.
[1] This is what is commonly known as the enemy’s “Center of Gravity” which is a technical military term describing the main source of a combat elements combat power. This term can be applied to both friendly and enemy forces alike.
[2] Here the Carthaginians showed a “Critical Vulnerability” which is a technical military term describing a major weakness of a combat element.
[3] During the Roman Republic, every year, two Consuls would be elected to govern Rome with the equivalent executive authority. Historically, Consuls would usually split responsibilities, one would sit in the Senate and another would travel aboard in Roman territory either to govern allies or lead armies in a time of war.