24. The Idiot Commander Who Caused Ancient Rome’s Worst Defeat
At the start of the Second Punic War (218 – 201 BC), Carthaginian general Hannibal Barca invaded Italy and inflicted a series of humiliating defeats upon the Romans. The losses shook Rome’s hold on Italy, as allies foreswore their allegiance and either joined Hannibal or declared neutrality. The Romans appointed Quintus Fabius Maximus dictator for six months, and he adopted a strategy that became known as “Fabian“. Aware that Rome’s manpower exceeded Hannibal’s, Fabius turned to attrition. He whittled the Carthaginian forces with skirmishes and raids on their supply lines and avoided a pitched battle.
That stabilized the situation but did not sit well with other Romans, who wanted to avenge their earlier defeats as soon as possible. When Fabius’ term expired, the Romans amassed their biggest army to date. Commanded by two consuls, Lucius Aemilius Paulus and Gaius Terentius Varro, they marched off to take on Hannibal. Varro turned out to be an idiot. The Carthaginian commander, who had been discomfited by Fabius’ attrition tactics, was happy to accommodate the Romans and give them battle near Cannae, where Hannibal’s 40,000 men faced 87,000 Romans.