er.

[Footnote A: Liv., xxii. 8, _sq._]

V. Fabius, by teaching the people to rest their hopes on religion, made
them view the future with a more cheerful heart. For his own part, he
trusted entirely to himself to win the victory, believing that Heaven
grants men success according to the valour and conduct which they
display. He marched against Hannibal, not with any design of fighting
him, but of wearing out his army by long delays, until he could, by his
superior numbers and resources, deal with him easily. With this object
in view he always took care to secure himself from Hannibal's cavalry,
by occupying the mountains overhanging the Carthaginian camp, where he
remained quiet as long as the enemy did, but when they moved he used to
accompany them, showing himself at intervals upon the heights at such a
distance as not to be forced to fight against his will, and yet, from
the very slowness of his movements, making the enemy fear that at every
moment he was about to attack. By these dilatory manoeuvres he incurred
general contempt, and was looked upon with disgust by his own soldiers,
while the enemy, with the exception of one man, thought him utterly
without warlike enterprise. That man was Hannibal himself. He alone
perceived Fabius's true generalship and thorough comprehension of the
war, and saw that either he must by some means be brought to fight a
battle, or else the Carthaginians were lost, if they could not make use
of their superiority in arms, but were to be worn away and reduced in
number and resources, in which they were already deficient. He put in
force every conceivable military stratagem and device, like a skilful
wrestler when he tries to lay hold of his antagonist, and kept attacking
Fabius, skirmishing round him, and drawing him from place to place, in
his endeavours to make him quit his policy of caution. But Fabius was
convinced that he was right, and steadily declined battle. His master of
the horse, Minucius, who longed for action, gave him much trouble. This
man made unseemly boasts, and harangued the army, filling it with wild
excitement and self-confidence. The soldiers in derision used to call
Fabius Hannibal's lacquey, because he followed him wherever he went, and
thought Minucius a really great general, and worthy of the name of
Roman. Minucius, encouraged in his arrogant vauntings, began to ridicule
the habit of encamping on the mountain-tops, saying that the dictator
always took care t