Background
Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus was born at Rome circa 275 BC. Fabius was a descendant of the ancient patrician Fabia gens. He was the son or grandson of Quintus Fabius Maximus Gurges, three times consul and princeps senatus, and grandson or great-grandson of Quintus Fabius Maximus Rullianus, a hero of the Samnite Wars, who like Verrucosus held five consulships, as well as the offices of dictator and censor. Many earlier ancestors had also been consuls. His cognomen, Verrucosus, or "warty", used to distinguish him from other members of his family, derived from a wart on his upper lip
Although he is generally known by his clan name, Fabius, Maximus was his cognomen, or family name, not agnomen, or nickname.
Career
As the result of Roman defeats by Hannibal, which culminated in the rout of the Romans at Lake Trasimenus in 217 b. c. , Quintus Fabius was appointed dictator and assigned the task of defeating Hannibal. The cautious policy which Fabius adopted was to avoid pitched battles with the Carthaginian forces. He merely followed Hannibal at a distance and harassed his outposts.
At the end of 217 b. c. Fabius unexpectedly came upon Hannibal at the Callicula Pass, but his cautious tactics enabled the Carthaginians to escape unharmed. Fabius resigned the dictatorship at the end of his six-month term. The Romans then abandoned his cautious tactics and suffered another crushing defeat at Cannae in 216 b. c.
Rome itself was endangered, and again the Romans called upon Fabius, who served as consul in 215 and 214 b. c. His final military command of importance was at the capture of Tarentum in 209 b. c. From that year, the younger and bolder Scipio's successes against Carthage in Spain finally rendered cautious tactics obsolete. Though greatly respected, Fabius was gently pushed into the background--the Senate--where he had to content himself with criticizing the audacity of Scipio. He opposed the African campaign, and died in 203 b. c. , just before Scipio's success at Zama.
Personality
Quotes from others about the person
A few scoffed and called him Cunctator ("the delayer"); others spoke of him as the "Shield of Rome. "
