Hannibal and to keep Scipio in Italy. Mago sailed from the Balearic Isles and captured Genoa, where he received reinforcements from Carthage. 7 This danger of a fresh invasion from the north was met by stationing armies at Arretium and Ariminum, as in 207. But Mago could not yet take the offensive; the Gallic tribes, abandoned by Hannibal and remembering the fate of Hasdrubal, were lukewarm, and it was a slow task to organize the hill tribes of Liguria. At length in 203 Mago advanced into the Po valley with some 30,000 men. One legion had been sent to Genoa, two more held the Boii at bay, while four advanced from Ariminum against him. After a serious engagement Mago withdrew wounded to the coast, where he found orders to return to Carthage, but he died on the voyage.
Meanwhile Hannibal had been holding on desperately in Bruttium like a lion at bay. Reinforcements from Carthage in 205 had been driven to Sardinia by a storm and there captured. Gradually one small town after another was wrested from Hannibal and he was even worsted in a skirmish near Croton, according to the Roman claim. All hope of success in Italy was dead; he could only try to prevent reinforcements being sent to Scipio who had invadedAfrica, where success after success was reported. Finally, in the autumn of 203 he received orders to return home to defend Carthage. Having kept together a loyal army for fifteen years in an enemy’s country, undefeated, he at last evacuated Italy more sorrowfully than an exile leaving his native land. He had failed in an attempt to which he had devoted his life. Yet all was not lost, and he must have felt some eagerness in the thought that he was going to face in battle the most brilliant general Rome had produced, and that when they parted the fate of the civilized world would be decided.
3. THE ROMAN OFFENSIVE IN AFRICA
On his return from Spain Scipio was elected consul for 205 amid great popular rejoicings, although he was not granted a triumph, which as a mere privatus cum imperio he could not claim. It was now well known that he wished to carry the war into Africa. When the Senate discussed the allocation of provinces, strong opposition to Scipio’s African project was led by Fabius; but finally a compromise was reached by which one consul should command in Sicily with the right to sail to Africa if he thought fit. As Scipio’s colleague, P. Licinius Crassus, was Pontifex Maximus and could not leave Italy, Scipio had clearly won. But he was still further checked; he was given the command of only the two legions in Sicily, who were the disgraced survivors of Cannae. However, he raised 7,000 volunteers and the Italian allies supplied corn and material for the fitting out of 30 ships, so that he had a good nucleus with which to forge a weapon to strike at Carthage.
Fabius’ opposition to Scipio’s schemes was based on politics and strategy. Politically, he represented a class which did not look beyond Italy for Rome’s future. Such men tried to stem the tide of Hellenism which was flooding Rome and wished to finish the war with all speed and to heal the wounds it had inflicted on the countryside of Italy. 8 The other view, as represented by the Scipios, was that a purely Italian policy was obsolete and that Rome must become a Mediterranean power. The military views of the two parties varied correspondingly. The object of the Fabians was ‘limited’: Hannibal was to be forced from Italy. Scipio’s object was more ‘absolute’: the crushing of Hannibal and Carthage. He thought Rome would never be secure until Carthage was humbled and fettered – though not destroyed: the cry ‘ delenda est Carthago ’ had not yet arisen. The strategy of each party represented its aims. Tactical inferiority forced on Fabius a defensive strategy, which had won him the title Cunctator. But a strategy of exhaustion seldom wins a war. Fabius could only hope that the war might ‘fizzle out’ and Hannibal retire. He could never
Meanwhile Hannibal had been holding on desperately in Bruttium like a lion at bay. Reinforcements from Carthage in 205 had been driven to Sardinia by a storm and there captured. Gradually one small town after another was wrested from Hannibal and he was even worsted in a skirmish near Croton, according to the Roman claim. All hope of success in Italy was dead; he could only try to prevent reinforcements being sent to Scipio who had invadedAfrica, where success after success was reported. Finally, in the autumn of 203 he received orders to return home to defend Carthage. Having kept together a loyal army for fifteen years in an enemy’s country, undefeated, he at last evacuated Italy more sorrowfully than an exile leaving his native land. He had failed in an attempt to which he had devoted his life. Yet all was not lost, and he must have felt some eagerness in the thought that he was going to face in battle the most brilliant general Rome had produced, and that when they parted the fate of the civilized world would be decided.
3. THE ROMAN OFFENSIVE IN AFRICA
On his return from Spain Scipio was elected consul for 205 amid great popular rejoicings, although he was not granted a triumph, which as a mere privatus cum imperio he could not claim. It was now well known that he wished to carry the war into Africa. When the Senate discussed the allocation of provinces, strong opposition to Scipio’s African project was led by Fabius; but finally a compromise was reached by which one consul should command in Sicily with the right to sail to Africa if he thought fit. As Scipio’s colleague, P. Licinius Crassus, was Pontifex Maximus and could not leave Italy, Scipio had clearly won. But he was still further checked; he was given the command of only the two legions in Sicily, who were the disgraced survivors of Cannae. However, he raised 7,000 volunteers and the Italian allies supplied corn and material for the fitting out of 30 ships, so that he had a good nucleus with which to forge a weapon to strike at Carthage.
Fabius’ opposition to Scipio’s schemes was based on politics and strategy. Politically, he represented a class which did not look beyond Italy for Rome’s future. Such men tried to stem the tide of Hellenism which was flooding Rome and wished to finish the war with all speed and to heal the wounds it had inflicted on the countryside of Italy. 8 The other view, as represented by the Scipios, was that a purely Italian policy was obsolete and that Rome must become a Mediterranean power. The military views of the two parties varied correspondingly. The object of the Fabians was ‘limited’: Hannibal was to be forced from Italy. Scipio’s object was more ‘absolute’: the crushing of Hannibal and Carthage. He thought Rome would never be secure until Carthage was humbled and fettered – though not destroyed: the cry ‘ delenda est Carthago ’ had not yet arisen. The strategy of each party represented its aims. Tactical inferiority forced on Fabius a defensive strategy, which had won him the title Cunctator. But a strategy of exhaustion seldom wins a war. Fabius could only hope that the war might ‘fizzle out’ and Hannibal retire. He could never
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