Hannibal managed to surprise
these troops on a narrow road along the shores of the Trasimene
Lake and there he killed all the Roman officers and most
of their men. This time there was a panic among the people
of Rome, but the Senate kept its nerve. A third army was
organised and the command was given to Quintus Fabius Maximus
with full power to act ``as was necessary to save the state.''
Fabius knew that he must be very careful lest all be lost.
His raw and untrained men, the last available soldiers, were
no match for Hannibal's veterans. He refused to accept battle
but forever he followed Hannibal, destroyed everything eatable,
destroyed the roads, attacked small detachments and generally
weakened the morale of the Carthaginian troops by a
most distressing and annoying form of guerilla warfare.
Such methods however did not satisfy the fearsome crowds
who had found safety behind the walls of Rome. They wanted
``action.'' Something must be done and must be done quickly.
A popular hero by the name of Varro, the sort of man who
went about the city telling everybody how much better he could
do things than slow old Fabius, the ``Delayer,'' was made
commander-in-chief by popular acclamation. At the battle of
Cannae (216) he suffered the most terrible defeat of Roman
history. More than seventy thousand men were killed. Hannibal
was master of all Italy.
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