FABIUS Pictor, the father of Roman history, respecting whom we know but little. In the interval between the first and second Punic wars we find him taking an active part in the subjugation of the Gauls in the north of Italy (225 b. c.) ; and after the battle of Cannae (216 b. c. ), he was employed by the Romans to proceed to Delphi, in order to consult the oracle of Apollo. But it is as an historian that he is entitled to our attention; as the earliest of the Roman annalists who set the example of writing the history of his country in prose. The rude muse o Noevius had already celebrated in verse the glory acquired by the Roman arms in the first Punic war, and Ennius had clothed the annals of his adopted country m the language of poetry. The sources from which Fabius derived his history were no doubt the annals of the pontι s who were in the habit of noting on a tablet thθ remarkable events of each year, such as prodigies, eclipses, cam[7:9:471]paigns, triumphs, and the deaths of illustrious men; and these were afterwards collected into a book. This custom continued till the pontificate of P. Mucius and the times of the Gracchi. Such was the foundation for his history; and his style seems to have partaken much of the dry and jejune character of the memoirs which he copied. Polybius has expressed a doubt respecting their credibility, but, we think, without sufficient reason. That he should have copied from a Greek writer, Diocles of Alexandria, as Dionysius hints, carries with it its own refutation; but it is a curious fact that he wrote his annals in the Greek as well as Latin language. To what period he brought down his history we are unable to determine. Livy speaks of his death 169 b. c. (Molleri Diss, de Q. Fabio Pictore, Altorf. 1689; Lachman, De Fontib. Livii ; Fabric. Bibl. Lat.) Fabius Maximus Verrucosus, one of the most distinguished men whom Rome produced, the principal events of whose life are included between 233 and 203 b. c. He first makes his appearance in history as the conqueror of the Ligurians, who had long braved the power of Rome; and though we have no account of his proceedings from this period down to the beginning of the second Punic war, he must have no doubt taken a prominent part in public affairs, as he was then appointed to head the embassy (219 B. c.) sent to Carthage to inquire whether that state approved of Hannibal’s proceedings in attacking Saguntum. The answer proved unsatisfactory; when Fabius, assuming the haughty dignity of a Roman senator, and folding up his cloak so as to form a cavity, thus addressed the nobles of Carthage: “Hic vobis bellum et pacem portamus; utrum placet sumite.” Being answered that he might give which he pleased, he indignantly exclaimed, “Then I denounce war against you ;” and the deputies returned to Rome to state the result of their mission. The disastrous campaign on the Trebia, and the defeat on the banks of the Thrasymene Lake, must have warned Rome that her successful resistance to Hannibal, and even her very existence, mainly depended on the wisdom of the general to whom she had entrusted her troops. Every thing pointed out Fabius as the person on whom the fate of Rome ought to be allowed to depend. The senate appointed him dictator; and the fearless character of Minucius probably induced Fabius to make him, as master of the horse, second in command. The proceedings of Fabius did not eventually disappoint the expectations of his countrymen. The grand object of his policy was to weary out and exhaust the army of Hannibal, without the' risk of a general engagement; and so closely did he adhere to the plan which he had laid down for himself, that he received Torn this circumstance the name of Cunctator. His slow and cautious policy by no means suited the ardent spirit of the Romans, and more particularly that of Minucius, who began to ridicule the proceedings of Fabius, and, when he was absent at Rome, took the opportunity of attacking the enemy, and came off victorious. This tended only more strongly to confirm the opponents of Fabius in their opinion; and Varro, who was at this time exerting ms utmost to acquire notoriety, was the only person who had boldness or impudence enough to propose to the people that Minucius should be made equal in command with Fabius. The result was exactly such as might have been anticipated. Minucius engaged in battle with Hannibal, and his army would have been cut to pieces, but or the opportune arrival of Fabius. Minucius seems to ιιave had the moral courage to confess his folly, and cheerfully to submit to the orders of Fabius. At the end of six months he resigned his command.

Rut it was not long before Rome was again obliged to lave recourse to the experience of Fabius. After the defeat at Cannae (216 b. c.), he was appointed, along with Marcellus, to the command of the armies; Fabius being called the shield, and Marcellus the sword, of the republic. He laid siege to the important city of Capua; and when llanmbal marched towards Rome, threatening the city itself, Fabius remained firmly at his post, trusting in the known bravery of his fellow-citizens. Again, in his fifth consulship, we find him taking the city of Tarentum; and when it was proposed, towards the conclusion of the war, that Scipio should pass into Africa, Fabius was decidedly opposed to the scheme. But he did not live to witness the final success of Scipio, having died at an advanced age, 203 b. c. Plutarch has written his life; and many facts respecting him may be gathered from Livy, xxi.-xxx.