Quintus Fabius Maximus visiting his sons at the camp of Suessa by Rembrandt 1625-1669

"The dictator Fabius, at the head of four legions, started in pursuit of Hannibal, who was again on the move. The fate of Rome was in the hands of Fabius. Should he risk a battle and lose it, everything would be lost. He determined to adopt a more prudent policy - to follow and annoy the Carthaginian army, but to refuse all proffers of battle. Thus time would be gained for raising a new army and perfecting measures for the public defence. 

In every possible way Hannibal endeavored to draw his enemy into an engagement. He ravaged the fields far and wide and fired the homesteads of the Italians, in order to force Fabius to fight in their defence. The soldiers of the dictator began to murmur. they called him Cunctator, or "the delayer". They even accused him of treachery to the cause of Rome. But nothing moved him from the steady pursuit of the policy which he clearly saw was the only prudent one to follow."

-Philip Van Ness Myers, Rome: Its Rise and Fall, 1900

Quintus Fabius Maximus visiting his sons at the camp of Suessa by Rembrandt 1625-1669.

Source:

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rembrandt_-_Quintus_Fabius_Maximus.jpg

Quote:

Rome: Its Rise and Fall by Philip Van Ness Myers, 1900