Strategy and Doctrine
Fabian Strategy
Also Known As Fabian Tactics
Ancient, Roman Republic
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The Fabian strategy is a military strategy that avoids pitched battles and frontal assaults in favor of wearing down an opponent through a war of attrition and misdirection. It takes its name from the Roman dictator Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus, who adopted it against Hannibal in the Second Punic War after Rome's catastrophic defeats at Trebia and Lake Trasimene, shadowing Hannibal's army, harassing its foraging parties and refusing decisive battle.
Facts
Core ClaimAvoid pitched battle with a stronger enemy; wear the enemy down through skirmishes, attrition and denial of supply until conditions favor a decisive engagement. 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
Devised and directed personally by the dictator Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus rather than by the legion as an institution; contemporary opposition to it is recorded in the dissent below.
Developed By
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1. Wikipedia: Fabian strategy
WikipediaIntroduction sectionQuote, Introduction section
The Fabian strategy is a military strategy where pitched battles and frontal assaults are avoided in favor of wearing down an opponent through a war of attrition and misdirection.
1. Wikipedia: Fabian strategy
WikipediaRome versus Carthage: The Second Punic War sectionQuote, Rome versus Carthage: The Second Punic War section
Fabius initiated a war of attrition, fought through constant skirmishes, limiting the ability of the Carthaginians to forage for food and denying them significant victories.
1. Wikipedia: Fabian strategy
1. Wikipedia: Fabian strategy
WikipediaAssociated With: Second Punic War, background sectionQuote, Associated With: Second Punic War, background section
given the task of defeating the great Carthaginian general Hannibal in southern Italy during the Second Punic War (218-201 BC)
1. Wikipedia: Fabian strategy
WikipediaDeveloped By: Quintus Fabius Maximus, lead sectionQuote, Developed By: Quintus Fabius Maximus, lead section
This strategy derives its name from Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus
Dissenting Readings (1 dissenting reading)
Description
Fabius's caution was bitterly unpopular at Rome while Hannibal's army still ranged freely over Italian farmland: Minucius Rufus, given equal command, demanded battle, asking "Are we come here to see our allies butchered, and their property burned, as a spectacle to be enjoyed?" The Senate removed Fabius from sole command in 216 BC in favor of a more aggressive policy, which produced the catastrophic defeat at Cannae, after which Rome returned to Fabius's own methods.
A dissenting reading, from an independent laneWikipedia: Fabian strategy, Wikipedia
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