Hannibal Goldsworthy puts it, "a classic of ancient generalship, finding its way into nearly every historical narrative of the war and being used by later military manuals". This was a severe blow to Fabius' prestige and soon after this his period of dictatorial power ended. In the spring of 216 BC, Hannibal took the initiative and seized the large supply depot at Cannae in the Apulian plain. By capturing Cannae, Hannibal had placed himself between the Romans and their crucial sources of supply. Once the Roman Senate resumed their consular elections in 216 BC, they appointed Gaius Terentius Varro and Lucius
Titus Manlius Torquatus (consul 235 BC) to cross the Po river, then defeated the Boii there. The Celts lost 23,000 men and 5,000 of them were captured, but the consuls had to retreat because of poor weather and decease among their troops. In 216 BC, as one of the most senior senators then living, he successfully opposed the ransoming of the Romans taken prisoner at the Battle of Cannae, on the grounds that they had made no effort to break out of the Carthaginian lines. In 215 BC he was sent to Sardinia, after the illness of Quintus Mucius Scaevola and defeated a Carthaginian attempt under