Second Punic War in 217. Moving to southern Italy in 216, Hannibal at Cannae annihilated the largest army the Romans had ever assembled. After the death or imprisonment of 130,000 Roman troops in two years, 40% of Rome's Italian allies defected to Carthage, giving her control over most of southern Italy. Macedon and Syracuse joined the Carthaginian side after Cannae and the conflict spread to Greece and Sicily. From 215–210 the Carthaginian army and navy launched repeated amphibious assaults to capture Roman Sicily and Sardinia but were ultimately repulsed. Against Hannibal's skill on the battlefield, the Romans adopted the Fabian strategy – the
Quintus Fabius Maximus (consul 213 BC) Quintus Fabius Maximus (consul 213 BC) Quintus Fabius Maximus was a consul of the Roman Republic in 213 BC. He was the son of Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus, the famous "dictator" who invented Fabian strategy, and served with his father during the Second Punic War. The younger Fabius was a military tribune in 216 BC, and was among the survivors of the Battle of Cannae who ended up at Canusium. In 215, he was curule aedile. As praetor in 214, he commanded two legions with which he captured Acuca in Luceria as well as a fortified camp near Ardoneae. As