Cunctator:
The Spirit Animal of Procrastinators
Central Gubernator Henry Allen (Wellington)
Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus, known as "Cunctator" (The Delayer), was one of the most revolutionary ancient Roman military minds. Born around 280 BC to the prominent Fabia gens, Plutarch describes him as a troubled child. He had a mild temper and learning difficulties. However, Plutarch writes that these traits grew into the virtues of stability, prudence, and a lion-like temper.
After the First Punic War, Fabius worked his way up the cursus honorum, starting as a Quaestor in 237 BC. He rose to prominence quickly, was elected consul five times, and was even given a triumph. However, trouble soon started with Hannibal’s invasion of Italy during the Second Punic War. Hannibal was a military genius with a vastly superior army. Despite this, Rome still tried to fight two pitched battles with him and lost horribly. In the resulting crisis, the senate appointed Fabius dictator.
Fabius advised caution and avoided a direct confrontation with Hannibal. No one listened. Most of the military leaders and the populace thought it was a dishonorable plan, calling him “Cunctator” because he wanted to delay “honorable” fighting. Even Fabius’ magister equitum, Marcus Minucius, wanted to charge into Hannibal’s superior force. Minucius actually gathered enough political support to oppose Fabius and gathered control over half the army. Fabius’s response was not to try to stop Minucius but rather to let his rashness run him headlong into disaster. Minucius took his half of the army and promptly fell into Hannibal’s trap. Fabius came to rescue the army, and people had to acknowledge he was right at this point.
His strategy, which saved Rome for the
rest of the Second Punic War, gave him the
title “The Shield of Rome.” The Fabian
Strategy involved avoiding pitched battles
and using scorched earth tactics. It involved
preventing a superior force from causing too
much destruction and obstructing their
army’s supply lines. The Fabian strategy
made Hannibal’s invasion a war of attrition
that the Romans started to win. They were fighting a defensive war in their home with inexhaustible manpower. This is precisely the strategy George Washington employed in the American Revolution and what was used against Napoleon in his invasion of Russia. The delaying strategy of the “Cunctator” transcended time and influenced procrastinators everywhere.