Hannibal clobbers Flaminius
You have changed History! And this time, with probably disastrous
results. It would be very foolish to try to fight in any way relative
to this pass except on the other side of it. If you put this
narrowness to your back you cannot retreat; if you fight around the darn
thing, you can't use all your forces. The only logical thing to do
is to try to entice Flaminius into coming to your side. This should
be easy, since Flaminius is so determined to do battle with you
that he will rush into a trap. Scroll down to see what happened. Hannibal hid
some men upon the mountainside, and withdrew somewhat from the pass, which
Flaminius took as a signal that Hannibal was afraid (silly boy).
Hastening to chase Hannibal down and pound on him, Flaminius ran directly
into the trap. Hannibal knew that, once through the pass, no army
could retreat, and that worked perfectly for him. Flaminius' ambition
and impetuosity cost him his army, and his life. It also caused tremendous
concern in Rome, forcing tough decisions to be made there. Hannibal,
as always, had decisions of his own. Here is
the next one. In the throes
of despair, the Romans resorted to their final option: they decided to
appoint a dictator. This is a very frightening prospect to
a Republic, and the Romans placed limitations on their choice. The
dictator had supreme power over every operation of the military and civil
government, so that he could coordinate all actions of the State, to ensure
the best possibility of success. The dictator's term was limited,
so that he would hopefully not acquire permanent control over all Rome.
In this case, the term was 6 months, showing that the Romans still had
some confidence that they might stop Hannibal within the year. By
the end of the term, winter would once again be setting in, and, at a minimum,
Hannibal would be required to seek shelter. The Romans could scarcely have
chosen a better man for the job than Fabius. He was, by all accounts,
a level-headed person, with no desire to be a god or lifetime ruler.
He was very businesslike, and would probably have willingly given up his
dictatorial powers if he defeated Hannibal before the term expired.
He began by ordering all the residents of small northern towns to evacuate,
and to burn all the buildings they owned, as well as any food they could
not take with them to the larger, fortified towns. This would leave
Hannibal with precious few resources, and, due to the Food Factor,
force him to move more frequently, in search of supplies. Fabius then originated the style
of fighting that is now named for him. Having the force that was
fighting at home, for their own property, with supplies always available
to them, the Roman army delayed all conflict as long as possible.
As if in a great Chess match, the two armies circled and danced with each
other, with the Roman force always remaining just out of range of Hannibal's
jabs. These "Fabian tactics" caused Hannibal to struggle for food,
while remaining constantly on the defensive. Hannibal would much
rather that Fabius would attack him, since he felt fully the superior General,
but Fabius was not about to be drawn into that trap. Fabius was certain
that, eventually, he would maneuver Hannibal into a bad position. Fabius' strategy eventually paid
off, when Hannibal found himself drawn into a natural "box". Surrounded
by high hills on all sides, Hannibal, unfamiliar with the territory, wandered
through a narrow pass, and found himself trapped. Fabius was able
to bottle him up by stationing a thin line of troops all around the rim
of the mountains, and placing a large force at the entrance to the pass.
He could afford to use fewer soldiers on the mountain rim, because it is
nearly impossible to fight uphill, and Hannibal would have great difficulty
pushing through that way. Still, Hannibal must do something
in this situation, or he would be doomed. He could try to fight his
way through the narrow pass, or try to go up one of the hills, and thus
out of the box. If he chose incorrectly, Fabius would annihilate
him, and the war would be over. Which choice would you make?