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Polybius‟ stage analogy carries a subtext for Hannibal‟s next move: that Hannibal
deliberately stages a dramatic exit through the pass guarded by Fabius‟ men instead of
leaving by any one of the other possible exits. The representation of Fabius correctly
guessing that Hannibal would leave by the same pass that he arrived and posting
soldiers to guard the pass is unexplained (Hist. 3.92.10). Polybius‟ lack of information
about other factors, such as deserters or spies informing Fabius or the encumbrances of
booty restricting Hannibal‟s choice of exit, leave a more lasting impression that
Hannibal‟s spectacular diversion of oxen running berserk with burning faggots tied to
their horns becomes a calculated demonstration to show that one way or another
Hannibal could outwit and upstage Fabius Maximus.
Livy pays less credit to Hannibal‟s intelligence and the abilities of his scouts than
does Polybius. Hannibal enters the ager Falernus in error when a guide mistakes his
Latin pronunciation of Casinum for Casilinum (Livy, 22.13.6, also Plutarch, Fab. Max.
6.1). The misunderstanding, considered by Frederiksen as „too picturesque to be true,‟ 321
leads to a portrayal of Hannibal exhibiting barbaric cruelty through scourging and
crucifying the unfortunate guide (Livy, 22.13.9).
Livy alludes to the tradition for presenting Hannibal‟s intentions through a theatrical
analogy but gives it less force than Polybius because it is voiced through the soon-to-be-
discredited Minucius. As a frustrated member of Hannibal‟s audience, Minucius angrily
complains about idly watching Hannibal‟s army devastate the countryside 322 as if
watching a spectacle: „spectatum huc…ut ad rem fruendam oculis, sociorum caedes et
incendia, venimus‟ (Livy, 22.14.4).
As Livy does not compare the area to a stage with three exits, there is no subtext that
Hannibal deliberately upstaged Fabius when he could have exited by another route.
Livy‟s Fabius, like his Polybian counterpart, is, nonetheless, certain about which route
Hannibal would take to leave the area and installs guards to block the way:
321 Frederiksen, 1984, 238. von Ungern-Sternberg, 1975, ch 1, argues that Livy relocated the anecdote. Cf.
Luce, 1976, 391 notes that von Ungern-Sternberg takes a „very dim view‟ of the Roman annalistic
tradition.
322 Hannibal is said to devastate all the farmlands except those which his informants told him belonged to
the Fabii. Consequently Fabius has to convince everyone, especially his army, of his loyalty to Rome,
while continuing to resist the urge to fight Hannibal (Livy, 22.23.4; Val. Max. 7.3 ext. 8; Plutarch, Fab.
Max. 7.2; Dio Cassius, 14, 15, Zonaras 8, 26; Frontinus, Strat. 1.8.2; Pun. 7.260-267). This anecdote,
while not directly related to the thesis topic, is further evidence for literary adaptation within
historiographical texts as Walbank, I, 430 and Frederiksen, 1984, 238 read it as comparison between
Fabius and Pericles. I would argue that in the Roman tradition it compares Fabius to Coriolanus (cf. Livy,
2.39.6). The „historical‟ context of this story also differs between texts as Plutarch, Fabius, 6, associates it
with Hannibal‟s departure from the Falernian plain whereas Livy places it later in his narrative.
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