eous terms to abandon his fruitless hopes in Italy and come home to
help them, while in Rome the name of Scipio was in every man's mouth
because of his successes. At this period Fabius proposed that a
successor to Scipio should be sent out, without having any reason to
allege for it except the old proverb that it is dangerous to entrust
such important operations to the luck of one man, because it is hard for
the same man always to be lucky. This proposal of his offended most of
his countrymen, who thought him a peevish and malignant old man, or else
that he was timid and spiritless from old age, and excessively terrified
at Hannibal; for, even when Hannibal quitted Italy and withdrew his
forces, Fabius would not permit the joy of his countrymen to be unmixed
with alarm, as he informed them that now the fortunes of Rome were in a
more critical situation than ever, because Hannibal would be much more
to be dreaded in Africa under the walls of Carthage itself, where he
would lead an army, yet reeking with the blood of many Roman dictators,
consuls and generals, to attack Scipio. By these words the city was
again filled with terror, and although the war had been removed to
Africa yet its alarms seemed to have come nearer to Rome.

XXVII. However Scipio, after no long time, defeated Hannibal in a
pitched battle and crushed the pride of Carthage under foot. He gave
the Romans the enjoyment of a success beyond their hopes, and truly

"Restored the city, shaken by the storm."

Fabius Maximus did not survive till the end of the war, nor did he live
to hear of Hannibal's defeat, or see the glorious and lasting prosperity
of his country, for about the time when Hannibal left Italy he fell sick
and died.

The Thebans, we are told, buried Epameinondas at the public expense,
because he died so poor that they say nothing was found in his house
except an iron spit. Fabius was not honoured by the Romans with a
funeral at the public expense, yet every citizen contributed the
smallest Roman coin towards the expenses, not that he needed the money,
but because they buried him as the father of the people, so that in his
death he received the honourable respect which he had deserved in his
life.

COMPARISON OF PERIKLES AND FABIUS MAXIMUS.

I. Such is the story of these men's lives. As they both gave many proofs
of ability in war and politics, let us first turn our attention to their
warlike exploits. And here we must notice