Fabius

views updated May 29 2018

Fabius (d. 203 bc), Roman general and statesman, known as Fabius Cunctator (‘the Delayer’). After Hannibal's defeat of the Roman army at Cannae in 216 bc, Fabius successfully pursued a strategy of caution and delay in order to wear down the Carthaginian invaders.

George Washington, whose tactics were likened to those of the Roman general, was named the American Fabius, and the Fabian Society, an organization of socialists aiming at the gradual rather than revolutionary achievement of socialism, founded in 1884, was also named after Fabius.