" Having given orders to
carry out the standards as quickly as possible, and for the whole army
to follow, he said aloud, "My men, hurry on your march: think of Marcus
Minucius; he is a brave man and loves his country. If he has made any
mistake in his haste to drive out the enemy, we will blame him for that
at another time." The appearance of Fabius scared and drove back the
Numidians, who were slaughtering the fugitives in the plain; next he
bore against those who were attacking the Roman rear, slaying all he
met, though most of them, before they were cut off and treated as they
had treated the Romans, betook themselves to flight. Hannibal seeing
that the fortune of the battle was changed, and how Fabius himself, with
a strength beyond his years, was forcing his way through the thickest
battle up the hill to reach Minucius, withdrew his troops, and, sounding
a retreat, led them back into his entrenched camp, affording a most
seasonable relief to the Romans. It is said that Hannibal as he retired,
spoke jokingly about Fabius to his friends in the words, "Did I not
often warn you that the dark cloud which has so long brooded on the
mountain tops, would at last break upon us with blasts of hail and
storm?"
XIII. After the battle Fabius collected the spoils of such of the enemy
as were slain, and drew off his forces without letting fall a single
boastful or offensive expression about his colleague.
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