22.8
Before
they had formed any definite plans, a fresh disaster was announced; 4000
cavalry under the command of C. Centenius, the propraetor, had been sent
by the consul Servilius to the assistance of his colleague. When they heard of
the battle at Trasumennus they marched into Umbria, and here they were
surrounded and captured by Hannibal. The news of this occurrence affected
men in very different ways. Some, whose thoughts were preoccupied with
more serious troubles, looked upon this loss of cavalry as a light matter in
comparison with the previous losses; others estimated the importance of the
incident not by the magnitude of the loss but by its moral effect. Just as
where the constitution is impaired, any malady however slight is felt more
than it would be in a strong robust person, so any misfortune which befell
the State in its present sick and disordered condition must be measured not
by its actual importance but by its effect on a State already exhausted and
unable to bear anything which would aggravate its condition. Accordingly
the citizens took refuge in a remedy which for a long time had not been
made use of or required, namely the appointment of a Dictator. As the
consul by whom alone one could be nominated was absent, and it was not
easy for a messenger or a despatch to be sent through Italy, overrun as it
was by the arms of Carthage, and as it would have been contrary to all
precedent for the people to appoint a Dictator, the Assembly invested Q.
Fabius Maximus with dictatorial powers and appointed M. Minucius Rufus
to act as his Master of the Horse. They were commissioned by the senate to
strengthen the walls and towers of the City and place garrisons in whatever
positions they thought best, and cut down the bridges over the various
rivers, for now it was a fight for their City and their homes, since they were
no longer able to defend Italy.
