Nosces Fabios certamine ab uno: The Tale of the Three Hundred Fabii in Punica 7

Silius alludes to the tale of the three hundred Fabii, recounted toward the beginning of Punica 7, in the military operations of Fabius and Hannibal that comprise the principle action of the book. In doing so, he differentiates Fabius from his ancestors and their enemy in the tale, the Veientes, and, instead, identifies Hannibal with both of these historical exempla. By weaving the tale into the book’s primary narrative, he also rewrites the story and gives it a new, victorious conclusion: by defeating Hannibal at Gerunium at the book’s end, Fabius Maximus reverses his ancestors’ defeat at the Cremera river.