Tom Holland

He ends up going to Canusium, taking charge of the soldiers there.

He works hard to get them into fighting order, and then he hands them over to the command of the man who has been sent by the Senate to replace him.

For Varro, the prospect of going back to Rome is obviously a terrible one.

He's presided over the worst defeat in Rome's history.

He does go back and he's braced to accept whatever punishment the Senate might decree.

But the Senate is impressed by his courage in returning to face the music.

And so instead, it gives him a vote of thanks.

And the reason for this vote of thanks, he had not despaired of the republic.

And so this notion that to despair is the worst of crimes is absolutely enshrined.

This is the great message that the Romans are proclaiming to the world.

It's a massively hardcore decision, because what it means is that the Romans are losing fit men of military age that they might have ransomed, and they're very short of fit military men.

Individual senators, of course, they would have relatives there.

They might have sons or

brothers or whatever.

And sure enough, when the news comes back to Hannibal, he's furious.

And so he sells all the Roman prisoners as slaves.

The decision of the Senate not to negotiate also dooms the countryside of Italy, all the villages, the estates, the crops, to what will prove terrible devastation.

Year after year after year.

And the reason for this is because the Romans are now absolutely pledged again to the strategy that Fabius had adopted, which is basically avoid meeting Hannibal in battle.

Only ever shadow him.