This time around, the Romans faced an enemy as numerous as they were, who were every bit as much disciplined and ferocious fighters, and who knew the Roman military system intimately. While it was true that there was no Hannibal in the Italian ranks, all the Roman senate had to offer for leadership of their own armies were the same petty-minded and self-interested individuals who had brought about the disaster in the first place. This was proven by the fact that, with the city facing extinction, the immediate reaction of the political class was to use the crisis for infighting and to settle
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