The populace of Rome fell into a panic when word of the defeat was received. Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus was elected dictator by the Roman Assembly and adopted the "Fabian strategy" of avoiding pitched conflict, relying instead on low-level harassment to wear the invader down, until Rome could rebuild its military strength. Hannibal was left largely free to ravage Apulia for the next year, until the Romans ended the dictatorship and elected Paullus and Varro as consuls in 216 BC. These more aggressive commanders offered battle to Hannibal, who accepted and won a victory at Cannae, where some 70,000 Romans were killed or captured; the modern historian Richard Miles describes this as "Rome's greatest military disaster". Subsequently the Carthaginians campaigned in southern Italy for a further 13 years.
