Fabian

Fabian describes a strategy of patient delay and attrition rather than direct confrontation.

The term comes from the Roman general Quintus Fabius Maximus, who avoided pitched battle with Hannibal, wearing down Carthaginian forces through harassment and evasion.

The rebels adopted Fabian tactics, retreating into the mountains rather than engaging the army directly.

The Fabian Society, a British socialist organization founded in 1884, took its name from this approach, advocating gradual reform rather than revolution.