§2.1πέντε δʼ ὑπατειῶν ἃς ὑπάτευσεν, ἡ πρώτη τὸν ἀπὸ Λιγύων θρίαμβον ἔσχεν, ἡττηθέντες γὰρ ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ μάχῃ καὶ πολλοὺς ἀποβαλόντες εἰς τὰς Ἄλπεις ἀνεστάλησαν, καὶ τὴν πρόσοικον ἐπαύσαντο τῆς Ἰταλίας ληϊζόμενοι καὶ κακῶς ποιοῦντες.
Of the five consulships which he held, the first obtained a triumph over the Ligurians; for being defeated by him in battle and losing many men, they were driven back into the Alps, and ceased from plundering and doing mischief to the neighboring parts of Italy.
§2.2ἐπεὶ δʼ Ἀννίβας ἐμβαλὼν εἰς Ἰταλίαν καὶ μάχῃ πρῶτον περὶ τὸν Τρεβίαν ποταμὸν ἐπικρατήσας αὐτὸς μὲν ἤλαυνε διὰ Τυρρηνίας πορθῶν τὴν χώραν, ἔκπληξιν δὲ δεινὴν καὶ φόβον εἰς τὴν Ῥώμην ἐνέβαλλε, σημεῖα δὲ τὰ μὲν συνήθη Ῥωμαίοις ἀπὸ κεραυνῶν, τὰ δʼ ὅλως ἐξηλλαγμένα καὶ πολλὴν ἀτοπίαν ἔχοντα προσέπιπτε §2.3(θυρεούς τε γὰρ ἀφʼ αὑτῶν αἵματι γενέσθαι διαβρόχους ἐλέχθη, καὶ θέρη σταχύων περὶ Ἄντιον ἔναιμα κείρεσθαι, καὶ λίθους μὲν ἐκ τοῦ ἀέρος διαπύρους καὶ φλεγομένους φέρεσθαι, τοῦ δʼ ὑπὲρ Φαλερίους οὐρανοῦ ῥαγῆναι δόξαντος ἐκπίπτειν καὶ διασπείρεσθαι πολλὰ γραμματεῖα, καὶ τούτων ἐν ἑνὶ γεγραμμένον φανῆναι κατὰ λέξιν
Ἄρης τὰ ἑαυτοῦ ὅπλα σαλεύει
), §2.4τὸν μὲν ὕπατον Γάιον Φλαμίνιον οὐδὲν ἤμβλυνε τούτων, ἄνδρα πρὸς τῷ φύσει θυμοειδεῖ καὶ φιλοτίμῳ μεγάλαις ἐπαιρόμενον εὐτυχίαις, ἃς πρόσθεν εὐτύχησε παραλόγως, τῆς τε βουλῆς ἀπᾳδούσης καὶ τοῦ συνάρχοντος ἐνισταμένου βίᾳ συμβαλὼν τοῖς Γαλάταις καὶ κρατήσας, Φάβιον δὲ τὰ μὲν σημεῖα, καίπερ ἁπτόμενα πολλῶν, ἧττον ὑπέθραττε διὰ τὴν ἀλογίαν·
But when Hannibal, having invaded Italy and having first prevailed in battle near the river Trebia, marched through Etruria, laying waste the country, and threw dreadful consternation and fear into Rome, and portents fell upon them—some of the usual kind to the Romans, from lightning, and others altogether strange and very extraordinary— (for it was said that shields of their own accord became drenched with blood, and bloody harvests of grain-ears were reaped near Antium, and red-hot, burning stones fell from the air, and the heaven above Falerii seeming to split open, many tablets fell out and were scattered, and on one of these there appeared written word for word: "Ares shakes his own weapons"), none of these things dampened the consul Gaius Flaminius, a man who, besides being by nature high-spirited and ambitious, was elated by great successes which he had previously achieved contrary to expectation—having joined battle with the Gauls and prevailed over them by force, while the senate dissented and his colleague opposed him.
§2.5τὴν δʼ ὀλιγότητα τῶν πολεμίων καὶ τὴν ἀχρηματίαν πυνθανόμενος καρτερεῖν παρεκάλει τοὺς Ῥωμαίους καὶ μὴ μάχεσθαι πρὸς ἄνθρωπον ἐπʼ αὐτῷ τούτῳ διὰ πολλῶν ἀγώνων ἠσκημένῃ στρατιᾷ χρώμενον, ἀλλὰ τοῖς συμμάχοις ἐπιπέμποντας βοηθείας καὶ τὰς πόλεις διὰ χειρὸς ἔχοντας αὐτὴν ἐᾶν περὶ αὑτῇ μαραίνεσθαι τὴν ἀκμὴν τοῦ Ἀννίβου, καθάπερ φλόγα λάμψασαν ἀπὸ μικρᾶς καὶ κούφης δυνάμεως.
But Fabius, although the portents affected many, was less disturbed by them owing to their irrationality; and learning of the small numbers of the enemy and their lack of money, he exhorted the Romans to hold out and not to fight with a man who used an army trained through many contests for this very purpose, but rather, by sending aid to their allies and keeping the cities firmly in hand, to allow the peak of Hannibal's strength to wither away of itself, like a flame that has blazed up from a small and light force.