§1.80.1πλήσια τοῖς ἐκ τῆς Σαρδόνος διασαφῶν.
declaring things similar to those from Sardinia.
ἐφʼ ὃν Αὐτάριτος ὁ Γαλάτης ἐπιβαλὼν μίαν ἔφη σωτηρίαν εἶναι τοῖς ἑαυτῶν πράγμασι τὸ πάσας ἀπογνῶναι τὰς ἐν Καρχηδονίοις ἐλπίδας· §1.80.2ἕως δʼ ἂν ἀντέχηταί τις τῆς ἐκείνων φιλανθρωπίας, οὐ δυνατὸν αὐτοῖς ἀληθινὸν γενέσθαι τὸν τοιοῦτον σύμμαχον. §1.80.3διόπερ ἠξίου τούτοις πιστεύειν, τούτοις ἀκούειν, τοῖς τοιούτοις προσέχειν τὸν νοῦν, οἵτινες ἂν ἀεί τι τῶν ἀπεχθεστάτων καὶ πικροτάτων εἰσαγγέλλωσι κατὰ Καρχηδονίων· τοὺς δʼ ἐναντία τούτοις λέγοντας προδότας καὶ πολεμίους ἡγεῖσθαι παρῄνει. §1.80.4ταῦτα δʼ εἰπὼν συνεβούλευε τόν τε Γέσκωνα καὶ τοὺς μετʼ αὐτοῦ συλληφθέντας καὶ τοὺς ὕστερον γενομένους αἰχμαλώτους τῶν Καρχηδονίων αἰκισαμένους ἀποκτεῖναι. §1.80.5πρακτικώτατος δʼ ἦν οὗτος ἐν ταῖς συμβουλίαις διὰ τὸ πολλοὺς τὴν φωνὴν αὐτοῦ συνιέναι. §1.80.6πάλαι γὰρ στρατευόμενος ᾔδει διαλέγεσθαι Φοινικιστί· ταύτῃ δέ πως οἱ πλεῖστοι συνεσαίνοντο τῇ διαλέκτῳ διὰ τὸ μῆκος τῆς προγεγενημένης στρατείας. §1.80.7διόπερ ἐπαινέσαντος αὐτὸν ὁμοθυμαδὸν τοῦ πλήθους, οὗτος μὲν εὐδοκιμῶν ἀνεχώρησεν. §1.80.8πολλῶν δὲ προπορευομένων ἀφʼ ἑκάστου γένους ἅμα καὶ βουλομένων αὐτὴν παραιτεῖσθαι τὴν αἰκίαν διὰ τὰς γεγενημένας ἐκ τοῦ Γέσκωνος εἰς αὐτοὺς εὐεργεσίας, οὔτε μὴν τῶν λεγομένων οὐθὲν ἦν συνετόν, ὡς ἂν ἅμα πολλῶν, ἑκάστου δὲ κατὰ τὴν ἰδίαν διάλεκτον συμβουλεύοντος· §1.80.9ἐπεὶ δὲ καὶ παρεγυμνώθη διότι τὴν τιμωρίαν παραιτοῦνται, καί τις ἐκ τῶν καθημένων εἶπεν βάλλε, πάντας ἅμα κατέλευσαν τοὺς προπορευθέντας. §1.80.10καὶ τούτους μὲν ὥσπερ ὑπὸ θηρίων διεφθαρμένους ἐξέφερον οἱ προσήκοντες. §1.80.11τοὺς δὲ περὶ τὸν Γέσκωνα λαβόντες, ὄντας εἰς ἑπτακοσίους, ἦγον ἐκ τοῦ χάρακος οἱ περὶ τὸν Σπένδιον· καὶ προαγαγόντες βραχὺ πρὸ τῆς στρατοπεδείας πρῶτον μὲν ἀπέκοπτον τὰς χεῖρας, §1.80.12ποιούμενοι τὴν ἀρχὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ Γέσκωνος, ὃν βραχεῖ χρόνῳ πρότερον ἐκ πάντων Καρχηδονίων προκρίναντες ἀνέδειξαν μὲν εὐεργέτην αὑτῶν, ἐπέτρεψαν δὲ περὶ τῶν ἀμφισβητουμένων. §1.80.13ἐπειδὴ δὲ τὰς χεῖρας ἀπέκοψαν, ἠκρωτηρίαζον τοὺς ταλαιπώρους· κολοβώσαντες δὲ καὶ τὰ σκέλη συντρίψαντες ἔτι ζῶντας ἔρριψαν εἴς τινα τάφρον.
Rising up to address him, Autaritus the Gaul said that the only safety for their affairs was to renounce all hope in the Carthaginians; as long as anyone clung to their humanity, it was not possible for such an ally to become a true one for them. Therefore, he demanded that they should trust, listen to, and pay attention to those who always reported the most hostile and bitterest things against the Carthaginians; but he advised them to regard those who said the opposite to these as traitors and enemies. Having said this, he advised them to torture and kill Gesco and those arrested with him, as well as the Carthaginians who had subsequently become prisoners. He was the most effective in counsel because many understood his speech. For having served in the army for a long time, he knew how to speak Phoenician; and most of them somehow felt a rapport with this dialect due to the length of the previous campaign. Therefore, when the multitude praised him with one accord, he withdrew in high favor. While many from each race were stepping forward and at the same time wishing to beg off from the torture itself because of the benefits they had received from Gesco, yet none of what was said was intelligible, as many were advising at once, each according to his own dialect; but when it became clear that they were begging off from the punishment, and someone from those sitting down said "Pelt!", they all stoned to death at once all those who had stepped forward. And their relatives carried these men out, mangled as if by wild beasts. Spendius and his men, taking Gesco and his party, who were about seven hundred, led them out of the stockade; and having led them a short distance in front of the camp, they first cut off their hands, making a beginning with Gesco, whom a short time before they had selected from all the Carthaginians and declared as their benefactor, and to whom they had entrusted their disputes. When they had cut off their hands, they mutilated the extremities of the wretched men; and having lopped off their limbs and crushed their legs, they threw them while still alive into a trench.