§8.1Hic in Paraetacis cum Antigono conflixit, non acie instructa, sed in itinere, eumque male acceptum in Mediam hiematum coegit redire.
Eumenes fought with Antigonus in Paraetacene, not in a drawn-up battle line but on the march, and having handled him roughly, forced him to return to Media to pass the winter.
ipse in finitima regione Persidis hiematum copias divisit, non ut voluit, sed ut militum cogebat voluntas.
He himself divided his forces in the neighboring region of Persis for their winter quarters, not as he wished, but as the will of the soldiers compelled him.
§8.2namque illa phalanx Alexandri Magni, quae Asiam peragrarat deviceratque Persas, inveterata cum gloria tum etiam licentia, non parere se ducibus, sed imperare postulabat, ut nunc veterani faciunt nostri.
For that famous phalanx of Alexander the Great, which had traversed Asia and conquered the Persians, long-accustomed not only to glory but also to license, demanded not to obey their leaders, but to command them, just as our veterans do now.
itaque periculum est ne faciant quod illi fecerunt, sua intemperantia nimiaque licentia ut omnia perdant neque minus eos, cum quibus fecerint, quam adversus quos steterint.
And so there is danger lest they do what those men did, and by their own intemperance and excessive license ruin all things, no less those with whom they side than those against whom they stand.
§8.3quodsi quis illorum veteranorum legat facta, paria horum cognoscat neque rem ullam nisi tempus interesse iudicet.
But if anyone should read the deeds of those veterans, he would recognize them as equal to those of our own, and would judge that nothing separates them except the time.
sed ad illos revertar.
But I will return to them.
hiberna sumpserant non ad usum belli, sed ad ipsorum luxuriam, longeque inter se discesserant.
They had chosen their winter quarters not for the utility of war but for their own luxury, and had dispersed far from one another.
§8.4hoc Antigonus cum comperisset intellegeretque se parem non esse paratis adversariis, statuit aliquid sibi consilii novi esse capiendum.
When Antigonus found this out and understood that he was not a match for his adversaries when they were prepared, he decided that some new plan must be adopted by him.
duae erant viae, qua ex Medis, ubi ille hiemabat, ad adversariorum hibernacula posset perveniri.
There were two roads by which he could reach the winter quarters of his adversaries from Media, where he was wintering.
§8.5quarum brevior per loca deserta, quae nemo incolebat propter aquae inopiam, ceterum dierum erat fere decem; illa autem, qua omnes commeabant, altero tanto longiorem habebat anfractum, sed erat copiosa omniumque rerum abundans.
Of these, the shorter was through desert places, which no one inhabited because of the lack of water, but was of about ten days' journey; the other, however, by which everyone used to travel, had a detour twice as long, but was well-provisioned and abundant in all things.
§8.6hac si proficisceretur, intellegebat prius adversarios rescituros de suo adventu, quam ipse tertiam partem confecisset itineris; sin per loca sola contenderet, sperabat se imprudentem hoster oppressurum.
If he should march by this one, he understood that the enemy would find out about his arrival before he had completed a third part of the journey; but if he should hasten through the desert, he hoped that he would crush the unsuspecting enemy.
§8.7ad hanc rem conficiendam imperavit quam plurimos utres atque etiam culleos comparari post haec pabulum, praeterea cibaria cocta dierum decem, ut quam minime fieret ignis in castris.
To accomplish this business, he ordered as many skins and even leather bags as possible to be procured, next forage, and furthermore cooked food for ten days, so that as little fire as possible should be made in the camp.
iter quo habeat, omnes celat.
Whither he was directing his march, he concealed from everyone.
sic paratus, qua constituerat, proficiscitur.
Thus prepared, he set out by the route he had decided upon.