§21.43.1cum sic aliquot spectatis paribus adfectos dimisisset, contione inde advocata ita apud eos locutus fertur: §21.43.2“si, quem animum in alienae sortis exemplo paulo ante habuistis, eundem mox in aestimanda fortuna vestra habueritis, vicimus, milites; neque enim spectaculum modo illud, sed quaedam veluti imago vestrae condicionis erat.
When he had dismissed them, thus affected by the sight of several pairs of combatants, he then called an assembly and is reported to have spoken to them as follows: “If, soldiers, you shall soon bring the same spirit to the estimation of your own fortune which you felt just now at the spectacle of the fate of others, we have already conquered; for that was not merely a show, but a kind of image, as it were, of your own situation.
§21.43.3ac nescio an maiora vincula maioresque necessitates vobis quam captivis vestris fortuna circumdederit: §21.43.4dextra laevaque duo maria claudunt nullam ne ad effugium quidem navem habentis, circa Padus amnis maior ac violentior Rhodano, ab tergo Alpes urgent, vix integris vobis ac vigentibus transitae.
And I know not whether fortune has not surrounded you with tighter bonds and greater necessities than your captives: on the right and left two seas hem you in, who have not a single ship even for flight; around you is the river Po, larger and more rapid than the Rhone; behind you the Alps press, which you crossed with difficulty even when you were fresh and vigorous.
§21.43.5hic vincendum aut moriendum, milites, est, ubi primum hosti occurristis.
Here, soldiers, you must conquer or die, where you first encounter the enemy.
et eadem fortuna, quae necessitatem pugnandi imposuit, praemia vobis ea victoribus proponit, quibus ampliora homines ne ab diis quidem immortalibus optare solent.
And the same fortune that has imposed on you the necessity of fighting, offers you, if victorious, rewards than which men are not accustomed to ask for greater even from the immortal gods.
§21.43.6si Siciliam tantum ac Sardiniam parentibus nostris ereptas nostra virtute recuperaturi essemus, satis tamen ampla pretia essent: quidquid Romani tot triumphis partum congestumque possident, id omne vestrum cum ipsis dominis futurum est.
If we were only about to recover by our valor Sicily and Sardinia, which were snatched from our fathers, these would yet be sufficiently great rewards; but whatever the Romans possess, acquired and accumulated by so many triumphs, all of that, along with the owners themselves, is going to be yours.
§21.43.7in hanc tam opimam mercedem, agite dum, diis bene iuvantibus arma capite.
To win this so rich a prize, come then, with the good help of the gods, take up arms!
§21.43.8satis adhuc in vastis Lusitaniae Celtiberiaeque montibus pecora consectando nullum emolumentum tot laborum periculorumque vestrorum vidistis; §21.43.9tempus est iam opulenta vos ac ditia stipendia facere et magna operae pretia mereri, tantum itineris per tot montes fluminaque et tot armatas gentes emensos.
Long enough have you been chasing cattle in the wild mountains of Lusitania and Celtiberia, seeing no reward for so many labors and dangers; it is now time for you to make rich and lucrative campaigns, and to earn great rewards for your service, after having traversed so vast a distance through so many mountains and rivers and so many armed nations.
§21.43.10hic vobis terminum laborum fortuna dedit; hic dignam mercedem emeritis stipendiis dabit.
Here fortune has set a boundary to your labors; here she will bestow a worthy reward on your completed campaigns.
§21.43.11nec, quam magni nominis bellum est, tam difficilem existimaritis victoriam fore: saepe et contemptus hostis cruentum certamen edidit et incluti populi regesque perlevi momento victi sunt.
Nor should you suppose that the victory will be as difficult as the war is famous in name; often even a despised enemy has maintained a bloody struggle, and famous nations and kings have been conquered by a very slight momentum.
§21.43.12nam dempto hoc uno fulgore nominis Romani quid est, cur illi vobis comparandi sint?
For, if you remove this single splendor of the Roman name, what is there for which they should be compared to you?
§21.43.13ut viginti annorum militiam vestram cum illa virtute, cum illa fortuna taceam, ab Herculis columnis, ab Oceano terminisque ultimis terrarum per tot ferocissimos Hispaniae et Galliae populos vincentes huc pervenistis;
To say nothing of your twenty years of service, with all its valor and its fortune, you have come hither from the pillars of Hercules, from the Ocean and the utmost limits of the earth, making your way victoriously through so many of the fiercest nations of Spain and Gaul.
§21.43.14pugnabitis cum exercitu tirone, hac ipsa aestate caeso victo circumsesso a Gallis, ignoto adhuc duci suo ignorantique ducem an me in praetorio patris,
You will fight with an army of raw recruits, which has been beaten, defeated, and besieged by the Gauls this very summer, still unknown to its own leader and itself ignorant of him.
§21.43.15clarissimi imperatoris, prope natum, certe eductum, domitorem Hispaniae Galliaeque, victorem eundem non Alpinarum modo gentium sed ipsarum, quod multo maius est, Alpium, cum semenstri hoc conferam duce, desertore exercitus sui?
Or shall I compare myself — born almost, certainly brought up, in the tent of my father, the most illustrious commander, the subduer of Spain and Gaul, and the victor not only of the Alpine tribes but, what is much greater, of the Alps themselves — with this six-month general, a deserter of his own army?
§21.43.16cui si quis demptis signis Poenos Romanosque hodie ostendat, ignoraturum certum habeo, utrius exercitus sit consul.
to whom if anyone today, having removed the military standards, should show both Carthaginians and Romans, I am certain he would not know of which army he is the consul.
§21.43.17non ego illud parvi aestimo, milites, quod nemo est vestrum, cuius non ante oculos ipse saepe militare aliquod ediderim facinus, cui non idem ego virtutis spectator ac testis notata temporibus locisque referre sua possim decora.
I do not value it lightly, soldiers, that there is not one of you before whose eyes I have not myself often performed some military exploit, and to whom I, likewise a spectator and witness of his valor, cannot recount his own brave deeds, noting the times and places.
§21.43.18cum laudatis a me miliens donatisque alumnus prius omnium vestrum quam imperator, procedam in aciem adversus ignotos inter se ignorantesque.
With you, whom I have praised a thousand times and rewarded, I, your foster-child before I was your general, will advance into battle against those who are strangers to each other and mutually ignorant.”