§21.53.1ceterum nemini omnium maior ea iustiorque quam ipsi consuli videri; gaudio efferri, qua parte copiarum alter consul victus foret, ea se vicisse: §21.53.2restitutos ac refectos militibus animos, nec quemquam esse praeter conlegam, qui dilatam dimicationem vellet; eum animo magis quam corpore aegrum memoria vulneris aciem ac tela horrere.
But to no one did this victory seem greater or more justified than to the consul himself; he was carried away with joy, declaring that he had conquered in that very arm of the forces in which the other consul had been defeated; that the spirits of the soldiers were restored and refreshed, and that there was no one except his colleague who wished for a delayed battle; that he, sick in mind more than in body, was shuddering at the battle line and the weapons from the memory of his wound.
sed non esse cum aegro senescendum.
But they must not grow old along with a sick man.
§21.53.3quid enim ultra differri aut teri tempus? quem tertium consulem, quem alium exercitum expectari?
For why should time be further delayed or wasted? What third consul, what other army was being expected?
§21.53.4castra Carthaginiensium in Italia ac prope in conspectu urbis esse.
The camp of the Carthaginiens was in Italy and almost in sight of the city.
non Siciliam ac Sardiniam victis ademptas nec cis Hiberum Hispaniam peti, sed solo patrio terraque, in qua geniti forent, pelli Romanos “quantum ingemiscant” inquit §21.53.5“patres nostri circa moenia Carthaginis bellare soliti, si videant nos, progeniem suam, duos consules consularesque exercitus, in media Italia paventis intra castra, Poenum, quod inter Alpis Appenninumque agri sit, suae dicionis fecisse?” §21.53.6haec adsidens aegro collegae, haec in praetorio prope contionabundus agere.
It was not Sicily and Sardinia, taken from them when conquered, nor Spain this side of the Ebro that was being sought, but the Romans were being driven from their native soil and the land in which they had been born. 'How much would our fathers groan,' he said, 'who were accustomed to wage war around the walls of Carthage, if they should see us, their offspring, two consuls and consular armies, trembling inside our camp in the middle of Italy, while the Carthaginian has brought under his sway whatever land there is between the Alps and the Apennines?' He urged these things while sitting by his sick colleague, and argued them in the headquarters almost like one delivering a public harangue.
stimulabat et tempus propinquum comitiorum, ne in novos consules bellum differretur, et occasio in se unum vertendae gloriae, dum aeger collega erat.
He was stimulated both by the approaching time of the elections, lest the war should be delayed for the new consuls, and by the opportunity of turning the glory upon himself alone while his colleague was sick.
§21.53.7itaque nequiquam dissentiente Cornelio parari ad propinquum certamen milites iubet.
And so, though Cornelius fruitlessly objected, he ordered the soldiers to prepare for the approaching contest.
Hannibal cum, quid optimum foret hosti, cerneret, vix ullam spem habebat temere atque inprovide quicquam consules acturos; §21.53.8cum alterius ingenium, fama prius, deinde re cognitum, percitum ac ferox sciret esse ferociusque factum prospero cum praedatoribus suis certamine crederet, adesse gerendae rei fortunam haud diffidebat.
Hannibal, since he saw what would be best for the enemy, had scarcely any hope that the consuls would do anything rashly or without foresight; but since he knew that the disposition of the other consul, known first by report and then by experience, was excitable and fierce, and believed it had been made fiercer by the successful contest with his plunderers, he did not doubt that the opportunity for action was at hand.
§21.53.9cuius ne quod praetermitteret tempus, sollicitus intentusque erat, dum tiro hostium miles esset, dum meliorem ex ducibus inutilem vulnus faceret, §21.53.10dum Gallorum animi vigerent, quorum ingentem multitudinem sciebat segnius secuturam, quanto longius ab domo traherentur.
To avoid letting any of this time pass, he was anxious and intent, while the enemy's soldiers were still raw recruits, while the wound made the better of the generals useless, and while the spirits of the Gauls were active, of whom he knew a vast multitude would follow more sluggishly the further they were dragged from home.
§21.53.11cum ob haec taliaque speraret propinquum certamen et facere, si cessaretur, cuperet, speculatoresque Galli, ad ea exploranda, quae vellet, tutiores, quia in utrisque castris militabant, paratos pugnae esse Romanos rettulissent, locum insidiis circumspectare Poenus coepit.
Since because of these and similar reasons he hoped for an immediate battle and desired to bring it about if there should be any delay, and since Gallic scouts—who were safer for exploring what he wanted because they were serving in both camps—had reported that the Romans were ready for battle, the Carthaginian began to look around for a place for an ambush.