§22.39.1“si aut collegam, id quod mallem, tui similem, L. Aemili, haberes aut tu collegae tui esses similis, supervacanea esset oratio mea; §22.39.2nam et duo boni consules etiam me indicente omnia e re publica fideque vestra faceretis et mali nec mea verba auribus vestris nec consilia animis acciperetis.
“If, Lucius Aemilius, you either had a colleague like yourself, which I should have preferred, or you were like your colleague, my speech would be superfluous; for if you were two good consuls, even without my speaking, you would do everything in accordance with the public interest and your own loyalty, and if you were bad, you would neither receive my words with your ears nor my counsels in your minds.
§22.39.3nunc et collegam tuum et te talem virum intuenti mihi tecum omnis oratio est, quem video nequiquam et virum bonum et civem fore, si altera parte claudente re publica malis consiliis idem ac bonis iuris et potestatis erit.
As it is, looking at both your colleague and you, who are such a man, all my speech is directed to you, whom I see will be a good man and citizen in vain, if, with the republic limping on one side, evil counsels shall have the same right and power as good ones.
§22.39.4erras enim, L. Paule, si tibi minus certaminis cum C. Terentio quam cum Hannibale futurum censes; nescio an infestior hic adversarius quam ille hostis maneat te, §22.39.5cum tu cum illo in acie tantum, cum hoc omnibus locis ac temporibus sis certaturus, et adversus Hannibalem legionesque eius tuis equitibus ac peditibus pugnandum tibi sit, Varro dux tuis militibus te sit oppugnaturus.
For you are mistaken, Lucius Paulus, if you think you will have less of a contest with Gaius Terentius than with Hannibal; I suspect that this adversary may remain a more dangerous opponent to you than that enemy, since you will fight with the latter only in the line of battle, but with the former in all places and at all times, and while against Hannibal and his legions you must fight with your horse and foot, Varro as general will attack you with your own soldiers.
ominis etiam tibi causa absit C. Flamini memoria.
May the memory of Gaius Flaminius be absent from you, even for the sake of the omen.
§22.39.6tamen ille consul demum et in provincia et ad exercitum coepit furere; hic, priusquam peteret consulatum, deinde in petendo consulatu, nunc quoque consul, priusquam castra videat aut hostem, insanit.
Yet he, after all, only began to rage when consul, both in his province and with the army; this man, before he sought the consulship, then while seeking the consulship, and now too as consul, before he has seen the camp or the enemy, is insane.
§22.39.7et qui tantas iam nunc procellas proelia atque acies iactando inter togatos ciet, quid inter armatam iuventutem censes facturum et ubi extemplo res verba sequitur?
And he who even now, while among those wearing the toga, excites such great storms by boasting of battles and battle lines, what do you think he will do among armed youth, and where action immediately follows words?
§22.39.8atqui si, quod facturum se denuntiat, extemplo pugnaverit, aut ego rem militarem, belli hoc genus, hostem hunc ignoro aut nobilior alius Trasumenno locus nostris cladibus erit.
And yet if, as he declares he will do, he fights immediately, either I am ignorant of military affairs, of this kind of war, and of this enemy, or some other place more famous than Trasimene will exist for our disasters.
§22.39.9nec gloriandi tempus adversus unum est, et ego contemnendo potius quam adpetendo gloriam modum excesserim; sed ita res se habet: una ratio belli gerendi adversus Hannibalem est, qua ego gessi.
Nor is this the time for boasting against one man, and I would rather have exceeded the limit in despising glory than in seeking it; but the matter stands thus: there is only one method of waging war against Hannibal, the one by which I waged it.
§22.39.10nec eventus modo hoc docet — stultorum iste magister est —; sed eadem ratio, quae fuit, futura, donec res eaedem manebunt, inmutabilis est.
Nor does the outcome alone teach this—that is the teacher of fools—; but the same reasoning which was valid will remain in the future, unchanged as long as the circumstances remain the same.
§22.39.11in Italia bellum gerimus, in sede ac solo nostro; omnia circa plena civium ac sociorum sunt; armis viris equis commeatibus iuvant iuvabuntque: §22.39.12id iam fidei documentum in adversis rebus nostris dederunt; meliores prudentiores constantiores nos tempus diesque facit; Hannibal contra in aliena, §22.39.13in hostili est terra, inter omnia inimica infestaque, procul ab domo, ab patria; neque illi terra neque mari est pax; nullae eum urbes accipiunt, nulla moenia; §22.39.14nihil usquam sui videt; in diem rapto vivit; partem vix tertiam exercitus eius habet, quem Hiberum amnem traiecit; plures fame quam ferro absumpti, nec his paucis iam victus suppeditat.
We are waging war in Italy, in our own home and soil; everything around us is full of citizens and allies; they assist and will assist us with arms, men, horses, and provisions: they have already given this proof of loyalty in our adversity; time and days make us better, more prudent, and more steadfast; Hannibal, on the other hand, in a foreign, hostile land, is in the midst of everything unfriendly and dangerous, far from home, from his country; there is peace for him neither by land nor by sea; no cities receive him, no walls; he sees nothing anywhere that is his own; he lives on daily plunder; he has scarcely a third part of that army which he led across the river Hiberus; more have been consumed by hunger than by the sword, nor is there now enough food provided even for these few.
§22.39.15dubitas ergo, quin sedendo superaturi simus eum, qui senescat in dies, non commeatus, non supplementum, non pecuniam habeat?
Do you doubt, then, that by sitting still we shall conquer him who grows weaker day by day, who has no provisions, no reinforcements, no money?
§22.39.16quam diu pro Gereoni, castelli Apuliae inopis, tanquam pro Carthaginis moenibus sedet?sed ne adversus te quidem de me gloriabor: Servilius atque Atilius, §22.39.17proximi consules, vide quem ad modum eum ludificati sint.
How long has he been sitting before the walls of Gereonium, a poor fort of Apulia, as if before the walls of Carthage? But I will not boast of myself even to you: see how Servilius and Atilius, the last consuls, baffled him.
haec una salutis est via, L. Paule, quam difficilem infestamque cives tibi magis quam hostes facient.
This is the single way of safety, Lucius Paulus, which your fellow citizens will make more difficult and dangerous for you than your enemies.
§22.39.18idem enim tui quod hostium milites volent, idem Varro consul Romanus quod Hannibal Poenus imperator cupiet.
For your soldiers will want the same thing as the enemy's soldiers, and Varro, the Roman consul, will desire the same thing as Hannibal, the Carthaginian general.
duobus ducibus unus resistas oportet.
You, one man, must resist two generals.
resistes autem, si adversus famam rumoresque hominum satis firmus steteris, si te neque collegae vana gloria neque tua falsa infamia moverit.
And you will resist them, if you stand sufficiently firm against the reputation and rumors of men, if neither the vain glory of your colleague nor your own false infamy moves you.
§22.39.19veritatem laborare nimis saepe aiunt, extingui numquam: vanam gloriam qui spreverit, veram habebit sine,
They say that truth too often suffers, but is never extinguished; he who has despised vain glory will have true glory.
§22.39.20timidum pro cauto, tardum pro considerate, inbellem pro perito belli vocent.
Let them, call you timid instead of cautious, slow instead of deliberate, cowardly instead of skilled in war.
malo, te sapiens hostis metuat, quam stulti cives laudent.
I prefer that a wise enemy should fear you, rather than foolish citizens praise you.
omnia audentem contemnet Hannibal, nihil temere agentem metuet nec ego,
Hannibal will despise one who dares all things, but will fear one who does nothing rashly.
§22.39.21ut nihil agatur, moneo, sed ut agentem te ratio ducat, non fortuna; tuae potestatis semper tu tuaque omnia sint; armatus intentusque sis; neque occasioni tuae desis neque suam occasionem hosti des.
Nor do I, advise that nothing should be done, but that reason, not fortune, should guide you as you act; let yourself and all your resources always be under your own power; be armed and intent; neither fail your own opportunity nor give his opportunity to the enemy.
omnia non properanti clara certaque erunt; §22.39.22festinatio inprovida est et caeca. ”
All things will be clear and certain to one who does not hasten; haste is improvident and blind.”