§23.43.1ad ea Hannibal respondit, omnia simul facere Hirpinos Samnitesque, et indicare clades suas et petere praesidium et queri indefensos se neglectosque. §23.43.2indicandum autem primum fuisse, dein petendum praesidium, postremo, ni inpetraretur, tum denique querendum frustra opem inploratam. §23.43.3exercitum sese non in agrum Hirpinum Samnitemve, ne et ipse oneri esset, sed in proxima loca sociorum populi Romani adducturum.
To this Hannibal replied that the Hirpini and Samnites were doing everything at once: reporting their losses, asking for protection, and complaining that they were left undefended and neglected. But they ought first to have reported their losses, then to have asked for protection, and finally, if it were not obtained, only then to have complained that help had been implored in vain. He said that he would lead his army not into the territory of the Hirpini or Samnites, lest he himself should also be a burden to them, but into the nearest places of the allies of the Roman people.
iis populandis et militem suum repleturum se et metu procul ab iis summoturum hostis. §23.43.4quod ad bellum Romanum attineret si Trasumenni quam Trebiae, si Cannarum quam Trasumenni pugna nobilior esset, Cannarum quoque se memoriam obscuram maiore et clariore victoria facturum. §23.43.5cum hoc responso muneribusque amplis legatos dimisit; ipse praesidio modico relicto in Tifatis profectus cetero exercitu ire Nolam pergit; §23.43.6eodem Hanno ex Bruttiis cum supplemento Carthagine advecto atque elephantis venit.
By plundering these places, he would both enrich his own soldiers and drive the enemy far away from them through fear. As far as the Roman war was concerned, if the battle of Trasimene was more famous than that of Trebia, and the battle of Cannae than that of Trasimene, he would also make the memory of Cannae obscure by an even greater and more glorious victory. With this reply and generous gifts, he dismissed the envoys; he himself, leaving a moderate garrison on Mount Tifata, set out and proceeded with the rest of his army to Nola. To the same place came Hanno from the Bruttian territory, with reinforcement brought from Carthage and with elephants.
castris haud procul positis longe alia omnia inquirenti conperta sunt, quam quae a legatis sociorum audierat. §23.43.7nihil enim Marcellus ita egerat, ut aut fortunae aut temere hosti commissum dici posset: explorato cum firmisque praesidiis, tuto receptu praedatum ierat, omniaque velut adversus praesentem Hannibalem cauta provisaque fuerant. §23.43.8tum, ubi sensit hostem adventare, copias intra moenia tenuit; per muros inambulare senatores Nolanos iussit et omnia circa explorare, quae apud hostes fierent. §23.43.9ex his Hanno cum ad murum successisset, Herennium Bassum et Herium Pettium ad conloquium evocatos permissuque Marcelli egressos per interpretem adloquitur. §23.43.10Hannibalis virtutem fortunamque extollit, populi Romani obterit senescentem cum viribus maiestatem. §23.43.11quae si paria essent, ut quondam fuissent, tamen expertis, quam grave Romanum imperium sociis, quanta indulgentia Hannibalis etiam in captivos omnis Italici nominis fuisset, Punicam Romanae societatem atque amicitiam praeoptandam esse. §23.43.12si ambo consules cum suis exercitibus ad Nolam essent, tamen non magis pares Hannibali futuros, quam ad Cannas fuissent, nedum praetor unus cum paucis et novis militibus Nolam tutari possit. §23.43.13ipsorum quam Hannibalis magis interesse capta an tradita Nola poteretur: potiturum enim, ut Capua Nuceriaque potitus esset; sed quid inter Capuae ac Nuceriae fortunam interesset, ipsos prope in medio sitos Nolanos scire. §23.43.14nolle ominari, quae captae urbi casura forent, et potius spondere, si Marcellum cum praesidio ac Nolam tradidissent, neminem alium quam ipsos legem, qua in societatem amicitiamque Hannibalis venirent, dicturum.
When their camp was pitched not far away, on inquiry everything was found to be far different from what he had heard from the envoys of the allies. For Marcellus had done nothing in such a way that it could be said to have been left either to fortune or rashly to the enemy: he had gone out to plunder only after scouting, with strong guards, and with a safe retreat, and everything had been guarded against and foreseen as if against Hannibal himself present. Then, when he perceived that the enemy was approaching, he kept his troops within the walls; he ordered the Nolan senators to patrol the walls and to scout everything around that was happening among the enemy. When Hanno had approached the wall, he addressed, through an interpreter, Herennius Bassus and Herius Pettius, who had been summoned from among these senators to a conference and had come out with the permission of Marcellus. He extolled the courage and fortune of Hannibal, and depreciated the majesty of the Roman people, which was growing old along with its strength. He said that even if these were equal, as they once had been, nevertheless, for those who had experienced how heavy the Roman rule was to its allies, and how great Hannibal's indulgence had been even toward all captives of the Italic name, the Carthaginian alliance and friendship ought to be preferred to the Roman. Even if both consuls were at Nola with their armies, they would still be no more of a match for Hannibal than they had been at Cannae, much less could a single praetor with a few raw soldiers protect Nola. It concerned themselves more than Hannibal whether Nola were possessed after being captured or surrendered; for he would possess it, just as he had possessed Capua and Nuceria; but what difference there was between the fate of Capua and Nuceria, the Nolans themselves, situated almost halfway between them, well knew. He said he did not wish to forebode what would befall a captured city, but rather promised that, if they surrendered Marcellus with his garrison and Nola, no one other than themselves should dictate the terms under which they would enter into alliance and friendship with Hannibal.