§26.37.1neque aliud tempus belli fuit, quo Carthaginienses Romanique pariter variis casibus immixtis magis in ancipiti spe ac metu fuerint.
Nor was there any other period of the war in which the Carthaginians and the Romans alike, with various turns of fortune intermingled, were to a greater degree in suspense between hope and fear.
§26.37.2nam Romanis et in provinciis, hinc in Hispania adversae res, hinc prosperae in Sicilia luctum et laetitiam miscuerant; §26.37.3et in Italia cum Tarentum amissum damno et dolori, tum arx cum praesidio retenta praeter spem gaudio fuit; §26.37.4et terrorem subitum pavoremque urbis Romae obsessae et oppugnatae Capua post dies paucos capta in laetitiam vertit.
For to the Romans, even in the provinces, on one hand adversity in Spain, and on the other hand success in Sicily, had mingled grief and joy; and in Italy, while the loss of Tarentum was a source of damage and grief, the retention of the citadel with its garrison, contrary to expectation, was a source of joy; and the sudden terror and panic of the city of Rome being besieged and assaulted was turned into joy by the capture of Capua a few days later.
§26.37.5transmarinae quoque res quadam vice pensatae: Philippus hostis tempore haud satis opportuno factus, Aetoli novi adsciti socii Attalusque, Asiae rex, iam velut despondente fortuna Romanis imperium orientis.
Overseas affairs also were balanced by a kind of compensation: Philip had become an enemy at a time none too favorable, but the Aetolians were received as new allies, along with Attalus, the king of Asia, fortune already, as it were, promising to the Romans the empire of the East.
§26.37.6Carthaginienses quoque Capuae amissae Tarentum captum aequabant, et ut ad moenia urbis Romanae nullo prohibente se pervenisse in gloria ponebant, ita pigebat inriti incepti pudebatque adeo se spretos, §26.37.7ut sedentibus ipsis ad Romana moenia alia porta exercitus Romanus in Hispaniam duceretur.
The Carthaginians also balanced the loss of Capua with the capture of Tarentum, and just as they regarded it as a matter of glory that they had reached the walls of the city of Rome with no one preventing them, so they were vexed at the failure of their attempt and were ashamed at being so despised, that while they themselves were encamped at the Roman walls, a Roman army was led out through another gate to Spain.
§26.37.8ipsae quoque Hispaniae, quo propius spem venerant tantis duobus ducibus exercitibusque caesis debellatum ibi ac pulsos inde Romanos esse, eo plus ab L. Marcio, tumultuario duce, ad vanum et inritum victoriam redactam esse indignationis praebebant.
Spain itself also, the closer it had come to the hope that, by the slaying of two such great generals and their armies, the war there was finished and the Romans driven out, felt all the more indignation that their victory had been reduced to something vain and fruitless by Lucius Marcius, an improvised leader.
§26.37.9ita aequante fortuna suspensa omnia utrisque erant integra spe, integro metu, velut illo tempore primum bellum inciperent.
Thus, with fortune balancing the scale, everything remained in suspense for both sides, with their hopes and fears still undiminished, as if they were then beginning the war for the first time.