§26.43.1cetera, quae munienda erant, cum perfecisset, naves etiam in portu, velut maritimam quoque ostentans obsidionem, instruxit; circumvectusque classem cum monuisset praefectos navium, at vigilias nocturnas intenti servarent, omnia ubique primo obsessum hostem conari, §26.43.2regressus in castra, at consilii sui rationem, quod ab urbe potissimum oppugnanda bellum orsus esset, militibus ostenderet et spem potiundae cohortando faceret, contione advocata ita disseruit: §26.43.3“ad urbem unam oppugnandam si quis vos adductos credit, is magis operis vestri quam emolumenti rationem exactam, milites, habet.
When he had completed the other things which were to be fortified, he also drew up the ships in the harbor, as if displaying a naval blockade as well; and sailing around the fleet, when he had warned the captains of the ships to keep nightly vigils intently, since a besieged enemy for the first time would attempt everything everywhere, returning to the camp, in order to show to the soldiers the reason for his plan—namely, why he had begun the war by attacking this city in preference to all others—and to inspire in them, by encouraging them, the hope of capturing it, he called an assembly and spoke thus: "If anyone believes, soldiers, that you have been led here to attack a single city, he has a more exact calculation of your labor than of the benefit.
oppugnabitis enim vere moenia unius urbis, sed in una urbe universam ceperitis Hispaniam.
For you will indeed attack the walls of a single city, but in that single city you will have captured the whole of Spain.
§26.43.4hic sunt obsides omnium nobilium regum populorumque; qui simul in potestate vestra erunt, extemplo omnia, quae nunc sub Carthaginiensibus sunt, in dicionem tradent; §26.43.5hic pecunia omnis hostium, sine qua neque illi gerere bellum possunt, quippe qui mercennarios exercitus alant, et quae nobis maximo usui ad conciliandos animos barbarorum erit; §26.43.6hic tormenta, arma, omnis apparatus belli est, qui simul et vos instruet et hostis nudabit.
Here are the hostages of all the noble kings and peoples; as soon as these are in your power, they will immediately deliver into our dominion everything that is now under the Carthaginians; here is all the money of the enemy, without which they cannot wage war, since they support mercenary armies, and which will be of the greatest use to us in winning over the minds of the barbarians; here are the engines, the weapons, and all the equipment of war, which will at the same time equip you and strip the enemy.
§26.43.7potiemur praeterea cum pulcherrima opulentissimaque arbe, tum opportunissima portu egregio, unde terra marique, quae belli usus poscunt, suppeditentur.
Moreover, we shall gain possession of a city not only most beautiful and wealthy, but also most convenient with its excellent harbor, whence everything that the needs of war demand may be supplied by land and sea.
quae cum magna ipsi habebimus, tum dempserimus hostibus multo maiora.
While we ourselves shall possess these as great things, we shall have taken away far greater things from the enemy.
§26.43.8haec illis arx, hoc horreum, aerarium, armamentarium, hoc omnium rerum receptaculum est; huc rectus ex Africa cursus est; haec una inter Pyrenaeum et Gadis statio; hinc omni Hispaniae imminet Africa. ” * * *
This is their citadel, this their granary, treasury, armory, this the receptacle of all things; hither is the direct course from Africa; this is the only station between the Pyrenees and Gades; from here Africa threatens all Spain."