§27.20.1de bello inde consilium habitum.
Thereupon a council of war was held.
et auctoribus quibusdam, §27.20.2ut confestim Hasdrubalem consequeretur, anceps id ratus, ne Mago atque alter Hasdrubal cum eo iungerent copias, praesidio tantum ad insidendum Pyrenaeum misso ipse reliquum aestatis recipiendis in fidem Hispaniae populis absumpsit.
And though some advised, that he should immediately pursue Hasdrubal, Scipio, thinking it dangerous lest Mago and the other Hasdrubal should join their forces with him, sent only a detachment to occupy the Pyrenees, and spent the rest of the summer himself in receiving the states of Spain into alliance.
paucis post proelium factum ad Baeculam diebus, §27.20.3cum Scipio rediens iam Tarraconem saltu Castulonensi excessisset, Hasdrubal Gisgonis filius et Mago imperatores ex ulteriore Hispania ad Hasdrubalem venere, serum post male gestam rem auxilium, consilio in cetera exequenda belli haud parum opportuni.
A few days after the battle fought at Baecula, when Scipio, on his return to Tarraco, had already cleared the pass of Castulo, Hasdrubal the son of Gisgo and Mago, the generals, came from further Spain to Hasdrubal; a late assistance after the disastrous failure of their cause, yet highly advantageous in their counsel for prosecuting the remainder of the war.
§27.20.4ibi conferentibus, quid in cuiusque provinciae regione animorum Hispanis esset, unus Hasdrubal Gisgonis ultimam Hispaniae oram, quae ad Oceanum et Gades vergit, ignaram adhuc Romanorum esse eoque Carthaginiensibus satis fidam censebat; §27.20.5inter Hasdrubalem alterum et Magonem constabat beneficiis Scipionis occupatos omnium animos publice privatimque esse, nec transitionibus finem ante fore, quam omnes Hispani milites aut in ultima Hispaniae amoti aut traducti in Galliam forent.
While they were there conferring together on the disposition of the Spaniards in each of their provinces, Hasdrubal the son of Gisgo alone was of opinion that the remotest coast of Spain, which borders on the Ocean and Gades, was as yet unacquainted with the Romans, and therefore sufficiently faithful to the Carthaginians; between the other Hasdrubal and Mago it was agreed that the minds of all, both publicly and privately, were preoccupied by Scipio's acts of kindness, and that there would be no end to the desertions until all the Spanish soldiers were either removed to the remotest parts of Spain or marched over into Gaul.
§27.20.6itaque, etiam si senatus Carthaginiensium non censuisset, eundum tamen Hasdrubali fuisse in Italiam, ubi belli caput rerumque summa esset, simul ut Hispanos omnes procul ab nomine Scipionis ex Hispania abduceret; §27.20.7exercitum eius cum transitionibus tum adverso proelio imminutum Hispanis repleri militibus, et Magonem, Hasdrubali Gisgonis filio tradito exercitu, ipsum cum grandi pecunia ad conducenda mercede auxilia in Baliares traicere; §27.20.8hasdrubalem Gisgonis cum exercitu penitus in Lusitaniam abire nec cum Romano manus conserere; Masinissae ex omni equitatu, quod roboris esset, tria milia equitum expleri, eumque vagum per citeriorem Hispaniam sociis opem ferre, hostium oppida atque agros populari.
Therefore, even if the Carthaginian senate had not decreed it, Hasdrubal must nevertheless have gone into Italy, where the center of the war and the main business lay, and at the same time to withdraw all the Spaniards from Spain, far from the influence of Scipio's name; that his army, diminished both by desertions and by the adverse battle, should be recruited with Spanish soldiers, and that Mago, having delivered up his army to Hasdrubal the son of Gisgo, should himself cross over to the Balearic Islands with a large sum of money to hire mercenaries; that Hasdrubal the son of Gisgo should retire with his army deep into Lusitania, and not engage in conflict with the Roman; that three thousand horse, the flower of the whole cavalry, should be completed for Masinissa, and that he, ranging through hither Spain, should bring assistance to the allies and lay waste the towns and fields of the enemy.
his decretis ad exsequenda quae statuerant duces digressi.
These measures having been resolved upon, the generals departed to execute what they had determined.
haec eo anno in Hispania acta.
These were the transactions in Spain during that year.
§27.20.9Romae fama Scipionis in dies crescere Fabio Tarentum captum astu magis quam virtute gloriae tamen esse,
At Rome, the fame of Scipio was increasing daily.
§27.20.10Fulvi senescere fama, Marcellus etiam adverso rumore esse, superquam quod primo male pugnaverat, quia vagante per Italiam Hannibale media aestate Venusiam in tecta milites abduxisset.
To Fabius, the capture of Tarentum, though effected more by artifice than by valor, was nevertheless a source of glory; the reputation of Fulvius was on the decline; Marcellus was even under an unfavorable rumor, not only because he had at first fought unsuccessfully, but because, while Hannibal was ranging through Italy, in the middle of summer he had marched his soldiers into quarters at Venusia.
§27.20.11inimicus erat ei C. Publicius Bibulus tribunus plebis.
Gaius Publicius Bibulus, a tribune of the plebs, was his enemy.
is iam a prima pugna, quae adversa fuerat, adsiduis contionibus infamem invisumque plebei Claudium fecerat et iam de imperio abrogando eius agebat, §27.20.12cum tamen necessarii Claudi obtinuerunt, ut relicto Venusiae legato Marcellus Romam veniret ad purganda ea, quae inimici obicerent, nec de imperio eius abrogando absente ipso ageretur.
He, ever since the first battle, which had been unsuccessful, had by constant harangues made Claudius infamous and odious to the plebeians, and was already agitating for the abrogation of his command, when, however, the friends of Claudius obtained that, leaving a lieutenant at Venusia, Marcellus should come to Rome to clear himself of the charges which his enemies brought against him, and that the question of abrogating his command should not be agitated in his absence.
§27.20.13forte sub idem tempus et Marcellus ad deprecandam ignominiam et Q. Fulvius consul comitiorum causa Romam venit.
It happened about the same time that both Marcellus, to deprecate disgrace, and Quintus Fulvius, the consul, for the purpose of holding the elections, came to Rome.