§28.25.1cum alios subinde recentes nuntios non mortis modo, sed etiam funeris expectarent, neque superveniret quisquam, evanesceretque temere ortus rumor, tum primi auctores requiri coepti. §28.25.2et subtrahente se quoque, ut credidisse potius temere quam finxisse rem talem videri posset, destituti duces iam sua ipsi insignia et pro vana imagine imperil, quod gererent, veram iustamque mox in se versuram potestatem horrebant. §28.25.3stupenti ita seditioni, cum vivere primo, mox etiam valere Scipionem certi auctores adferrent, tribuni militum septem ab ipso Scipione missi supervenerunt. §28.25.4ad quorum primum adventum exasperati animi, mox ipsis placido sermone permulcentibus notos, cum quibus congressi erant, leniti sunt. §28.25.5circumeuntes enim tentoria primo deinde in principiis praetorioque, ubi sermones inter se serentium circulos vidissent, adloquebantur percunctantes magis, quae causa irae consternationisque subitae foret, quam factum accusantes. §28.25.6vulgo stipendium non datum ad diem iactabatur, et, cum eodem tempore, quo scelus Iliturgitanorum exstitisset, post duorum imperatorum duorumque exercituum stragem sua virtute defensum nomen Romanum ac retenta provincia esset, Iliturgitanos poenam noxae meritam habere, suis recte factis gratiam qui exsolvat non esse. §28.25.7talia querentes aequa orare, seque ea relaturos ad imperatorem respondebant; laetari, quod nihil tristius nec insanabilius esset; et P. Scipionem deum benignitate et rem publicam esse gratiae referendae. §28.25.8Scipionem bellis adsuetum ad seditionum procellas rudem, sollicitum habebat res, ne aut exercitus peccando aut ipse puniendo modum excederet. §28.25.9in praesentia, ut coepisset, leniter agi placuit et missis circa stipendiarias civitates exactoribus stipendii spem propinquam facere; §28.25.10et edictum subinde propositum, ut ad stipendium petendum convenirent Carthaginem, seu carptim partes seu universi mallent. §28.25.11tranquillam seditionem iam per se languescentem repentina quies rebellantium Hispanorum fecit; redierant enim in fines omisso incepto Mandonius et Indibilis, postquam vivere Scipionem allatum est; §28.25.12nec iam erat aut civis aut externus, cum quo furorem suum consociarent. §28.25.13omnia circumspectantes consilia nihil reliqui habebant praeter non tutissimum a malis consiliis receptum, ut imperatoris vel iustae irae vel non desperandae clementiae sese committerent: etiam hostibus eum ignovisse, cum quibus ferro dimicasset; §28.25.14suam seditionem sine vulnere, sine sanguine fuisse, nec ipsam atrocem nec atroci poena dignam, — ut ingenia humana sunt ad suam cuique levandam culpam nimio plus facunda.
While they were waiting for further recent news, not only of his death but also of his funeral, and no one arrived, and the rashly arisen rumor faded away, then the first instigators began to be sought. And as everyone withdrew themselves, so that they might seem to have rashly believed rather than to have fabricated such a thing, the abandoned leaders, now dreading the very insignia they wore and, instead of the empty shadow of power which they were exercising, the true and just authority soon to be turned against themselves, were terrified. To the mutiny thus paralyzed, when reliable informants reported first that Scipio was alive, and soon even that he was well, seven military tribunes sent by Scipio himself arrived. At their first arrival, minds were exasperated, but soon, as they themselves soothed with gentle speech their acquaintances with whom they had had intercourse, they were pacified. For, going around the tents first and then in the headquarters and the general's tent, wherever they saw circles of men conversing together, they addressed them, inquiring what was the cause of their sudden anger and consternation, rather than accusing their deed. It was commonly complained that their pay had not been given on the due day, and that, although at the same time when the crime of the Iliturgitans had occurred, after the slaughter of two commanders and two armies, the Roman name had been defended and the province retained by their own valor, yet the Iliturgitans had the punishment deserved for their guilt, while there was no one to pay thanks for their own good deeds. To those making such complaints, they replied that they were asking for what was reasonable, and that they would report these matters to the commander; they said they rejoiced that there was nothing more gloomy or incurable, and that Publius Scipio, by the kindness of the gods, and the republic were in a position to return gratitude. This matter kept Scipio, who was accustomed to wars but inexperienced in the tempests of mutinies, anxious, lest either the army in sinning or he himself in punishing should exceed moderation. For the present, it was decided to act gently, as he had begun, and by sending tax-collectors around the tributary states, to give near hope of their pay; and shortly after, an edict was proposed that they should assemble at Carthage to seek their pay, whether they preferred to go in separate detachments or all together. The sudden quiet of the rebelling Spaniards made the mutiny, already languishing of itself, peaceful; for Mandonius and Indibilis, abandoning their undertaking, had returned to their territories after it was reported that Scipio was alive; nor was there now either citizen or foreigner with whom they might associate their madness. Looking around at all plans, they had nothing left except a by no means safe retreat from evil counsels: to commit themselves either to the commander's just anger or to his clemency which was not to be despaired of: for he had pardoned even enemies with whom he had fought with the sword; their own mutiny had been without wound, without blood, and was neither atrocious in itself nor worthy of atrocious punishment—as human minds are more than excessively eloquent in extenuating their own guilt. There was a doubt whether single cohorts or all together should go to seek their pay.
§28.25.15illa dubitatio erat singulaene cohortes an universi ad stipendium petendum irent. inclinavit sententia, quod tutius censebant, universos ire.
The opinion inclined to what they thought safer, that they should go all together.