§28.32.1Scipio, cum fide solvendi pariter omnibus noxiis innoxiisque stipendii tum vultu ac sermone in omnes placato facile reconciliatis militum animis, §28.32.2priusquam castra ab Carthagine moveret, contione advocata multis verbis in perfidiam rebellantium regulorum invectus, §28.32.3nequaquam eodem animo se ire professus est ad vindicandum id scelus, quo civilem errorem nuper sanaverit. §28.32.4tum se haud secus quam viscera secantem sua, cum gemitu et lacrimis triginta hominum capitibus expiasse octo milium seu imprudentiam seu noxam; nunc laeto et erecto animo ad caedem Ilergetum ire. §28.32.5non enim eos neque natos in eadem terra nec ulla secum societate iunctos esse; eam, quae sola fuerit, fidei atque amicitiae, ipsos per scelus rupisse. §28.32.6in exercitu suo se, praeterquam quod omnes cives aut socios Latinique nominis videat, etiam eo moveri, quod nemo fere sit miles, qui non aut a patruo suo Cn. Scipione, qui primus Romani nominis in eam provinciam venerit, aut a patre consule aut a se sit ex Italia advectus: Scipionum nomini, §28.32.7auspiciis omnes adsuetos, quos secum in patriam ad meritum triumphum deducere velit, quos consulatum petenti, velut si omnium communis agatur honos, adfuturos speret. §28.32.8quod ad expeditionem attineat, quae instet, immemorem esse rerum suarum gestarum, qui id bellum ducat.
Scipio, having easily reconciled the minds of the soldiers, both by the promise of paying the stipend equally to all, guilty and innocent alike, and by his look and speech pacified toward all, before he moved his camp from Carthage, having called an assembly, inveighed in many words against the treachery of the rebelling chieftains, and declared that he was by no means going to punish that crime with the same mind with which he had lately cured the error of the citizens. He said that then, not otherwise than if he were cutting his own vitals, with groaning and tears, he had expiated with the heads of thirty men the imprudence or guilt of eight thousand; but now he was going with a joyful and eager mind to the slaughter of the Ilergetes. For they were neither born in the same land nor joined with him by any alliance; and that connection of loyalty and friendship, which alone had existed, they themselves had broken through crime. In his army, besides seeing that all were citizens or allies and of the Latin name, he was also moved by the fact that there was scarcely any soldier who had not been brought from Italy either by his uncle Gnaeus Scipio, who first of the Roman name came into that province, or by his father when consul, or by himself; all of them were accustomed to the name and auspices of the Scipios, whom he wished to lead back with him to their homeland for a well-deserved triumph, and whom he hoped would support him when seeking the consulship, as if the common honor of all were at stake. As for the expedition which was at hand, he said that anyone who considered that war of great importance was unmindful of his own exploits.
Magonis hercule sibi, qui extra orbem terrarum in circumfusam Oceano insulam cum paucis perfugerit navibus, maiorem curam esse quam Ilergetum; §28.32.9quippe illic et ducem Carthaginiensem et quantumcumque Punicum praesidium esse, hic latrones latronumque duces, quibus ut ad populandos finitimorum agros tectaque urenda et rapienda pecora aliqua vis sit, ita in acie ac signis conlatis nullam esse; magis velocitate ad fugam quam armis fretos pugnaturos esse. §28.32.10itaque non quod ullum inde periculum aut semen maioris belli videat, ideo se, priusquam provincia decedat, opprimendos Ilergetes duxisse, §28.32.11sed primum, ne inpunita tam scelerata defectio esset, deinde, ne quis in provincia simul virtute tanta et felicitate perdomita relictus hostis dici posset. §28.32.12proinde deis bene iuvantibus sequerentur non tam ad bellum gerendum — neque enim cum pari hoste certamen esse — quam ad expetendas ab hominibus scelestis poenas.
Indeed, he had a greater concern for Mago, who with a few ships had fled outside the world to an island surrounded by the Ocean, than for the Ilergetes; for there, there was both a Carthaginian general and some Punic garrison, while here there were robbers and leaders of robbers, who, although they might have some strength for devastating the fields of their neighbors, burning houses, and driving off cattle, had none in a regular battle and in a pitched fight; they would fight relying more on their speed for flight than on their arms. Therefore, it was not because he saw any danger from there or the seed of a greater war that he had decided the Ilergetes must be crushed before he departed from the province, but first, lest so wicked a defection should go unpunished, and secondly, lest anyone could say that an enemy had been left behind in a province thoroughly subdued by such great valor and good fortune. Therefore, with the gods’ kind help, let them follow him, not so much to wage war—for there was no contest with an equal enemy—as to exact punishment from wicked men.