§28.42.1externa et nimis antiqua repeto;
I recall foreign and too ancient instances; let that same Africa and M.
Africa eadem ista et M. Atilius, insigne utriusque fortunae exemplum, nobis documento sint.
Atilius, a conspicuous example of both fortunes, be a lesson to us.
§28.42.2ne tibi, P. Corneli, cum ex alto Africam conspexeris, ludus et iocus fuisse Hispaniae tuae uidebuntur.
Indeed, P. Cornelius, when you look upon Africa from the deep, your Hispania will seem to you to have been mere play and jest.
quid enim simile?
For what is similar?
§28.42.3pacato mari praeter oram Italiae Galliaeque vectus Emporias in urbem sociorum classem adpulisti; expositos milites per tutissima omnia ad socios et amicos populi Romani Tarraconem duxisti; §28.42.4ab Tarracone deinde iter per praesidia Romana;
With the sea pacified, having sailed along the coast of Italy and Gaul, you brought your fleet to Emporiae, a city of our allies; you led your landed soldiers through all the safest routes to Tarraco, to the allies and friends of the Roman people; from Tarraco, then, your march was through Roman garrisons; around the Hiberus were the armies of your father and uncle, made more fierce by calamity itself after the loss of their commanders, and that temporary leader, L.
circa Hiberum exercitus patris patruique tui post amissos imperatores ferociores calamitate ipsa facti, et dux tumultuarius quidem ille L. Marcius et militari suffragio ad tempus lectus, ceterum, si nobilitas ac iusti honores adornarent, claris imperatoribus qualibet arte belli par; §28.42.5oppugnata per summum otium Carthago nullo trium Punicorum exercituum socios defendente; §28.42.6cetera, neque ea elevo, nullo tamen modo Africo bello comparanda, ubi non portus ullus classi nostrae apertus, non ager pacatus, non civitas socia, non rex amicus, non consistendi usquam locus, non procedendi; §28.42.7quacumque circumspexeris, hostilia omnia atque infesta.
Marcius, chosen for the time by military vote, but, if nobility and proper honors adorned him, equal to famous commanders in any art of war; New Carthage was besieged in the greatest leisure, with none of the three Punic armies defending their allies; other matters—and I do not belittle them—are in no way to be compared with an African war, where no port is open to our fleet, no territory pacified, no city allied, no king friendly, no place to halt anywhere, no place to advance; wherever you look, all is hostile and dangerous.
an Syphaci Numidisque credis? satis sit semel creditum: non semper temeritas est felix, et fraus fidem in parvis sibi praestruit, ut, cum operae pretium sit, cum mercede magna fallat.
Or do you trust Syphax and the Numidians? Let it be enough to have trusted once; rashness is not always fortunate, and deceit builds up trust for itself in small matters so that, when it is worthwhile, it may deceive with a great reward.
§28.42.8non hostes patrem patruumque tuum armis prius quam Celtiberi socii fraude circumvenerunt; nec tibi ipsi a Magone et Hasdrubale, hostium ducibus, quantum ab Indibili et Mandonio, in fidem acceptis, periculi fuit.
It was not the enemy with arms who first surrounded your father and uncle, but their Celtiberian allies with deceit; nor did you yourself face as much danger from Mago and Hasdrubal, the enemy's leaders, as from Indibilis and Mandonio, who had been received into our protection.
§28.42.9Numidis tu credere potes, defectionem militum tuorum expertus? et Syphax et Masinissa se quam Carthaginienses malunt potentes in Africa esse, Carthaginienses quam quemquam alium.
Can you trust the Numidians, having experienced the defection of your own soldiers? Both Syphax and Masinissa prefer themselves to be powerful in Africa rather than the Carthaginians, and the Carthaginians rather than anyone else.
§28.42.10nunc illos aemulatio inter se et omnes causae certaminum acuunt, quia procul externus metus est; ostende Romana arma et exercitum alienigenam, iam velut ad commune restinguendum incendium concurrent.
Now emulation among themselves and all causes of strife stimulate them, because foreign fear is far away; show them Roman arms and a foreign army, and they will immediately run together as if to extinguish a common fire.
§28.42.11aliter eidem illi Carthaginienses Hispaniam defenderunt, aliter moenia patriae, templa deum, aras et focos defendent, cum euntes in proelium pavida prosequetur coniunx et parvi liberi occursabunt.
In one way those same Carthaginians defended Hispania; in another way they will defend the walls of their fatherland, the temples of the gods, their altars and hearths, when their trembling wives escort them going into battle and their little children run to meet them.
§28.42.12quid porro, si satis confisi Carthaginienses consensu Africae, fide sociorum regum, moenibus suis, cum tuo exercitusque tui praesidio nudatam Italiam viderint, ultro ipsi novum exercitum in Italiam aut ex Africa miserint, §28.42.13aut Magonem, quem a Baliaribus classe transmissa iam praeter oram Ligurum Alpinorum vectari constat, Hannibali se coniungere iusserint?
What moreover, if the Carthaginians, sufficiently trusting in the consensus of Africa, the loyalty of their allied kings, and their own walls, when they see Italy denuded of your protection and that of your army, should of their own accord send a new army into Italy, either from Africa, or order Mago, who is known to have crossed with a fleet from the Balearic Islands and is already sailing along the coast of the Ligurians and Alpins, to join himself with Hannibal?
§28.42.14nempe in eodem terrore erimus, in quo nuper fuimus, cum Hasdrubal in Italiam transcendit, quem tu, qui non solum Carthaginem sed omnem Africam exercitu tuo es clausurus, e manibus tuis in Italiam emisisti.
Surely we will be in the same terror in which we recently were, when Hasdrubal crossed into Italy, whom you, who are about to shut in not only Carthage but all Africa with your army, let go from your hands into Italy.
§28.42.15victum a te dices: eo quidem minus vellem, et id tua, non rei publicae solum causa, iter datum victo in Italiam esse.
You will say he was defeated by you: so much the less indeed would I wish that, and that, for your sake and not only for the commonwealth's, a path to Italy was given to a defeated man.
patere nos omnia, quae prospera tibi ac populi Romani imperio evenere, tuo consilio adsignare, adversa casibus incertis belli et fortunae delegare: §28.42.16quo melior fortiorque es, eo magis talem praesidem sibi patria atque universa Italia retinet.
Allow us to assign all things that have turned out successfully for you and the empire of the Roman people to your counsel, and to delegate adversity to the uncertain hazards of war and fortune; the better and braver you are, the more your fatherland and all Italy retain such a protector for themselves.
non potes ne ipse quidem dissimulare, ubi Hannibal sit, ibi caput atque arcem huius belli esse, quippe qui prae te feras eam tibi causam traiciendi in Africam esse, ut Hannibalem eo trahas:
You cannot indeed disguise even yourself that where Hannibal is, there is the head and stronghold of this war, since you openly declare that your cause for crossing into Africa is to draw Hannibal there.
§28.42.17sive hic igitur sive illic, cum Hannibale est tibi futura res.
Whether here, therefore, or there, your business is to be with Hannibal.
utrum tandem ergo firmior eris in Africa solus an hic tuo conlegaeque tui exercitu coniuncto? ne Claudius quidem et Livius consules tam recenti exemplo, quantum id intersit, documento sunt?
Will you then be stronger alone in Africa, or here with your army joined to that of your colleague? Are not even the consuls Claudius and Livius, by so recent an example, a proof of how great a difference that makes?
§28.42.18quid? Hannibalem utrum tandem extremus angulus agri Bruttii, frustra iam diu poscentem ab domo auxilia, an propinqua Carthago et tota socia Africa potentiorem armis virisque faciet?
What? Will the remotest corner of the Bruttian territory, where Hannibal has now for a long time been demanding aid in vain from home, or nearby Carthage and all allied Africa make him more powerful in arms and men?
§28.42.19quod istud consilium est, ibi malle decernere, ubi tuae dimidio minores copiae sint, hostium multo maiores, quam ubi duobus exercitibus adversus unum tot proeliis et tam diuturna ac gravi militia fessum pugnandum sit?
What plan is that, to prefer to decide the issue where your forces are smaller by half and those of the enemy much larger, than where you must fight with two armies against one exhausted by so many battles and such long and heavy service?
§28.42.20quam compar consilium tuum parentis tui consilio sit, reputa.
Consider how comparable your plan is to that of your father.
ille consul profectus in Hispaniam, ut Hannibali ab Alpibus descendenti occurreret, in Italiam ex provincia rediit: tu, cum Hannibal in Italia sit, relinquere Italiam paras, §28.42.21non quia rei publicae id utile, sed quia tibi amplum et gloriosum censes esse, sicut cum provincia et exercitu relicto sine lege, sine senatus consulto duabus navibus populi Romani imperator fortunam publicam et maiestatem imperii, quae tum in tuo capite periclitabantur, commisisti.
He, having set out as consul for Hispania in order to meet Hannibal descending from the Alps, returned from his province to Italy; you, while Hannibal is in Italy, are preparing to leave Italy, not because you think it useful to the commonwealth, but because you think it magnificent and glorious for yourself, just as when, leaving your province and army without law, without a decree of the senate, with two ships, a general of the Roman people, you committed the public fortune and the majesty of the empire, which then were endangered in your person, to chance.
§28.42.22ego P. Cornelium publicae nobisque, non sibi ipsi privatim creatum consulem existimo, exercitusque ad custodiam urbis atque Italiae scriptos esse, non quos regio more per superbiam consules, quo terrarum velint, traiciant. ”
I think P. Cornelius was created consul for the commonwealth and for us, not for himself privately, and that armies were enlisted for the protection of the city and of Italy, not for consuls to transport in a royal manner through pride wherever in the world they wish."