§28.43.1cum oratione ad tempus parata Fabius tum auctoritate et inveterata prudentiae fama magnam partem senatus et seniores maxime cum movisset, pluresque consilium senis quam animum adulescentis ferocem laudarent, Scipio ita locutus fertur:
When Fabius, having delivered a speech suited to the occasion, had then by his authority and long-established reputation for wisdom moved a great part of the senate and especially the elders, and more were praising the plan of the old man than the fierce spirit of the youth, Scipio is said to have spoken thus: "Even Q.
§28.43.2“et ipse Q. Fabius principio orationis, patres conscripti, commemoravit in sententia sua posse obtrectationem suspectam esse; §28.43.3cuius ego rei non tam ipse ausim tantum virum insimulare, quam ea suspicio, vitio orationis an rei, haud sane purgata est.
Fabius himself, conscript fathers, mentioned at the beginning of his speech that in his opinion detraction could be suspected; of which matter I myself would not so much dare to accuse so great a man, as that suspicion, whether by the fault of the speech or of the matter, has certainly not been cleared up.
§28.43.4sic enim honores suos. et famam rerum gestarum extulit verbis ad exstinguendum invidiae crimen, tamquam mihi ab infimo quoque periculum sit, ne mecum aemuletur, et non ab eo, qui, quia super ceteros excellat, quoque niti non dissimulo, me sibi aequari nolit.
For in this way he extolled his own honors and the fame of his achievements in words to extinguish the charge of envy, as if there were danger to me from some lowest person, lest he should rival me, and not from him who, because he excels above others, to whom also I do not deny that I strive, does not want me to be made equal to him.
§28.43.5sic senem se perfunctumque et me infra aetatem fili etiam sui posuit, tamquam non longius, quam quantum vitae humanae spatium est, cupiditas gloriae extendatur maximaque pars eius in memoriam ac posteritatem promineat.
In this way he placed himself as an old man who has finished his career, and me below the age even of his own son, as if the desire for glory does not extend further than the span of human life, and the greatest part of it does not project into memory and posterity.
§28.43.6maximo cuique id accidere animo certum habeo, ut se non cum praesentibus modo sed cum omnis aevi claris viris comparent.
I hold it certain that this happens to every greatest mind, that they compare themselves not only with those present but with the illustrious men of every age.
§28.43.7equidem haud dissimulo me tuas, Q. Fabi, laudes non adsequi solum velle, sed — bona venia tua dixerim —, si possim, etiam exsuperare.
Indeed, I do not deny, Q. Fabius, that I wish not only to attain your praises, but—with your kind permission—even to surpass them, if I can.
§28.43.8illud nec tibi in me nec mihi in minoribus natu animi sit, ut nolimus quemquam nostri similem evadere civem; id enim non eorum modo, quibus inviderimus, sed rei publicae et paene omnis generis humani detrimentum sit.
Let there be no such mind either in you toward me or in me toward those younger, that we should be unwilling for any citizen to turn out like us; for that would be a detriment not only to those whom we envied, but to the commonwealth and almost to the entire human race.
§28.43.9commemoravit, quantum essem periculi aditurus, si in Africam traicerem, ut meam quoque, non solum rei publicae et exercitus vicem videretur sollicitus.
He mentioned how much danger I was going to encounter if I crossed into Africa, so that he seemed anxious also for my sake, not only for that of the commonwealth and the army.
§28.43.10unde haec repente de me cura exorta? cum pater patruusque meus interfecti, cum duo exercitus eorum prope occidione occisi essent, cum amissae Hispaniae, cum quattuor exercitus Poenorum quattuorque duces omnia metu armisque tenerent, §28.43.11cum quaesitus ad id bellum imperator nemo se ostenderet praeter me, nemo profiteri nomen ausus esset, cum mihi quattuor et viginti annos nato detulisset imperium populus Romanus,
Whence has this sudden care for me arisen? When my father and uncle were slain, when their two armies were cut off almost to utter destruction, when the Hispanias were lost, when four armies of the Carthaginians and four leaders held everything by fear and arms, when no general sought for that war showed himself except me, no one dared to offer his name, when the Roman people conferred the command on me at twenty-four years of age, why did no one then mention my age, the strength of the enemy, the difficulty of the war, the recent calamity of my father and uncle?
§28.43.12quid ita tum nemo aetatem meam, vim hostium, difficultatem belli, patris patruique recentem cladem commemorabat? utrum maior aliqua nunc in Africa calamitas accepta est, quam tunc in Hispania erat?
Has any greater calamity been received now in Africa than was then in Hispania?
§28.43.13an maiores nunc sunt exercitus in Africa et duces plures melioresque, quam tunc in Hispania fuerunt? an aetas mea tunc maturior bello gerendo fuit, quam nunc est?
Or are the armies now larger in Africa, and the leaders more numerous and better, than they were then in Hispania? Or was my age then more mature for conducting war than it is now?
§28.43.14an cum Carthaginiensi hoste in Hispania quam in Africa bellum geri aptius est? facile est post fusos fugatosque quattuor exercitus Punicos, post tot urbes vi captas aut metu subactas in dicionem, post perdomita omnia usque ad Oceanum, §28.43.15tot regulos, tot saevas gentes, post receptam totam Hispaniam ita, ut vestigium belli nullum reliquum sit, elevare meas res gestas, tam hercule, §28.43.16quam, si victor ex Africa redierim, ea ipsa elevare, quae nunc retinendi mei causa, ut terribilia eadem videantur, verbis extolluntur.
Or is it more fitting to wage war with a Carthaginian enemy in Hispania than in Africa? It is easy, after four Punic armies have been routed and put to flight, after so many cities captured by force or subdued into subjection by fear, after everything thoroughly conquered as far as the Ocean, so many petty kings, so many fierce nations, after all Hispania recovered so that no trace of war is left, to belittle my achievements, indeed, by Hercules, just as, if I return victorious from Africa, it would be easy to belittle those very things which are now extolled in words for the sake of retaining me, so that they may seem terrifying.
§28.43.17negat aditum esse in Africam, negat ullos patere portus; M. Atilium captum in Africa commemorat, tamquam M. Atilius primo accessu ad Africam offenderit, neque recordatur illi ipsi tam infelici imperatori patuisse tamen portus Africae, et res egregie primo anno gessisse et, quantum ad Carthaginienses duces adtinet, invictum ad ultimum permansisse.
He says there is no access to Africa, he says no ports are open; he mentions M. Atilius captured in Africa, as if M. Atilius stumbled on his first approach to Africa, and does not remember that for that same so unfortunate commander the ports of Africa were nevertheless open, and that he conducted affairs excellently in his first year and, as far as the Carthaginian leaders are concerned, remained undefeated to the last.
§28.43.18nihil igitur me isto exemplo terrueris.
Therefore, you will in no way frighten me with that example of yours.
si hoc bello, non priore, si nuper et non annis ante quadraginta ista clades accepta foret, qui ego minus in Africam Regulo capto quam Scipionibus occisis in Hispaniam traicerem?
If in this war, not the former, if recently and not forty years ago that calamity had been received, why should I any less cross into Africa, Regulus having been captured, than I crossed into Hispania, the Scipios having been slain?
§28.43.19nec felicius Xanthippum Lacedaemonium Carthagini quam me patriae meae sinerem natum esse, cresceretque mihi ex eo ipso fiducia, quod posset in hominis unius virtute tantum momenti esse.
Nor would I allow that Xanthippus Lacedaemonian was born more fortunately for Carthage than I for my fatherland, and from that very fact my confidence would grow, because there could be so much weight in the virtue of one man.
§28.43.20at etiam Athenienses audiendi sunt, temere in Siciliam omisso domi bello transgressi: cur ergo, §28.43.21quoniam Graecas fabulas enarrare vacat, non Agathoclem potius Syracusanum regem, cum diu Sicilia Punico bello ureretur, transgressum in hanc eandem Africam avertisse eo bellum, unde venerat, refers?
But also the Athenians must be listened to, who rashly crossed into Sicily, leaving the war at home; why then, since there is leisure to relate Greek stories, do you not rather refer to Agathocles, the king of Syracuse, who, when Sicily had long been burned by the Punic war, crossed into this same Africa and diverted the war to the place from which it had come?"幻