§35.14.1Sulpicius aeger Pergami substitit; Villius cum Pisidiae bello occupatum esse regem audisset, Ephesum profectus, dum paucos ibi moratur dies, dedit operam, §35.14.2ut cum Hannibale, qui tum ibi forte erat, §35.14.3saepe congrederetur, ut animum eius temptaret et, si qua posset, metum demeret periculi quicquam ei ab Romanis esse.
Sulpicius, being ill, remained at Pergamum; Villius, when he heard that the king was occupied with the war in Pisidia, set out for Ephesus, and while he delayed there for a few days, he made it his business to meet frequently with Hannibal, who happened to be there at that time, in order to test his disposition and, if possible, to remove any fear he might have that there was any danger to him from the Romans.
§35.14.4iis colloquiis aliud quidem actum nihil est, secutum tamen sua sponte est, velut consilio petitum esset, ut vilior ob ea regi Hannibal et suspectior ad omnia fieret.
By these conversations, indeed, nothing else was accomplished, but it nevertheless followed of its own accord, as if it had been sought by design, that because of them Hannibal became of less value to the king and more suspected in all things.
§35.14.5Claudius, secutus Graecos Acilianos libros, P. Africanum in ea fuisse legatione tradit eumque Ephesi collocutum cum Hannibale, et sermonem unum etiam refert: §35.14.6quaerenti Africano, quem fuisse maximum imperatorem Hannibal crederet, §35.14.7respondisse, Alexandrum Macedonum regem, quod parva manu innumerabiles exercitus fudisset quodque ultimas oras, quas visere supra spem humanam esset, peragrasset.
Claudius, following the Greek books of Acilius, relates that P. Africanus was in that embassy and that he conversed with Hannibal at Ephesus, and he even records one conversation: when Africanus asked whom Hannibal believed to have been the greatest commander, he replied, Alexander, king of the Macedonians, because with a small force he had routed countless armies and had traversed the remotest shores, which it was beyond human hope to visit.
§35.14.8quaerenti deinde, quem secundum poneret, Pyrrhum dixisse; §35.14.9castra metari primum docuisse; ad hoc neminem elegantius loca cepisse, praesidia disposuisse; artem etiam conciliandi sibi homines eam habuisse, ut Italicae gentes regis externi quam populi Romani, tam diu principis in ea terra, imperium esse mallent.
When he asked next whom he would place second, he said Pyrrhus; that he had first taught how to measure out a camp; besides, no one had chosen positions or disposed guards more elegantly; he also possessed such an art of winning men to himself that the Italian nations preferred the rule of a foreign king to that of the Roman people, who had so long been preeminent in that land.
§35.14.10exequenti, quem tertium duceret, haud dubie semet ipsum dixisse.
When he went on to ask whom he considered third, he said without doubt himself.
§35.14.11tum risum obortum Scipioni, et subiecisse “quidnam tu diceres, si me vicisses?” “turtum vero me” inquit “et ante Alexandrum et ante Pyrrhum et ante alios omnes imperatores esse. ” §35.14.12et perplexum Punico astu responsum et improvisum adsentationis genus Scipionem movisse, quod e grege se imperatorum velut inaestimabilem secrevisset.
Then laughter arose in Scipio, and he added, "What indeed would you say if you had defeated me?" "Then indeed," he said, "I should place myself both before Alexander and before Pyrrhus and before all other commanders." Both the response, intricate with Carthaginian cunning, and the unexpected kind of flattery moved Scipio, because he had separated himself from the crowd of commanders as if beyond estimation.