§38.17.1cum hoc hoste, tam terribili omnibus regionis eius, quia bellum gerendum erat, pro contione milites in hunc maxime modum adlocutus est consul: §38.17.2“non me praeterit, milites, omnium quae Asiam colunt gentium Gallos fama belli praestare.
Since war had to be waged with this enemy, so terrible to all the inhabitants of that region, the consul addressed his soldiers in an assembly in very much this manner: “It does not escape me, soldiers, that among all the nations that inhabit Asia, the Gauls excel in the reputation of war.
§38.17.3inter mitissimum genus hominum ferox natio pervagata bello prope orbem terrarum sedem cepit.
In the midst of a most gentle race of men, this fierce nation, having wandered in war almost over the entire world, took its seat.
procera corpora, promissae et rutilatae comae, vasta scuta, praelongi gladii; §38.17.4ad hoc cantus ineuntium proelium et ululatus et tripudia, §38.17.5et quatientium scuta in patrium quendam modum horrendus armorum crepitus, omnia de industria composita ad terrorem.
Their tall bodies, their long and reddened hair, their vast shields, and their very long swords; add to this the songs of those entering battle, their howls and leaps, and the dreadful clashing of arms of those striking their shields after a certain ancestral fashion—all these things are designedly put together to inspire terror.
sed haec, quibus insolita atque insueta sunt, Graeci et Phryges et Cares timeant; Romanis Gallici tumultus adsueti, etiam vanitates notae sunt.
But let the Greeks, the Phrygians, and the Carians fear these things, to whom they are unusual and unaccustomed; to Romans, Gallic tumults are familiar, and even their empty vanities are well known.
§38.17.6semel primo congressu ad Aliam eos olim fugerunt maiores nostri; ex eo tempore per ducentos iam annos pecorum in modum consternatos caedunt fugantque, et plures prope de Gallis triumphi quam de toto orbe terrarum acti sunt.
Once, in our first encounter, our ancestors formerly fled from them at the Allia; from that time, for two hundred years now, they have been slaughtering and routing them, terrified like cattle, and almost more triumphs have been celebrated over the Gauls than over the whole world.
iam usu hoc cognitum est: §38.17.7si primum impetum, quem fervido ingenio et caeca ira effundunt, sustinueris, fluunt sudore et lassitudine membra, labant arma; mollia corpora, molles, ubi ira consedit, animos sol pulvis sitis, ut ferrum non admoveas, prosternunt.
This has now been learned by experience: if you withstand their first onslaught, which they pour forth with fiery spirit and blind rage, their limbs flow with sweat and fatigue, and their weapons falter; their soft bodies and soft minds—once their rage has subsided—are laid low by the sun, dust, and thirst, even though you do not bring the sword near.
§38.17.8non legionibus legiones eorum solum experti sumus, sed vir unus cum viro congrediendo T. Manlius, M. Valerius, quantum Gallicam rabiem vinceret Romana virtus, docuerunt.
Not only have we experienced their legions with our legions, but in single combat man to man, Titus Manlius and Marcus Valerius have shown how much Roman valor surpasses Gallic madness.
§38.17.9iam M. Manlius unus agmine scandentis in Capitolium detrusit Gallos.
Already Marcus Manlius alone thrust down the Gauls as they ascended the Capitol in a column.
et illis maioribus nostris cum haud dubiis Gallis, in sua terra genitis, res erat; hi iam degeneres sunt, mixti, et Gallograeci vere, §38.17.10quod appellantur; sicut in frugibus pecudibusque non tantum semina ad servandam indolem valent, quantum terrae proprietas caelique, sub quo aluntur, mutat.
And those ancestors of ours had to do with genuine Gauls, born in their own land; but these are already degenerate, mixed, and truly Gallograecians, as they are called; just as in the case of crops and cattle, seeds do not have so much power to preserve their natural qualities as the character of the soil and the climate under which they are nourished changes them.
§38.17.11Macedones, qui Alexandriam in Aegypto, qui Seleuciam ac Babyloniam, quique alias sparsas per orbem terrarum colonias habent, in Syros Parthos Aegyptios degenerarunt; §38.17.12Massilia, inter Gallos sita, traxit aliquantum ab accolis animorum; Tarentinis quid ex Spartana dura illa et horrida disciplina mansit?
The Macedonians, who hold Alexandria in Egypt, Seleucia, Babylonia, and other colonies scattered throughout the world, have degenerated into Syrians, Parthians, and Egyptians; Marseilles, situated among the Gauls, has drawn a considerable amount of spirit from its neighbors; what remains to the Tarentines of that harsh and rugged Spartan discipline?
§38.17.13est generosius, in sua quidquid sede gignitur; insitum alienae terrae in id, quo alitur, natura vertente se, degenerat.
Whatever is born in its own seat is of a nobler breed; when grafted onto a foreign soil, nature turning itself into that by which it is nourished, it degenerates.
Phrygas igitur Gallicis oneratos armis, §38.17.14sicut in acie Antiochi cecidistis, victos victores, caedetis.
Therefore, you will slaughter these Phrygians laden with Gallic arms, as you cut them down in the line of Antiochus, vanquished as victors.
magis vereor, ne parum inde gloriae, quam ne nimium belli sit.
I rather fear that there will be too little glory from it than too much of a war.
§38.17.15Attalus eos rex saepe fudit fugavitque.
King Attalus often routed and put them to flight.
nolite existimare beluas tantum recens captas feritatem illam silvestrem primo servare, dein, cum diu manibus humanis aluntur, mitescere, in hominum feritate mulcenda non eandem naturam esse.
Do not suppose that while only recently captured wild beasts preserve at first that woodland ferocity, and then grow gentle when nourished for a long time by human hands, the same nature does not exist in softening the wildness of men.
§38.17.16eosdemne hos creditis esse, qui patres eorum avique fuerunt? extorres inopia agrorum profecti domo per asperrimam Illyrici oram, Paeoniam inde et Thraeciam pugnando cum ferocissimis gentibus emensi, has terras ceperunt.
Do you believe these are the same men as their fathers and grandfathers were? Driven from home by a scarcity of land, they made their way through the roughest coast of Illyricum, and then through Paeonia and Thrace, fighting with the fiercest nations, and took possession of these lands.
§38.17.17duratos eos tot malis exasperatosque accepit terra, quae copia omnium rerum saginaret.
Hardened and exasperated by so many evils, they were received by a land that would fatten them with an abundance of all things.
uberrimo agro, mitissimo caelo, clementibus accolarum ingeniis omnis illa, cum qua venerant, mansuefacta est feritas.
By the extremely fertile soil, the mildest climate, and the gentle dispositions of the neighbors, all that wildness with which they had come has been tamed.
§38.17.18vobis mehercule, Martiis viris, cavenda ac fugienda quam primum amoenitas est Asiae: tantum hae peregrinae voluptates ad extinguendum vigorem animorum possunt; tantum contagio disciplinae morisque accolarum valet.
For you, by Hercules, men of Mars, the pleasantness of Asia is to be avoided and fled from as soon as possible; so much can these foreign pleasures do to extinguish the vigor of minds, so much does the contagion of the discipline and habit of the neighbors avail.
§38.17.19hoc tamen feliciter evenit, quod sicut vim adversus vos nequaquam, ita famam apud Graecos parem illi antiquae obtinent, §38.17.20cum qua venerunt, bellique gloriam victores eandem inter socios habebitis, quam si servantis anticum specimen animorum Gallos vicissetis. ”
Yet this has happened fortunately, that while they have by no means the same force against you, they nevertheless maintain a reputation among the Greeks equal to that ancient one with which they came; and as victors you will have the same glory of war among your allies as if you had conquered Gauls who preserved the ancient pattern of their spirit.”