§44.36.1Tempus anni post circumactum solstitium erat; hora diei iam ad meridiem vergebat; iter multo pulvere et incalescente sole factum erat. §44.36.2lassitudo et sitis iam sentiebatur et meridiem aestum magis accensurum cum mox adpareret, statuit sic adfectos recenti atque integro hosti non obicere; §44.36.3sed tantus ardor in animis ad dimicandum utcumque erat, ut consuli non minore arte ad suos eludendos quam ad hostes opus esset. §44.36.4nondum omnibus instructis instabat tribunis militum, ut maturarent instruere; circumibat ipse ordines; §44.36.5animos militum hortando in pugnam accendebat.
The season of the year was after the summer solstice; the hour of the day was already inclining toward noon; the march had been made through much dust and under a warming sun. Fatigue and thirst were already being felt, and since it was soon apparent that midday would increase the heat further, he decided not to expose the soldiers, thus affected, to a fresh and untouched enemy; but so great was the eagerness for fighting in their minds in any case, that the consul needed no less skill to elude his own men than to elude the enemy. Before all were yet drawn up, he pressed the military tribunes to hasten to draw them up; he himself went around the ranks; by encouraging them, he kindled the spirits of the soldiers for battle.
ibi primo alacres signum poscebant; deinde, quantum incresceret aestus, et voltus minus vigentes et voces segniores erant, et quidam incumbentes scutis nixique pilis stabant tum iam aperte primis ordinibus inperat,
At first, they eagerly demanded the signal; then, as the heat increased, their faces became less vigorous and their voices more sluggish, and some stood leaning on their shields and resting on their spears.
§44.36.6metarentur frontem castrorum et inpedimenta constituerent. §44.36.7quod ubi fieri milites sensere, alii gaudere palam, quod fessos viae labore flagrantissimo aestu non coegisset pugnare; §44.36.8legati circa imperatorem ducesque externi erant, inter quos et Attalus, omnes adprobantes, dum pugnaturum consulem credebant — neque enim ne his quidem cunctationem aperuerat suam — §44.36.9tunc mutatione consilii subita cum alii silerent, Nasica unus ex omnibus ausus est monere consulem, ne hostem ludificatum priores imperatores fugiendo certamen manibus emitteret: §44.36.10vereri, ne, si nocte abeat, sequendus maximo labore ac periculo in intima Macedoniae sit, aestasque, sicut prioribus ducibus, per calles saltusque Macedonicorum montium vagando circumagatur. §44.36.11se magnopere suadere, dum in campo patenti hostem habeat, adgrediatur, nec oblatam occasionem vincendi amittat. §44.36.12consul nihil offensus libera admonitione tam clari adulescentis “et ego” inquit “animum istum habui, Nasica, quem tu nunc habes, et, quem ego nunc habeo, tu habebis. §44.36.13multis belli casibus didici, quando pugnandum, quando abstinendum pugna sit.
Then at last, he openly commanded the front ranks, to measure out the front of the camp and to deposit the baggage. When the soldiers perceived that this was being done, some openly rejoiced that he had not forced them, exhausted by the labor of the march and in the most burning heat, to fight; around the commander were the legates and foreign leaders, among whom was also Attalus, all approving as long as they believed that the consul would fight—for indeed he had not revealed his hesitation even to these— then, upon the sudden change of plan, while others were silent, Nasica alone of them all dared to advise the consul not to let the enemy, who had baffled former commanders by avoiding battle, slip from his hands: he said he feared lest, if the enemy should depart by night, they would have to be followed with the greatest labor and danger into the interior of Macedonia, and the summer, just as under previous leaders, would be wasted in wandering through the paths and glades of the Macedonian mountains. He strongly urged him to attack while he had the enemy in an open plain, and not to lose the offered opportunity of winning. The consul, not at all offended by the frank advice of so illustrious a young man, said, "I too, Nasica, had that spirit which you now have, and you will have that which I now have. By many fortunes of war I have learned when we must fight and when we must abstain from fight.
non operae est stanti nunc in acie docere, quibus de causis hodie quiesse melius sit.
It is not worthwhile for me, standing now in the battle line, to explain for what reasons it is better to rest today.
rationes alias reposcito; nunc auctoritate veteris imperatoris contentus eris. ” §44.36.14conticuit adulescens: haud dubie videre aliqua impedimenta pugnae consulem, quae sibi non apparerent.
Ask for those reasons at another time; now you shall be satisfied with the authority of an old general." The young man fell silent; without a doubt he believed that the consul saw some obstacles to battle that were not apparent to himself.