Nepos: LIBER DE EXCELLENTIBUS DVCIBUS EXTERARVM GENTIVM

[1] HANNIBAL, Hamilcaris filius, Carthaginiensis. Si verum est, quod nemo dubitat, ut populus Romanus omnes gentes virtute superarit, non est infitiandum Hannibalem tanto praestitisse ceteros imperatores prudentia, quanto populus Romanus antecedat fortitudine cunctas nationes.

[1] HANNIBAL, son of Hamilcar, the Carthaginian. If it is true, which no one doubts, that the Roman people has surpassed all peoples in valor, it must not be denied that Hannibal excelled the other generals in prudence by as much as the Roman people surpasses all nations in fortitude.

2 Nam quotienscumque cum eo congressus est in Italia, semper discessit superior. Quod nisi domi civium suorum invidia debilitatus esset, Romanos videtur superare potuisse. Sed multorum obtrectatio devicit unius virtutem.

2 For whenever he engaged with him in Italy, he always departed the superior. And if he had not been debilitated at home by the envy of his fellow citizens, he seems to have been able to overcome the Romans. But the detraction of many vanquished the virtue of one.

3 Hic autem velut hereditate relictum odium paternum erga Romanos sic conservavit, ut prius animam quam id deposuerit, qui quidem, cum patria pulsus esset et alienarum opum indigeret, numquam destiterit animo bellare cum Romanis.

3 This man, moreover, preserved the paternal hatred toward the Romans as if left to him by inheritance, to such a degree that he would sooner have laid down his life than lay that aside; and indeed, when he had been driven from his fatherland and stood in need of others’ resources, he never ceased in spirit to wage war with the Romans.

[2] Nam ut omittam Philippum, quem absens hostem reddidit Romanis, omnium his temporibus potentissimus rex Antiochus fuit. Hunc tanta cupiditate incendit bellandi, ut usque a rubro mari arma conatus sit inferre Italiae.

[2] For, to omit Philip, who, though absent, was made an enemy to the Romans, of all men in these times the most powerful king was Antiochus. Him the desire of waging war so inflamed that he went so far as to attempt to bring arms against Italy all the way from the Red Sea.

2 Ad quem cum legati venissent Romani, qui de eius voluntate explorarent darentque operam consiliis clandestinis ut Hannibalem in suspicionem regi adducerent, tamquam ab ipsis corruptus alia atque antea sentiret, neque id frustra fecissent idque Hannibal comperisset seque ab interioribus consiliis segregari vidisset, tempore dato adiit ad regem,

2 To whom, when Roman legates had come, to explore his will and to give effort by clandestine counsels to bring Hannibal into suspicion with the king, as if, corrupted by them, he were thinking other things than before; and since they had not done this in vain, and Hannibal had learned this and had seen himself segregated from the interior counsels, when a time was given he approached the king,

3 eique cum multa de fide sua et odio in Romanos commemorasset, hoc adiunxit: 'Pater meus' inquit 'Hamilcar puerulo me, utpote non amplius VIIII annos nato, in Hispaniam imperator proficiscens Carthagine, Iovi optimo maximo hostias immolavit.

3 and when he had recalled many things about his own fidelity and his hatred toward the Romans, he added this: 'My father,' he says, 'Hamilcar, when I was a little boy—namely, not more than 9 years old—setting out as commander to Spain, at Carthage, sacrificed victims to Jupiter Optimus Maximus.'

4 Quae divina res dum conficiebatur, quaesivit a me, vellemne secum in castra proficisci. Id cum libenter accepissem atque ab eo petere coepissem, ne dubitaret ducere, tum ille 'Faciam', inquit 'si mihi fidem, quam postulo, dederis.' Simul me ad aram adduxit, apud quam sacrificare instituerat, eamque ceteris remotis tenentem iurare iussit numquam me in amicitia cum Romanis fore.

4 While that divine rite was being completed, he asked me whether I wished to set out with him to the camp. When I had gladly accepted this and had begun to beg him not to hesitate to lead me, then he said, 'I will do it, if you give me the pledge which I demand.' At once he led me to the altar at which he had resolved to sacrifice, and, the others removed, with me holding it, he ordered me to swear that I would never be in amity with the Romans.

5 Id ego ius iurandum patri datum usque ad hanc aetatem ita conservavi, ut nemini dubium esse debeat, quin reliquo tempore eadem mente sim futurus.

5 That oath given to my father I have preserved down to this age in such a way that no one ought to doubt that for the remaining time I will be of the same mind.

6 Quare, si quid amice de Romanis cogitabis, non imprudenter feceris, si me celaris; cum quidem bellum parabis, te ipsum frustraberis, si non me in eo principem posueris.' Hac igitur, qua diximus, aetate cum patre in Hispaniam profectus est.

6 Wherefore, if you will think anything in a friendly way concerning the Romans, you will not have acted imprudently if you conceal it from me; when indeed you prepare war, you will frustrate yourself if you do not place me as leader in it.' Therefore, at the age, which we have mentioned, he set out with his father into Spain.

[3] Cuius post obitum, Hasdrubale imperatore suffecto, equitatui omni praefuit. Hoc quoque interfecto exercitus summam imperii ad eum detulit. Id Carthaginem delatum publice comprobatum est.

[3] After whose death, with Hasdrubal appointed as commander, he was in command of all the cavalry. When this one too was slain, the army conferred the supreme imperium upon him. That, when reported to Carthage, was publicly approved.

2 Sic Hannibal, minor V et XX annis natus imperator factus, proximo triennio omnes gentes Hispaniae bello subegit; Saguntum, foederatam civitatem, vi expugnavit; tres exercitus maximos comparavit.

2 Thus Hannibal, made commander while under 25 years of age, in the next three-year period subdued all the peoples of Spain by war; Saguntum, a federate city, he took by force; he assembled three very great armies.

3 Ex his unum in Africam misit, alterum cum Hasdrubale fratre in Hispania reliquit, tertium in Italiam secum duxit. Saltum Pyrenaeum transiit. Quacumque iter fecit, cum omnibus incolis conflixit: neminem nisi victum dimisit.

3 Of these he sent one into Africa, left another in Spain with his brother Hasdrubal, and led the third with him into Italy. He crossed the Pyrenean pass. Wherever he made his march, he clashed with all the inhabitants: he dismissed no one except conquered.

4 Ad Alpes posteaquam venit, quae Italiam ab Gallia seiungunt, quas nemo umquam cum exercitu ante eum praeter Herculem Graium transierat, quo facto is hodie saltus Graius appellatur, Alpicos conantes prohibere transitu concidit; loca patefecit, itinera muniit, effecit, ut ea elephantus ornatus ire posset, qua antea unus homo inermis vix poterat repere. Hac copias traduxit in Italiamque pervenit.

4 After he came to the Alps, which separate Italy from Gaul, which no one ever had crossed with an army before him except the Greek Hercules, and because of that deed that pass is today called the Graian Pass, he cut down the Alpine peoples trying to prevent the crossing; he opened up the places, constructed the routes, and effected that an accoutered elephant could go where before a single unarmed man could scarcely crawl. By this route he led his forces across and arrived in Italy.

[4] Conflixerat apud Rhodanum cum P. Cornelio Scipione consule eumque pepulerat. Cum hoc eodem Clastidi apud Padum decernit sauciumque inde ac fugatum dimittit.

[4] He had clashed by the Rhone with P. Cornelius Scipio, the consul, and had driven him back. With this same man at Clastidium by the Po he fights it out and sends him away from there wounded and routed.

2 Tertio idem Scipio cum collega Tiberio Longo apud Trebiam adversus eum venit. Cum his manum conseruit, utrosque profligavit. Inde per Ligures Appenninum transiit, petens Etruriam.

2 For the third time the same Scipio, with his colleague Tiberius Longus, came against him at the Trebia. He joined battle with them and routed both. Thence through the Ligurians he crossed the Apennine, seeking Etruria.

3 Hoc itinere adeo gravi morbo afficitur oculorum, ut postea numquam dextro aeque bene usus sit. Qua valetudine cum etiam tum premeretur lecticaque ferretur C. Flaminium consulem apud Trasumenum cum exercitu insidiis circumventum occidit neque multo post C. Centenium praetorem cum delecta manu saltus occupantem. Hinc in Apuliam pervenit.

3 On this march he was affected by so grave a disease of the eyes that thereafter he never used his right eye equally well. While he was even then pressed by this state of health and was being borne in a litter, he slew C. Flaminius the consul at Lake Trasimene, he with his army having been encompassed by ambushes; and not much later he slew C. Centenius the praetor, as he was occupying the passes with a picked band. Thence he reached Apulia.

4 Ibi obviam ei venerunt duo consules, C. Terentius et L. Aemilius. Utriusque exercitus uno proelio fugavit, Paulum consulem occidit et aliquot praeterea consulares, in his Cn. Servilium Geminum, qui superiore anno fuerat consul.

4 There the two consuls, C. Terentius and L. Aemilius, came to meet him. He routed the armies of both in a single battle, killed the consul Paulus, and besides several men of consular rank, among them Cn. Servilius Geminus, who had been consul in the previous year.

[5] Hac pugna pugnata Romam profectus est nullo resistente. In propinquis urbi montibus moratus est. Cum aliquot ibi dies castra habuisset et Capuam reverteretur, Q. Fabius Maximus, dictator Romanus, in agro Falerno ei se obiecit.

[5] With this battle fought, he set out for Rome with no one resisting. He lingered on the mountains neighboring the city. When he had kept camp there for several days and was returning to Capua, Q. Fabius Maximus, the Roman dictator, confronted him in the Falernian countryside.

2 Hic clausus locorum angustiis noctu sine ullo detrimento exercitus se expedivit; Fabioque, callidissimo imperatori, dedit verba. Namque obducta nocte sarmenta in cornibus iuvencorum deligata incendit eiusque generis multitudinem magnam dispalatam immisit. Quo repentino obiecto visu tantum terrorem iniecit exercitui Romanorum, ut egredi extra vallum nemo sit ausus.

2 Here, shut in by the narrowness of the places, by night he extricated his army without any loss; and he deceived Fabius, a most crafty commander. For with night drawn over, he ignited brushwood fastened to the horns of young bulls and sent in, scattered, a great multitude of that kind. By which sudden sight set before them he cast so great a terror into the army of the Romans that no one dared to go out beyond the rampart.

3 Hanc post rem gestam non ita multis diebus M. Minucium Rufum, magistrum equitum pari ac dictatorem imperio, dolo productum in proelium fugavit. Tiberium Sempronium Gracchum, iterum consulem, in Lucanis absens in insidias inductum sustulit. M. Claudium Marcellum, quinquies consulem, apud Venusiam pari modo interfecit.

3 After this deed, within not very many days he routed M. Minucius Rufus, the master of horse, with authority equal to the dictator’s, having been lured by stratagem into battle. Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus, consul for the second time, among the Lucanians, having been led into an ambush, he removed though he was absent. M. Claudius Marcellus, five times consul, at Venusia, in like manner he slew.

4 Longum est omnia enumerare proelia. Quare hoc unum satis erit dictum, ex quo intellegi possit, quantus ille fuerit: quamdiu in Italia fuit, nemo ei in acie restitit, nemo adversus eum post Cannensem pugnam in campo castra posuit.

4 It would be long to enumerate all the battles. Therefore this one statement will be sufficient, from which it can be understood how great he was: as long as he was in Italy, no one withstood him in the battle-line; no one, after the battle of Cannae, pitched camp against him in the open field.

[6] Hinc invictus patriam defensum revocatus bellum gessit adversus P. Scipionem, filium eius, quem ipse primo apud Rhodanum, iterum apud Padum, tertio apud Trebiam fugarat.

[6] Thence, unconquered, recalled to defend the fatherland, he waged war against P. Scipio, his son, whom he himself had put to flight first at the Rhone, again at the Po, a third time at the Trebia.

2 Cum hoc exhaustis iam patriae facultatibus cupivit impraesentiarum bellum componere, quo valentior postea congrederetur. In colloquium convenit; condiciones non convenerunt.

2 With this man, the faculties of the fatherland now exhausted, he desired for the present to compose the war, so that afterwards he might engage more powerful. He met for a conference; no agreement on terms was reached.

3 Post id factum paucis diebus apud Zamam cum eodem conflixit: pulsus - incredibile dictu - biduo et duabus noctibus Hadrumetum pervenit, quod abest ab Zama circiter milia passuum trecenta.

3 A few days after that was done, he engaged the same man at Zama: routed— incredible to say— in two days and two nights he reached Hadrumetum, which is about 300 miles distant from Zama.

4 In hac fuga Numidae, qui simul cum eo ex acie excesserant, insidiati sunt ei; quos non solum effugit, sed etiam ipsos oppressit. Hadrumeti reliquos e fuga collegit; novis dilectibus paucis diebus multos contraxit.

4 In this flight the Numidians, who had withdrawn from the battle-line together with him, set an ambush for him; whom he not only escaped, but also overpowered. At Hadrumetum he gathered the rest from the rout; by new levies he drew many together in a few days.

[7] Cum in apparando acerrime esset occupatus, Carthaginienses bellum cum Romanis composuerunt. Ille nihilo setius exercitui postea praefuit resque in Africa gessit [itemque Mago frater eius] usque ad P. Sulpicium C. Aurelium consules.

[7] While he was most vigorously occupied in preparing, the Carthaginians settled the war with the Romans. He nonetheless afterwards was in command of the army and carried on operations in Africa [and likewise Mago, his brother] down to the consuls P. Sulpicius and C. Aurelius.

2 His enim magistratibus legati Carthaginienses Romam venerunt, qui senatui populoque Romano gratias agerent, quod cum iis pacem fecissent, ob eamque rem corona aurea eos donarent simulque peterent, ut obsides eorum Fregellis essent captivique redderentur.

2 For under these magistrates, Carthaginian legates came to Rome, to render thanks to the senate and the Roman people because they had made peace with them, and for that reason to present them with a golden crown, and at the same time to request that their hostages be at Fregellae and that the captives be returned.

3 His ex senatus consulto responsum est: munus eorum gratum acceptumque esse; obsides, quo loco rogarent, futuros; captivos non remissuros, quod Hannibalem, cuius opera susceptum bellum foret, inimicissimum nomini Romano, etiamnum cum imperio apud exercitum haberent itemque fratrem eius Magonem.

3 To these it was answered by decree of the senate: that their gift was pleasing and accepted; that the hostages would be at whatever place they requested; that they would not send back the captives, because they still had Hannibal—by whose agency the war had been undertaken—most hostile to the Roman name, in command with the army, and likewise his brother Mago.

4 Hoc responso Carthaginienses cognito Hannibalem domum et Magonem revocarunt. Huc ut rediit, rex factus est, postquam praetor fuerat, anno secundo et vicesimo. Ut enim Romae consules, sic Carthagine quotannis annui bini reges creabantur.

4 With this response known, the Carthaginians recalled Hannibal home and Mago. When he returned hither, he was made king, after he had been praetor, in his twenty-second year. For as at Rome consuls, so at Carthage each year a pair of annual kings were elected.

5 In eo magistratu pari diligentia se Hannibal praebuit, ac fuerat in bello. Namque effecit, ex novis vectigalibus non solum ut esset pecunia, quae Romanis ex foedere penderetur, sed etiam superesset, quae in aerario reponeretur.

5 In that magistracy Hannibal showed himself with equal diligence as he had been in war. For he effected, from new revenues, not only that there was money which by the treaty was to be paid to the Romans, but also that there was a surplus to be deposited in the treasury.

6 Deinde [anno post praeturam] M. Claudio L. Furio consulibus Roma legati Carthaginem venerunt. Hos Hannibal ratus sui exposcendi gratia missos, priusquam iis senatus daretur, navem ascendit clam atque in Syriam ad Antiochum profugit.

6 Then [a year after the praetorship], under the consuls Marcus Claudius and Lucius Furius, legates from Rome came to Carthage. Hannibal, thinking that these had been sent for the purpose of demanding himself, before an audience was granted them with the senate, secretly boarded a ship and fled into Syria to Antiochus.

7 Hac re palam facta Poeni naves duas, quae eum comprehenderent, si possent consequi, miserunt, bona eius publicarunt, domum a fundamentis disiecerunt, ipsum exulem iudicarunt.

7 With this matter made public, the Carthaginians sent two ships to apprehend him, if they could overtake him; they made his goods public property, tore his house down from the foundations, and judged him an exile.

[8] At Hannibal anno tertio postquam domo profugerat, L. Cornelio Q. Minucio consulibus, cum quinque navibus Africam accessit in finibus Cyrenaeorum si forte Carthaginienses ad bellum Antiochi spe fiduciaque inducere posset, cui iam persuaserat ut cum exercitibus in Italiam proficisceretur. Huc Magonem fratrem excivit.

[8] But in the third year after he had fled from home, in the consulship of L. Cornelius and Q. Minucius, Hannibal approached Africa with five ships, within the territory of the Cyrenaeans, to see whether perchance he could induce the Carthaginians, by the hope and confidence of the war of Antiochus—whom he had already persuaded to set out with armies into Italy. Hither he summoned his brother Mago.

2 Id ubi Poeni resciverunt, Magonem eadem, qua fratrem, absentem affecerunt poena. Illi desperatis rebus cum solvissent naves ac vela ventis dedissent, Hannibal ad Antiochum pervenit. De Magonis interitu duplex memoria prodita est.

2 When the Carthaginians learned this, they subjected Mago, though absent, to the same punishment as his brother. When they, despairing of their situation, had cast off the ships and committed the sails to the winds, Hannibal reached Antiochus. Concerning the death of Mago, a twofold tradition has been handed down.

Namque alii naufragio, alii a servolis ipsius interfectum eum scriptum reliquerunt.

For indeed some have left it written that he perished in a shipwreck, others that he was slain by his own slave-boys.

3 Antiochus autem, si tam in agendo bello consiliis eius parere voluisset, quam in suscipiendo instituerat, propius Tiberi quam Thermopylis de summa imperii dimicasset. Quem etsi multa stulte conari videbat, tamen nulla deseruit in re.

3 Antiochus, however, if he had been willing in waging the war to obey his counsels as much as he had resolved to do in undertaking it, would have fought for the supremacy of empire nearer the Tiber than at Thermopylae. Although he saw him attempting many things foolishly, yet he deserted him in no matter.

4 Praefuit paucis navibus, quas ex Syria iussus erat in Asiam ducere, hisque adversus Rhodiorum classem in Pamphylio mari conflixit. Quo cum multitudine adversariorum sui superarentur, ipse, quo cornu rem gessit, fuit superior.

4 He commanded a few ships, which he had been ordered to lead from Syria into Asia, and with these he clashed with the fleet of the Rhodians in the Pamphylian Sea. There, although his own were outnumbered by the adversaries, he himself, on the wing where he carried the action, was superior.

[9] Antiocho fugato verens, ne dederetur, quod sine dubio accidisset, si sui fecisset potestatem, Cretam ad Gortynios venit, ut ibi, quo se conferret, consideraret.

[9] with Antiochus put to flight, fearing lest he be delivered up, which without doubt would have happened, if he had given power over himself, he came to Crete to the Gortynians, in order there to consider whither he should betake himself.

2 Vidit autem vir omnium callidissimus in magno se fore periculo, nisi quid providisset, propter avaritiam Cretensium. Magnam enim secum pecuniam portabat, de qua sciebat exisse famam.

2 But the shrewdest of men saw that he would be in great peril, unless he made some provision, on account of the avarice of the Cretans. For he was carrying a great sum of money with him, about which he knew a report had gone out.

3 Itaque capit tale consilium. Amphoras complures complet plumbo, summas operit auro et argento. Has praesentibus principibus deponit in templo Dianae, simulans se suas fortunas illorum fidei credere.

3 And so he adopts such counsel. He fills several amphorae with lead, covers the tops with gold and silver. These, with the princes present, he deposits in the temple of Diana, feigning that he entrusts his fortunes to their faith.

His in errorem inductis statuas aeneas, quas secum portabat, omni sua pecunia complet easque in propatulo domi abicit.

With these men having been induced into error, he fills the bronze statues, which he was carrying with him, with all his money, and casts them down in the open at home.

4 Gortynii templum magna cura custodiunt non tam a ceteris quam ab Hannibale, ne ille inscientibus iis tolleret secumque duceret.

4 The Gortynians guard the temple with great care, not so much from the others as from Hannibal, lest he, with them unaware, carry it off and take it with him.

[10] Sic conservatis suis rebus Poenus illusis Cretensibus omnibus ad Prusiam in Pontum pervenit. Apud quem eodem animo fuit erga Italiam neque aliud quicquam egit quam regem armavit et exercuit adversus Romanos.

[10] Thus, with his own affairs preserved, the Carthaginian, all the Cretans having been mocked, came to Prusias in Pontus. With whom he was of the same mind toward Italy, and he did nothing other than arm and exercise the king against the Romans.

2 Quem cum videret domesticis opibus minus esse robustum, conciliabat ceteros reges, adiungebat bellicosas nationes. Dissidebat ab eo Pergamenus rex Eumenes, Romanis amicissimus, bellumque inter eos gerebatur et mari et terra;

2 Seeing him to be less robust in domestic resources, he conciliated the other kings and adjoined bellicose nations. The Pergamene king Eumenes, most friendly to the Romans, was at odds with him, and war was being waged between them both by sea and by land;

3 sed utrobique Eumenes plus valebat propter Romanorum societatem. Quo magis cupiebat eum Hannibal opprimi; quem si removisset, faciliora sibi cetera fore arbitrabatur. Ad hunc interficiundum talem iniit rationem.

3 but on both fronts Eumenes prevailed more because of the alliance of the Romans. Wherefore Hannibal all the more desired that he be crushed; if he removed him, he judged the rest would be easier for himself. For killing him he entered upon such a plan.

4 Classe paucis diebus erant decreturi. Superabatur navium multitudine; dolo erat pugnandum, cum par non esset armis. Imperavit quam plurimas venenatas serpentes vivas colligi easque in vasa fictilia conici.

4 They were about to decide the issue by a naval engagement in a few days. He was surpassed in the multitude of ships; it had to be fought by stratagem, since he was not equal in arms. He ordered that as many venomous serpents as possible be collected alive and thrown into earthenware vessels.

5 Harum cum effecisset magnam multitudinem, die ipso, quo facturus erat navale proelium, classiarios convocat hisque praecipit, omnes ut in unam Eumenis regis concurrant navem, a ceteris tantum satis habeant se defendere. Id illos facile serpentium multitudine consecuturos.

5 When he had produced a great multitude of these, on the very day on which he was going to wage a naval battle, he summons the seamen of the fleet and orders them that they should all run together against one single ship of King Eumenes, and as for the others, let them deem it enough to defend themselves. This, he said, they would easily achieve by means of the multitude of serpents.

6 Rex autem in qua nave veheretur, ut scirent, se facturum. Quem si aut cepissent aut interfecissent, magno iis pollicetur praemio fore.

6 He said he would bring it about that they should know in which ship the king was being conveyed. If they either captured or killed him, he promises them that there will be a great reward.

[11] Tali cohortatione militum facta classis ab utrisque in proelium deducitur. Quarum acie constituta, priusquam signum pugnae daretur, Hannibal, ut palam faceret suis, quo loco Eumenes esset, tabellarium in scapha cum caduceo mittit.

[11] With such an exhortation to the soldiers having been made, the fleets on both sides are led out into battle. Their battle line having been drawn up, before the signal of battle was given, Hannibal, in order to make it plain to his own men in what place Eumenes was, sends a courier in a skiff with a caduceus.

2 Qui ubi ad naves adversariorum pervenit epistulamque ostendens se regem professus est quaerere, statim ad Eumenem deductus est, quod nemo dubitabat, quin aliquid de pace esset scriptum. Tabellarius ducis nave declarata suis eodem, unde erat egressus, se recepit.

2 He, when he reached the ships of the adversaries and, showing the letter, professed that he was seeking the king, was immediately conducted to Eumenes, because no one doubted that something about peace had been written. The courier, after the commander’s ship had been indicated to his own men, withdrew back to the same place whence he had set out.

3 At Eumenes soluta epistula nihil in ea repperit, nisi quae ad irridendum eum pertinerent. Cuius etsi causam mirabatur neque reperiebat, tamen proelium statim committere non dubitavit.

3 But Eumenes, the letter having been opened, found in it nothing except things that pertained to mocking him. Although he marveled at the cause of this and did not discover it, nevertheless he did not hesitate to engage the battle immediately.

4 Horum in concursu Bithynii Hannibalis praecepto universi navem Eumenis adoriuntur. Quorum vim rex cum sustinere non posset, fuga salutem petit; quam consecutus non esset, nisi intra sua praesidia se recepisset, quae in proximo litore erant collocata.

4 In the clash, the Bithynians, at Hannibal’s instruction, all assail the ship of Eumenes. The king, since he could not sustain their force, seeks safety in flight; which he would not have attained, unless he had withdrawn within his own garrisons, which had been posted on the adjacent shore.

5 Reliquae Pergamenae naves cum adversarios premerent acrius, repente in eas vasa fictilia, de quibus supra mentionem fecimus, conici coepta sunt. Quae iacta initio risum pugnantibus concitarunt, neque, quare id fieret, poterat intellegi.

5 The remaining Pergamene ships, as they were pressing their adversaries more keenly, suddenly had earthenware vessels, of which we made mention above, begun to be hurled at them. These, thrown at the outset, aroused laughter among the combatants, nor could it be understood why that was being done.

6 Postquam autem naves suas oppletas conspexerunt serpentibus, nova re perterriti, cum, quid potissimum vitarent, non viderent, puppes verterunt seque ad sua castra nautica rettulerunt.

6 But after they saw their ships crammed with serpents, terrified by the novelty, since they did not see what especially they should avoid, they turned their sterns and withdrew to their own naval camp.

7 Sic Hannibal consilio arma Pergamenorum superavit neque tum solum, sed saepe alias pedestribus copiis pari prudentia pepulit adversarios.

7 Thus Hannibal by counsel overcame the arms of the Pergamenes, and not then only, but often at other times he drove back his adversaries with infantry forces by equal prudence.

[12] Quae dum in Asia geruntur, accidit casu ut legati Prusiae Romae apud T. Quintium Flamininum consularem cenarent atque ibi de Hannibale mentione facta ex his unus diceret eum in Prusiae regno esse.

[12] While these things were being done in Asia, it happened by chance that the legates of Prusias were dining at Rome with T. Quintius Flamininus, a consular; and there, mention having been made of Hannibal, one of them said that he was in the kingdom of Prusias.

2 Id postero die Flamininus senatui detulit. Patres conscripti, qui Hannibale vivo numquam se sine insidiis futuros existimarent, legatos in Bithyniam miserunt, in his Flamininum, qui ab rege peterent, ne inimicissimum suum secum haberet sibique dederet.

2 The next day Flamininus reported this to the senate. The Conscript Fathers, who judged that with Hannibal alive they would never be without insidious plots, sent envoys to Bithynia—among them Flamininus—to request from the king that he not keep their most inimical foe with him and that he deliver him to them.

3 His Prusia negare ausus non est: illud recusavit, ne id a se fieri postularent, quod adversus ius hospitii esset: ipsi, si possent, comprehenderent; locum ubi esset, facile inventuros. Hannibal enim uno loco se tenebat, in castello, quod ei a rege datum erat muneri, idque sic aedificarat, ut in omnibus partibus aedificii exitus haberet, scilicet verens, ne usu veniret, quod accidit.

3 To these men Prusias did not dare to refuse; he did refuse this: that they demand that it be done by him which would be against the law of hospitality; let them themselves, if they could, apprehend him; they would easily find the place where he was. For Hannibal was keeping himself in one place, in a castle, which had been given to him by the king as a gift, and he had so constructed it that in all parts of the edifice he had exits—obviously fearing lest there should come to pass that which happened.

4 Huc cum legati Romanorum venissent ac multitudine domum eius circumdedissent, puer ab ianua prospiciens Hannibali dixit plures praeter consuetudinem armatos apparere. Qui imperavit ei, ut omnes fores aedificii circumiret ac propere sibi nuntiaret, num eodem modo undique obsideretur.

4 When the legates of the Romans had come to this place and had surrounded his house with a multitude, a boy peering out from the doorway said to Hannibal that more armed men than customary were appearing. He ordered him to go around all the doors of the edifice and to report quickly to him whether he was being besieged in the same way on all sides.

5 Puer cum celeriter, quid esset, renuntiasset omnisque exitus occupatos ostendisset, sensit id non fortuito factum, sed se peti neque sibi diutius vitam esse retinendam. Quam ne alieno arbitrio dimitteret, memor pristinarum virtutum venenum, quod semper secum habere consuerat, sumpsit.

5 When the boy had quickly reported what was afoot and had shown that all the exits were occupied, he perceived that this had not happened fortuitously, but that he was being targeted and that life was not to be retained by him any longer. So that he might not surrender it at another’s discretion, mindful of his former virtues, he took the poison which he had been accustomed always to have with him.

[13] Sic vir fortissimus, multis variisque perfunctus laboribus, anno acquievit septuagesimo. Quibus consulibus interierit, non convenit. Namque Atticus M. Claudio Marcello Q. Fabio Labeone consulibus mortuum in annali suo scriptum reliquit, at Polybius L. Aemilio Paulo Cn. Baebio Tamphilo, Sulpicius autem Blitho P. Cornelio Cethego M. Baebio Tamphilo.

[13] Thus the most brave man, having been carried through many and various labors, came to rest in his seventieth year. As to under which consuls he died, it is not agreed. For Atticus left written in his annal that he died when Marcus Claudius Marcellus and Quintus Fabius Labeo were consuls; but Polybius, when Lucius Aemilius Paulus and Gnaeus Baebius Tamphilus; Sulpicius Blitho, however, when Publius Cornelius Cethegus and Marcus Baebius Tamphilus.

2 Atque hic tantus vir tantisque bellis districtus nonnihil temporis tribuit litteris. Namque aliquot eius libri sunt, Graeco sermone confecti, in his ad Rhodios de Cn. Manlii Volsonis in Asia rebus gestis.

2 And this man so great, though occupied by such great wars, allotted not a little time to letters. For several of his books exist, composed in the Greek language, among them one to the Rhodians about the deeds in Asia of Gnaeus Manlius Vulso.

3 Huius belli gesta multi memoriae prodiderunt, sed ex his duo, qui cum eo in castris fuerunt simulque vixerunt, quamdiu fortuna passa est, Silenus et Sosylus Lacedaemonius. Atque hoc Sosylo Hannibal litterarum Graecarum usus est doctore.

3 Many have handed down to memory the deeds of this war; but among these, two—who were with him in the camp and lived with him together, as long as fortune permitted—Silenus and Sosylus the Lacedaemonian. And Hannibal made use of this Sosylus as a teacher of Greek letters.

4 Sed nos tempus est huius libri facere finem et Romanorum explicare imperatores, quo facilius collatis utrorumque factis, qui viri praeferendi sint, possit iudicari.

4 But it is time for us to bring this book to an end and to set forth the commanders of the Romans, in order that, the deeds of both compared, it may be judged more easily which men should be preferred.