And I wish that the contest on your side was for glory, and not for safety: it is not about the possession of Sicily and Sardinia, concerning which the dispute was formerly, but for Italy, that you must fight: nor is there another army behind, which, if we should not conquer, can resist the enemy; nor are there other Alps, during the passage of which fresh forces may be procured: here, soldiers, we must make our stand, as if we fought before the walls of Rome.

Let every one consider that he defends with his arms not only his own person, but his wife and young children: nor let him only entertain domestic cares and anxieties, but at the same time let him revolve in his mind, that the senate and people of Rome now anxiously regard our efforts; and that according as our strength and valour shall be, such henceforward will be the fortune of that city and of the Roman empire." 42.

Thus the consul addressed the Romans.

Hannibal, thinking that his soldiers ought to be roused by deeds rather than by words, having drawn his army around for the spectacle, placed in their midst the captive mountaineers in fetters; and after Gallic arms had been thrown at their feet, he ordered the interpreter to ask, "whether any among them, on condition of being released from chains, and receiving, if victorious, armour and a horse, was willing to combat with the sword ?" When they all, to a man, demanded the combat and the sword, and lots were cast into the urn for that purpose, each wished himself the person whom fortune might select for the contest.

As the lot of each man came out, eager and exulting with joy amidst the congratulations of his comrades, and dancing after the national custom, he hastily snatched up the arms: but when they fought, such was the state of feeling, not only among their companions in the same circumstances, but among the spectators in general, that the fortune of those who conquered was not praised more than that of those who died bravely.
43.