23.45
The
battle was obstinately contested; the generals encouraged the men, and the
men fought to the utmost of their strength. Marcellus urged his men to press
vigorously on those whom they had vanquished only three days ago, who
had been driven in flight from Cumae, and whom he had himself, with
another army, defeated the year before. "All his forces," he said, "are not in
the field, some are roving through the land bent on plunder, whilst those who
are fighting are enervated by the luxury of Capua and have worn themselves
out through a whole winter's indulgence in wine and women and every kind
of debauchery. They have lost their force and vigour, they have dissipated
that strength of mind and body in which they surmounted the Alpine peaks.
The men who did that are mere wrecks now; they can hardly bear the weight
of their armour on their limbs while they fight. Capua has proved to be
Hannibal's Cannae. All soldierly courage; all military discipline, all glory won
in the past, all hopes for the future have been extinguished there." By
showing his contempt for the enemy, Marcellus raised the spirits of his men.
Hannibal, on the other hand, reproached his own men in much more severe
terms. "I recognise," he said, "the same arms and standards here which I saw
and used at the Trebia, at Trasumennus, and finally at Cannae, but not the
same soldiers. It is quite certain that I led one army into winter quarters at
Capua and marched out with quite a different one. Are you, whom two
consular armies never withstood, hardly able now to hold your own against a
subordinate officer, with his one legion and its contingent of allies? Is
Marcellus to challenge us with impunity a second time with his raw recruits
and Nolan supports? Where is that soldier of mine who dragged the consul,
C. Flaminius, from his horse and struck off his head? Where is the one who
slew L. Paulus at Cannae? Has the sword lost its edge; have your right hands
lost their power? Or has any other miracle happened? Though but few
yourselves, you have been wont to vanquish an enemy that far outnumbered
you; now you can hardly stand up against a force far smaller than your own.
You used to boast, tongue-valiant as you are, that you would take Rome by
storm if any one would lead you. Well, I want you to try your courage and
your strength in a smaller task. Carry Nola; it is a city in a plain, with no
protection from river or from sea. When ye have loaded yourselves with the
plunder of such a wealthy city as this, I will lead you or follow you wherever
you wish."
