Scipio's Speech to his Men
These dispositions made, he went along the ranks
delivering an exhortation to the men, which,
though short, was much to the point in the
circumstances in which they were placed. He
called upon them, "Remembering their former victories, to
show themselves to be men of mettle and worthy their reputation and their country. To put before their eyes that the
effect of their victory would be not only to make them complete
masters of Libya, but to give them and their country the
supremacy and undisputed lordship of the world. But if the
result of the battle were unfavourable, those who fell fighting
gallantly would have the record of having died for their
country, while those that saved themselves by flight would
spend the rest of their days as objects of pitying contempt
and scorn. For there was no place in Libya which could
secure their safety if they fled; while, if they fell into the hands
of the Carthaginians, no one who looked facts in the face
could doubt what would happen to them. May none of you,"
he added, "learn that by experience! Since, then, Fortune
puts before us the most glorious of rewards, in whichever way
the battle is decided, should we not be at once the most
mean-spirited and foolish of mankind if we abandon the most
glorious alternative, and from a paltry clinging to life deliberately choose the worst of misfortunes? Charge the enemy
then with the steady resolve to do one of two things, to
conquer or to die! For it is men thus minded who invariably
conquer their opponents, since they enter the field with no
other hope of life."
