by Frontinus
[9] When Xerxes was defied by the three hundred Spartans at Thermopylae and had with difficulty destroyed them, he declared that he had been deceived, because, while he had numbers enough, yet of real men who adhered to discipline he had none.
III. De Continentia
III. On Restraint and Disinterestedness
[1] M. Catonem vino eodem quo remiges contentum fuisse traditur.
[1] The story goes that Marcus Cato was content with the same wine as the men of his crews.
[2] Fabricius, cum Cineas legatus Epirotarum grande pondus auri dono ei daret, non accepto eo dixit malle se habentibus id imperare quam habere.
[2] When Cineas, ambassador of the Epirotes, offered Fabricius a large amount of gold, the latter rejected it, declaring that he preferred to rule those who had gold rather than to have it himself.
[3] Atilius Regulus, cum summis rebus praefuisset, adeo pauper fuit, ut se coniugem liberosque tolararet agello, qui colebatur per unum vilicum; cuius audita morte scripsit senatui de successore, destitutis rebus obitu servi necessariam esse praesentiam suam.
[3] Atilius Regulus, though he had been in charge of the greatest enterprises, was so poor that he supported himself, his wife, and children on a small farm which was tilled by a single steward. Hearing of the death of this steward, Regulus wrote to the Senate requesting them to appoint someone to succeed him in the command, since his property was left in jeopardy by the death of his slave, and his own presence at home was necessary.
[4] Cn. Scipio post res prospere in Hispania gestas in summa paupertate decessit, ne ea quidem relicta pecunia, quae sufficeret in dotem filiarum, quas ob inopiam publice dotavit senatus.
[4] Gnaeus Scipio, after successful exploits in Spain, died in the extremest poverty, not even leaving money enough for a dowry for his daughters. The Senate, therefore, in consequence of their poverty, furnished them dowries at public expense.
[5] Idem praestiterunt Athenienses filiis Aristidis post amplissimarum rerum administrationem in maxima paupertate defuncti.
[5] The Athenians did the same thing for the daughters of Aristides, who died in the greatest poverty after directing the most important enterprises.
[6] Epaminondas, dux Thebanorum, tantae abstinentiae fuit, ut in suppellectili eius praeter stoream et unicum veru nihil inveniretur.
[6] Epaminondas, the Theban general, was a man of such simple habits that among his belongings nothing was found beyond a mat and a single spit.
[7] Hannibal surgere de nocte solitus ante noctem non requiescebat; crepusculo demum ad cenam vocabat neque amplius quam duobus lectis discumbebatur apud eum.
[7] Hannibal was accustomed to rise while it was still dark, but never took any rest before night. At dusk, and not before, he called his friends to dinner; and not more than two couches were ever filled with dinner guests at his headquarters.
[8] Idem, cum sub Hasdrubale imperatore militaret, plerumque super nudam humum sagulo tectus somnos capiebat.
[8] The same general, when serving under Hasdrubal as commander, usually slept on the bare ground, wrapped only in a common military cloak.
[8] Aemilianum Scipionem traditur in itinere cum amicis ambulantem accepto pane vesci solitum.
[8] The story goes that Scipio Aemilianus used to eat bread offered him as he walked along on the march in the company of his friends.
[10] Idem et de Alexandro Macedone dicitur.
[10] The same story is related of Alexander of Macedon.
[11] Masinissam, nonagensimum aetatis annum agentem, meridie ante tabernaculum stantem vel ambulantem capere solitum cibos legimus.
[11] We read that Masinissa, when in his ninetieth year, used to eat at noon, standing or walking about in front of his tent.
[12] M’. Curius, cum victis ab eo Sabinis ex senatus consulto ampliaretur ei modus agri, quem consummati milites accipiebant, gregalium portione contentus fuit, malum civem dicens, cui non esset idem quod ceteris satis.
[12] When, in honour of his defeat of the Sabines, the Senate offered Manius Curius a larger amount of ground than the discharged troops were receiving, he was content with the allotment of ordinary soldiers, declaring that that man was a bad citizen who was not satisfied with what the rest received.
[13] Universi quoque exercitus notabilis saepe fuit continentia, sicut eius qui sub M. Scauro meruit. Namque memoriae tradidit Scaurus pomiferam arborem, quam in pede castrorum fuerat complexa metatio, postero die abeunte exercitu intactis fructibus relictam.
[13] The restraint of an entire army was also often noteworthy, as for example of the troops which served under Marcus Scaurus. For Scaurus has left it on record that a tree laden with fruit, at the far end of the fortified enclosure of the camp, was found, the day after the withdrawal of the army, with the fruit undisturbed.
[14] Auspiciis Imperatoris Caesaris Domitiani Augusti Germanici eo bello, quod Iulius Civilis in Gallia moverat, Lingonum opulentissima civitas, quae ad Civilem desciverat, cum adveniente exercitu Caesaris populationem timeret, quod contra exspectationem inviolata nihil ex rebus suis amiserat, ad obsequium redacta septuaginta milia armatorum tradidit mihi.
[14] In the war waged under the auspices of the Emperor Caesar Domitianus Augustus Germanicus and begun by Julius Civilis in Gaul, the very wealthy city of the Lingones,a which had revolted to Civilis, feared that it would be plundered by the approaching army of Caesar. But when, contrary to expectation, the inhabitants remained unharmed and lost none of their property, they returned to their loyalty, and handed over to meb seventy thousand armed men.
[15] L. Mummius, qui Corintho capta non Italiam solum sed etiam provincias tabulis statuisque exornavit, adeo nihil ex tantis manubiis in suum convertit, ut filiam eius inopem senatus ex publico dotaverit.
[15] After the capture of Corinth, Lucius Mummius adorned not merely Italy, but also the provinces, with statues and paintings. Yet he refrained so scrupulously from appropriating anything from such vast spoils to his own use that his daughter was in actual need and the Senate furnished her dowry at the public expense.
IV. De Iustitia
IV. On Justice
[1] Camillo Faliscos obsidenti ludi magister liberos Faliscorum tamquam ambulandi causa extra murum eductos tradidit, dicens retentis eis obsidibus necessario civitatem imperata facturam. Camillus non solum sprevit perfidiam, sed et restrictis post terga manibus magistrum virgis agendum ad parentes tradidit pueris, adeptus beneficio victoriam, quam fraude non concupierat, nam Falisci ob hanc iustitiam sponte ei se dediderunt.
[1] When Camillus was besieging the Faliscans, a school teacher took the sons of the Faliscans outside the walls, as though for a walk, and then delivered them up, saying that, if they should be retained as hostages, the city would be forced to execute the orders of Camillus. But Camillus not only spurned the teacher’s perfidy, but tying his hands behind his back, turned him over to the boys to be driven back to their parents with switches. He thus gained by kindness a victory which he had scorned to secure by fraud; for the Faliscans, in consequence of this act of justice, voluntarily surrendered to him.
[2] Ad Fabricium, ducem Romanorum, medicus Pyrrhi, Epirotarum regis, pervenit pollicitusque est daturum se Pyrrho venenum, si merces sibi, in qua operae pretium foret, constitueretur. Quo facinore Fabricius egere victoriam suam non arbitratus regi medicum detexit atque ea fide meruit, ut ad petendam amicitiam Romanorum compelleret Pyrrhum.
[2] The physician of Pyrrhus, king of the Epirotes, came to Fabricius, general of the Romans, and promised to give Pyrrhus poison if an adequate reward should be guaranteed him for the service. Fabricius, not considering that victory called for any such crime, exposed the physician to the king, and by this honourable act succeeded in inducing Pyrrhus to seek the friendship of the Romans.
V. De Constantia
V. On Determination (“The Will to Victory”)
[1] Cn. Pompeius minantibus direpturos pecuniam militibus, quae in triumpho ferretur, Servilio et Glaucia cohortantibus, ut divideret eam, ne s
editio fieret, affirmavit non triumphaturum se potius sed moriturum, quam licentiae militum succumberet, castigatisque oratione gravi laureatos fasces obiecit, ut ab illorum inciperent direptione; eaque invidia redegit eos ad modestiam.
[1] When the soldiers of Gnaeus Pompey threatened to plunder the money which was being carried for the triumph, Servilius and Glaucia urged him to distribute it among the troops, in order to avoid the outbreak of a mutiny. Thereupon Pompey declared he would forgo a triumph, and would die rather than yield to the insubordination of his soldiers; and after upbraiding them in vehement language, he threw in their faces the fasces wreathed with laurel, that they might start their plundering by seizing these. Through the odium thus aroused he reduced his men to obedience.
[2] C. Caesar, seditione in tumultu civilium armorum facta, maxime animis tumentibus, legionem totam exauctoravit, ducibus seditionis securi percussis; mox eosdem, quos exauctoraverat, ignominiam deprecantis restituit et optimos milites habuit.
[2] When a sedition broke out in the tumult of the Civil War, and feeling ran especially high, Gaius Caesar dismissed from service an entire legion, and beheaded the leaders of the mutiny. Later, when the very men he had dismissed entreated him to remove their disgrace, he restored them and had in them the very best soldiers.
[3] Postumius consularis cohortatus suos, cum interrogatus esset a militibus, quid imperaret, dixit, ut se imitarentur, et arrepto signo hostis primus invasit; quem secuti victoriam adepti sunt.
[3] Postumius, when ex-consul, having appealed to the courage of his troops, and having been asked by them what commands he gave, told them to imitate him. Thereupon he seized a standard and led the attack on the enemy. His soldiers followed and won the victory.
[4] Claudius Marcellus, cum in manus Gallorum imprudens incidisset, circumspiciendae regionis qua evaderet causa equum in orbem flexit, deinde cum omnia esse infesta vidisset, precatus deos in medios hostis irrupit; quibus inopinata audacia perculsis ducem quoque eorum trucidavit atque, ubi spes salutis vix superfuerat, inde opima rettulit spolia.
[4] Claudius Marcellus, having unexpectedly come upon some Gallic troops, turned his horse about in a circle, looking around for a way of escape. Seeing danger on every hand, with a prayer to the gods, he broke into the midst of the enemy. By his amazing audacity he threw them into consternation, slew their leader, and actually carried away the spolia opima in a situation where there had scarcely remained a hope of saving his life.
[5] L. Paulus, amisso ad Cannas exercitu, offerente equom Lentulo, quo fugeret, superesse cladi quamquam non per ipsum contractae noluit, sed in eo saxo, cui se vulneratus acclinaverat, persedit, donec ab hostibus oppressus confoderetur.
[5] Lucius Paulus, after the loss of his army at Cannae, being offered a horse by Lentulus with which to effect his escape, refused to survive the disaster, although it had not been occasioned by him, and remained seated on the rock against which he had leaned when wounded, until he was overpowered and stabbed by the enemy.
[6] Varro, collega eius, vel maiore constantia post eandem cladem vixit gratiaeque ei a senatu et populo actae sunt, quod non desperasset rem publicam. Non autem vitae cupiditate, sed rei publicae amore se superfuisse reliquo aetatis suae tempore approbavit; et barbam capillumque summisit et postea numquam recubans cibum cepit; honoribus quoque, cum ei deferrentur a populo, renuntiavit, dicens felicioribus magistratibus rei publicae opus esse.
[6] Paulus’s colleague, Varro, showed even greater resolution in continuing alive after the same disaster, and the Senate and the people thanked him “because,” they said, “he did not despair of the commonwealth.” But throughout the rest of his life he gave proof that he had remained alive not from desire of life, but because of his love of country. He suffered his beard and hair to remain untrimmed, and never afterwards reclined when he took food at table. Even when honours were decreed him by the people he declined them, saying that State needed more fortunate magistrates than himself.
[7] Sempronius Tuditanus et Cn. Octavius tribuni militum omnibus fusis ad Cannas, cum in minoribus castris circumsederentur, suaserunt commilitonibus, stringerent gladios et per hostium praesidia erumperent secum, id sibi animi esse, etiamsi nemini ad erumpendum audacia fuisset, affirmantes; de cunctantibus XII omnino equitibus, L. Peditibus, qui comitari sustinerent, repertis incolumes Canusium pervenerunt.
[7] After the complete rout of the Romans at Cannae, when Sempronius Tuditanus and Gnaeus Octavius, tribunes of the soldiers, were besieged in the smaller camp, they urged their comrades to draw their swords and accompany them in a dash through the forces of the enemy, declaring that they themselves were resolved on this course, even if no one else possessed the courage to break through. Although among the wavering crowd only twelve knights and fifty foot-soldiers were found who had the courage to accompany them, yet they reached Canusium unscathed.
[8] C. Fonteius Crassus in Hispania cum tribus milibus hominum praedatum profectus locoque iniquo circumventus ab Hasdrubale, ad primos tantum ordines relato consilio, incipiente nocte, quo tempore minime exspectabatur, per stationes hostium erupit.
[8] When Gaius Fonteius Crassus was in Spain, he set out with three thousand men on a foraging expedition and was enveloped in an awkward position by Hasdrubal. In the early part of the night, at a time when such a thing was least expected, having communicated his purpose only to the centurions of the first rank, he broke through the pickets of the enemy.
[9] P. Decius tribunus militum bello Samnitico Cornelio consuli iniquis locis deprehenso ab hostibus suasit, ut ad occupandum collem, qui in propinquo erat, modicam manum mitteret, seque ducem his qui mittebantur obtulit. Avocatus in diversum hostis emisit consulem, Decium autem cinxit obseditque. Illas quoque angustias nocte eruptione facta cum eluctatus esset Decius, incolumis cum militibus consuli accessit.
[9] When the consul Cornelius had been caught in an awkward position by the enemy in the Samnite War, Publius Decius, tribune of the soldiers, urged him to send a small force to occupy a neighbouring hill, and volunteered to act as leader of those who should be sent. The enemy, thus diverted to a different quarter, allowed the consul to escape, but surrounded Decius and besieged him. Decius, however, extricated himself from this predicament also by making a sortie at night, and escaped unharmed along with his men and rejoined the consul.
[10] Idem fecit sub Atilio Calatino consule, cuius varie traduntur nomina: alii Laberium, nonnulli Q. Caedicium, plurimi Calpurnium Flammam vocitatum scripserunt. Hic cum demissum in eam vallem videret exercitum, cuius latera omniaque superiora hostis insederat, depoposcit et accepit a consule trecentos milites, quos hortatus, ut virtute sua exercitum servarent, in mediam vallem decucurrit; ad opprimendos eos undique descendit hostis longoque et aspero proelio retentus occasionem consuli ad extrahendum exercitum dedit.
[10] Under the consul Atilius Calatinus the same thing was done by a man whose name is variously reported. Some say he was called Laberius, and some Quintus Caedicius, but most give it as Calpurnius Flamma. This man, seeing that the army had entered a valley, the sides and all commanding parts of which the enemy had occupied, asked and received from the consul three hundred soldiers. After exhorting these to save the army by their valour, he hastened to the centre of the valley. To crush him and his followers, the enemy descended from all quarters, but, being held in check in a long and fierce battle, they thus afforded the consul an opportunity of extricating his army.
[11] C. Caesar adversus Germanos et regem Ariovistum pugnaturus, confusis suorum animis pro contione dixit nullius se eo die opera nisi decimae legionis usurum. Quo adsecutus est, ut et decimani tamquam praecipuae fortitudinis testimonio concitarentur et ceteri pudore, ne penes alios gloria virtutis esset.
[11] Gaius Caesar, when about to fight the Germans and their king Ariovistus, at a time when his own men had been thrown into panic, called his soldiers together and declared to the assembly that on that day he proposed to employ the services of the tenth legion alone. In this way he caused the soldiers of this
legion to be stirred by his tribute to their unique heroism, while the rest were overwhelmed with mortification to think that reputation for courage should be confined to others.
[12] Lacedaemonius quidam nobilis, Philippo denuntiante multis se prohibiturum, nisi civitas sibi traderetur, “num”, inquit, “et pro patria mori nos prohibebit?”
[12] A certain Spartan noble, when Philip declared he would cut them off from many things, unless the state surrendered to him, asked: “He won’t cut us off from dying in defence of our country, will he?”
[13] Leonidas Lacedaemonius, cum dicerentur Persae sagittarum multitudine nubes esse facturi, fertur dixisse: “melius in umbra pugnabimus.”
[13] Leonidas, the Spartan, in reply to the statement that the Persians would create clouds by the multitude of their arrows, is reported to have said: “We shall fight all the better in the shade.”
[14] C. Aelius praetor urbanus, cum ei ius dicenti picus in capite insedisset et haruspices respondissent dimissa ave hostium victoriam fore, necata populum Romanum superiorem, at C. Aelium cum familia periturum, non dubitavit necare picum. Atque nostro exercitu vincente ipse cum quattuordecim Aeliis ex eadem familia in proelio est occisus. Hunc quidam non C. Caelium, sed Laelium fuisse et Laelios, non Caelios perisse credunt.