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"While I fancy myself addressing the army, I am in a very different state of mind from what I was in a few moments ago, when my words were addressed to the citizens. [2] What do you say, soldiers? Is there a single man in Rome besides Perseus who would object to a triumph over the Macedonians, and you do not tear him in pieces with the same arms with which you conquered the Macedonians? The man who prevents you from entering the City in triumph would have prevented you, had it been in his power, from winning the war. [3] You are mistaken, soldiers, if you think that a triumph is an honour to the general alone, and not to the soldiers also, and to the whole people of Rome. [4] It is not the glory of Paulus alone that is at stake here-many who failed to obtain the senate's sanction have triumphed on the Alban Mount; no one can snatch from Paulus the glory of bringing the Macedonian war to a close any more than he could deprive C. Lutatius of his glory in the first Punic war, or P. Cornelius of his glory in the second. [5] A triumph will not diminish or enhance L. Paulus' greatness as a commander-it is the fair fame of the soldiers and the people of Rome that is in question. [6] Take care that this action be not looked upon as an instance of jealousy and ingratitude towards all our noblest citizens, copying the example of the Athenians, who persecuted their foremost men because they were jealous of their greatness. [7] Enough wrong was done by your ancestors in the case of Camillus, whom they treated with injustice-it was, however, before he rescued the City from the Gauls-enough, too, by yourselves in the case of P. Africanus. We must blush with shame when we remember that the domicile and home of the man who subjugated Africa was at Liternum; that it is at Liternum we are shown his tomb. [8] If the glory of L. Paulus is on a par with theirs, do not let the injustice you are showing to him equal what was shown to them. [9] Let us begin then by effacing this infamy so ugly in the eyes of other nations, so disastrous to our own people; for who would wish to resemble either Africanus or Paulus in a community which was ungrateful and hostile to its good citizens? [10] If there were no question of disgrace, if it were only one of glory, what triumph, pray, does not bring with it a glory in which every Roman has a share? [11] All those triumphs over the Gauls, all those over the Spaniards; all those over the Carthaginians, are they spoken of as the triumphs of the commanders only, and not rather of the people of Rome as a whole? As it was not over Pyrrhus or Hannibal personally but over the Epirots and the Carthaginians, so it was not Manlius Curius or P. Cornelius alone who celebrated them but the Romans. [12] Especially is this true of the soldiers. With their laurel wreaths, each wearing his decorations, they shout their 'Io Triumphe' and make their progress through the City, hymning their commander's praises. [13] If at any time the soldiers have not been brought back from the province for their triumph they murmur, yet even then they consider that they are taking their part in it because it was by their hands that the victory was won. [14] If any one were to ask you soldiers for what object you were brought back to Italy and not disbanded as soon as the province was brought into order; why you have come to Rome in your thousands and under your standards; why you remain here and do not disperse each of you to your homes; what answer would you give except that you want to appear in the triumph? You, at all events, ought to wish to be seen as victors.

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load focus Notes (W. Weissenborn, H. J. Müller, 1911)
load focus Notes (W. Weissenborn, 1880)
load focus Notes (W. Weissenborn, 1881)
load focus Summary (Latin, Alfred C. Schlesinger, Ph.D., 1951)
load focus Summary (Latin, W. Weissenborn, H. J. Müller, 1911)
load focus Summary (English, Alfred C. Schlesinger, Ph.D., 1951)
load focus Latin (W. Weissenborn, H. J. Müller, 1911)
load focus English (William A. McDevitte, Sen. Class. Mod. Ex. Schol. A.B.T.C.D., 1850)
load focus Latin (Alfred C. Schlesinger, Ph.D., 1951)
load focus Latin (W. Weissenborn, 1881)
load focus English (Alfred C. Schlesinger, Ph.D., 1951)
hide References (21 total)
  • Commentary references to this page (7):
    • Titus Livius (Livy), Ab urbe condita libri, erklärt von M. Weissenborn, books 33-34, commentary, 33.23
    • Titus Livius (Livy), Ab urbe condita libri, erklärt von M. Weissenborn, books 33-34, commentary, 33.29
    • Titus Livius (Livy), Ab urbe condita libri, erklärt von M. Weissenborn, books 35-38, commentary, 36.40
    • Titus Livius (Livy), Ab urbe condita libri, erklärt von M. Weissenborn, books 35-38, commentary, 38.53
    • Titus Livius (Livy), Ab urbe condita libri, erklärt von M. Weissenborn, books 41-42, commentary, 41.26
    • Titus Livius (Livy), Ab urbe condita libri, erklärt von M. Weissenborn, books 41-42, commentary, 42.21
    • Titus Livius (Livy), Ab urbe condita libri, erklärt von M. Weissenborn, books 41-42, commentary, 42.41
  • Cross-references to this page (4):
    • Titus Livius (Livy), Ab urbe condita, Index, Miles
    • Titus Livius (Livy), Ab urbe condita, Index, Triumphi
    • A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890), TRIUMPHUS
    • W. M. Lindsay, An Introduction to Latin Textual Emendation, Errors of Substitution
  • Cross-references in general dictionaries to this page (10):
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