Liv. 21.1.1In parte operis meī licet mihi praefārī, quod in prīncipiō summae tōtīus professī plērīque sunt rērum scrīptōrēs, bellum maximē omnium memorābile, quae umquam gesta sint, mē scrīptūrum, quod Hannibale duce Carthāginiēnsēs cum populō Rōmānō gessēre.In this part of my work I may be permitted to say by way of preface what most historians have declared at the beginning of their whole history: that I am going to write of the most memorable of all wars ever waged, the war which the Carthaginians, under Hannibal's leadership, waged with the Roman people. Liv. 21.1.2Nam neque validiōrēs opibus ūllae inter sē cīvitātēs gentēsque contulērunt arma neque hīs ipsīs tantum umquam vīrium aut rōboris fuit, et haud ignōtās bellī artēs inter sēsē sed expertās prīmō Pūnicō cōnferēbant bellō, et adeō varia fortūna bellī ancepsque Mārs fuit, ut propius perīculum fuerint, quī vīcērunt.For neither did any states or nations stronger in resources ever join arms with one another, nor had these very peoples ever possessed so much strength or vigour; and they were pitting against each other arts of war not unknown to one another but already tested in the First Punic War; and so changeable was the fortune of war and so doubtful the struggle that those who won came nearer to ruin.
Liv. 21.1.3Odiīs etiam prope maiōribus certārunt quam vīribus, Rōmānīs indignantibus, quod victōribus victī ultrō īnferrent arma, Poenīs, quod superbē avārēque crēderent imperitātum victīs esse.They fought, too, with hatred almost greater than their strength, the Romans indignant that the conquered should actually take up arms against their conquerors, the Carthaginians because they believed that the conquered had been ruled with arrogance and greed. Liv. 21.1.4Fāma est etiam, Hannibalem annōrum ferme novem puerīliter blandientem patrī Hamilcarī, ut dūcerētur in Hispāniam, cum perfectō Āfricō bellō exercitum eō trāiectūrus sacrificāret, altāribus admōtum tāctīs sacrīs iūre iūrandō adāctum, sē cum prīmum posset hostem fore populō Rōmānō.There is a story, too, that Hannibal, when about nine years old, was coaxing his father Hamilcar like a child to be taken to Spain, at the time when Hamilcar, the African war finished, was sacrificing before taking his army across there; and that he was led up to the altars and, laying his hand on the offerings, was made to swear an oath that as soon as he could he would be an enemy to the Roman people.
Liv. 21.1.5Angēbant ingentis spīritūs virum Sicilia Sardiniaque āmissae: nam et Siciliam nimis celerī dēspērātiōne rērum concessam et Sardiniam inter mōtum Āfricae fraude Rōmānōrum stīpendiō etiam īnsuper inpositō interceptam interceptam.The loss of Sicily and Sardinia tormented that man of mighty spirit: for Sicily, he felt, had been surrendered through too hasty despair of the situation, and Sardinia had been snatched away by Roman treachery during the upheaval in Africa, with a tribute imposed on top of it.