1So the consul to the Romans. 1Hannibal, thinking that his soldiers should be encouraged by deeds before words, set his army round to watch a spectacle and placed some captive mountaineers in chains in the middle, and, after Gallic weapons had been thrown down before their feet, ordered an interpreter to ask whether any of them, if he were released from his chains and should receive arms and a horse as victor, was willing to fight it out with the sword. 2When all to a man called for the sword and a fight, and lots had been cast for that purpose, each one prayed that he might be the one whom fortune would choose for that contest; 3and each man whose lot had leapt out eagerly snatched up the arms, leaping for joy among those who congratulated him, with the war dances of his people.
4But when they fought, such was the feeling not only among men of the same condition but generally among the spectators too, that the fortune of those who died well was praised no less than that of those who won.