Liv. 21.45.1Hīs adhortātiōnibus cum utrimque ad certāmen accēnsī mīlitum animī essent, Rōmānī ponte Ticīnum iungunt tūtandīque pontis causā castellum īnsuper inpōnunt;When the soldiers' spirits on both sides had been fired for the contest by these exhortations, the Romans bridge the Ticinus and set a fort on top to protect the bridge; Liv. 21.45.2Poenus hostibus opere occupātīs Maharbalem cum alā Numidārum, equitibus quīngentīs, ad dēpopulandōs sociōrum populī Rōmānī agrōs mittit;the Carthaginian, while the enemy was busy with the work, sends Maharbal with a squadron of Numidians, five hundred horsemen, to lay waste the lands of the allies of the Roman people; Liv. 21.45.3Gallīs parcī quam maximē iubet prīncipumque animōs ad dēfectiōnem sollicitārī.he orders the Gauls to be spared as far as possible and the minds of their chiefs to be tempted to revolt. Liv. 21.45.3Ponte perfectō trāductus Rōmānus exercitus in agrum Īnsubrium quīnque mīlia passum ā Uictumulīs cōnsēdit.When the bridge was finished, the Roman army was led across into the territory of the Insubres and took up position five miles from Victumulae.
Liv. 21.45.4Ibi Hannibal castra habēbat;There Hannibal had his camp; Liv. 21.45.4revocātōque properē Maharbale atque equitibus, cum īnstāre certāmen cerneret, nihil umquam satis dictum praemonitumque ad cohortandōs mīlitēs ratus, vocātīs ad contiōnem certa praemia prōnūntiat, in quōrum spem pugnārent: agrum sēsē datūrum esse in Ītaliā Āfricā Hispāniā, ubi quisque velit, immūnem ipsī, quī accēpisset, līberīsque;and having hastily recalled Maharbal and the cavalry, seeing that battle was imminent, and thinking that nothing could ever be said and urged enough to encourage his soldiers, he called them to an assembly and announced definite rewards in hope of which they were to fight: he would give them land in Italy, Africa or Spain, wherever each wished, free of tax for the man who received it and for his children; Liv. 21.45.5quī pecūniam quam agrum māluisset, eī sē argentō satisfactūrum;to anyone who preferred money to land he would make it good in silver; Liv. 21.45.6quī sociōrum cīvēs Carthāginiēnsēs fierī vellent, potestātem factūrum;to those of the allies who wished to become Carthaginian citizens, he would give the right; Liv. 21.45.6quī domōs redīre māllent, datūrum sē operam, nē cuius suōrum populārium mūtātam sēcum fortūnam esse vellent.for those who preferred to return home, he would take care that they would not wish to exchange their lot with that of any of their countrymen.
Liv. 21.45.7Servīs quoque dominōs prōsecūtīs lībertātem prōpōnit, bīnaque prō iīs mancipia dominīs sē redditūrum.To the slaves, too, who had followed their masters he offers freedom, and says he will give the masters two slaves in return for each. Liv. 21.45.8Eaque ut rata scīrent fore, agnum laevā manū, dextrā silicem retinēns, sī falleret, Iovem cēterōsque precātus deōs, ita sē mactārent, quem ad modum ipse agnum mactāsset, secundum precātiōnem caput pecudis saxō ēlīsit.And so that they might know these promises would be kept, holding a lamb in his left hand and a flint in his right, he prayed to Jupiter and the other gods that, if he broke his word, they should slay him just as he had slain the lamb, and after the prayer he dashed in the animal's head with the stone. Liv. 21.45.9Tum vērō omnēs, velut diīs auctōribus in spem suam quisque acceptīs, id morae, quod nōndum pugnārent, ad potienda spērāta ratī, proelium ūnō animō et vōce ūnā poscunt.Then indeed all of them, as though each had received the gods' warrant for his hopes, and thinking that the only delay in winning what they hoped for was that they were not yet fighting, demand battle with one mind and one voice.