Liv. 22.50.1Haec est pugna Cannēnsis, Alliēnsī clādī nōbilitāte pār, cēterum utī eīs, quae post pugnam accidere, levior, quia ab hoste est cessātum, sīc strāge exercitūs gravior foediorque.This is the battle of Cannae, equal in renown to the disaster at the Allia, but, as it was lighter in what happened after the battle, because the enemy held back, so it was heavier and more shameful in the slaughter of the army. Liv. 22.50.3Fuga namque ad Aliam sīcut urbem prōdidit, ita exercitum servāvit;For the flight at the Allia, while it betrayed the city, saved the army; Liv. 22.50.3ad Cannās fugientem cōnsulem vix quīnquāgintā secūtī sunt, alterīus morientis prope tōtus exercitus fuit.at Cannae barely fifty followed the consul in his flight, while almost the whole army was with the other as he died. Liv. 22.50.4Bīnīs in castrīs cum multitūdō sēmiermis sine ducibus esset, nūntium, quī in maiōribus erant, mittunt, dum proeliō, deinde ex laetitiā epulīs fatīgātōs quiēs nocturna hostēs premeret, ut ad sē trānsīrent: ūnō agmine Canusium abitūrōs esse.Since in both camps there was a half-armed multitude without leaders, those in the larger camp send a message to the others that they should cross over to them while the enemy, worn out by the battle and then by feasting for joy, were sunk in the sleep of night: they would leave for Canusium in a single column.
Liv. 22.50.5Eam sententiam aliī tōtam aspernārī: cūr enim illōs, quī sē arcessant, ipsōs nōn venīre, cum aequē coniungī possent?Some rejected that proposal entirely: why, they asked, did those who were summoning them not come themselves, since they could be united just as well that way? Liv. 22.50.5Quia vidēlicet plēna hostium omnia in mediō essent, et aliōrum quam sua corpora tantō perīculō māllent obicere.Because, plainly, everything in between was full of the enemy, and they preferred to expose others' bodies rather than their own to such great danger. Liv. 22.50.6Aliīs nōn tam sententia displicēre quam animus dēesse.Others did not so much dislike the proposal as lack the courage. Liv. 22.50.6Tum p.Then Publius Liv. 22.50.6Semprōnius Tuditānus tribūnus mīlitum "capī ergō māvultis" inquit "ab avārissimō et crūdēlissimō hoste, aestimārīque capita vestra et exquīrī pretia ab interrogantibus, Rōmānus cīvis sīs an Latīnus socius, ut ex tuā contumēliā et miseriā alterī honōs quaerātur?Sempronius Tuditanus, a military tribune, said: 'Would you rather, then, be taken by a most greedy and cruel enemy, and have your heads valued and prices set by men asking whether you are a Roman citizen or a Latin ally, so that from your insult and misery honour may be sought for another?
Liv. 22.50.7Nōn tū sī quidem L. Aemilī cōnsulis, quī sē bene morī quam turpiter vīvere māluit, et tot fortissimōrum virōrum, quī circā eum cumulātī iacent, cīvēs estis.No, not if you are indeed fellow citizens of the consul Lucius Aemilius, who chose to die well rather than live disgracefully, and of so many very brave men who lie heaped around him. Liv. 22.50.8Sed antequam opprimit lūx maiōraque hostium agmina obsaepiunt iter, per hōs, quī inordinātī atque inconpositī obstrepunt portīs, ērumpāmus.But before daylight overtakes us and larger bodies of the enemy block our way, let us break out through these men who are clamouring at our gates without order or formation. Liv. 22.50.9Ferrō atque audāciā via fit quamvīs per cōnfertōs hostīs.With steel and daring a way is made, however densely packed the enemy. Liv. 22.50.9Cuneō quidem hoc laxum atque solūtum agmen, ut sī nihil obstet, disiciās.With a wedge, indeed, you could scatter this loose and slack column as if nothing stood in your way. Liv. 22.50.9Itaque īte mēcum, quī et vōsmet ipsōs et rem pūblicam salvam vultis."So come with me, all who wish to save both yourselves and the state.' Liv. 22.50.10Haec ubi dicta dedit, stringit gladium cuneōque factō per mediōs vādit hostīs: et cum in latus dextrum, quod patēbat, Numidae iaculārentur, trānslātīs in dextrum scūtīs in maiōra castra ad sescentī ēvāsērunt, atque inde prōtinus aliō magnō agmine adiūnctō Canusium incolumēs perveniunt.When he had said this, he draws his sword and, forming a wedge, goes through the midst of the enemy: and when the Numidians hurled javelins at their right side, which was exposed, they shifted their shields to the right and got through to the larger camp, about six hundred of them, and from there, at once joining another large column, they reach Canusium unharmed.
Liv. 22.50.12Haec apud victōs magis impetū animōrum, quem ingenium suum cuique aut fors dabat, quam ex cōnsiliō ipsōrum aut imperiō cuiusquam agēbantur.These things were done among the defeated more on the impulse of feeling, which each man's own nature or chance supplied, than from their own deliberation or anyone's command.