Liv. 22.59.1Lēgātīs captīvōrum senātus ab dictātōre datus est.The envoys of the captives were granted an audience of the senate by the dictator. Liv. 22.59.1Quōrum prīnceps "M. Iūnī vōsque, patrēs cōnscrīptī," inquit "nēmō nostrum ignōrat nūllī unquam cīvitātī vīliōrēs fuisse captīvōs quam nostrae;Their leader said: 'Marcus Junius, and you, conscript fathers, none of us is unaware that captives have never been held cheaper by any state than by ours; Liv. 22.59.2cēterum nisi nōbīs plūs iūstō nostra placet causa, nōn aliī umquam minus neclegendī vōbīs quam nōs in hostium potestātem vēnērunt.but unless our own cause pleases us more than is right, no men have ever come into the enemy's power who deserved less to be neglected by you than we. Liv. 22.59.3Nōn enim in aciē per timōrem arma trādidimus, sed cum prope ad noctem superstantēs cumulīs caesōrum corporum proelium extrāxissēmus, in castra recēpimus nōs;For we did not hand over our arms in the battle line through fear, but after we had drawn out the fight almost until nightfall, standing on heaps of slain bodies, we withdrew into the camp; Liv. 22.59.4diēī reliquum ac noctem īnsequentem fessī labōre ac vulneribus vallum sumus tūtātī;for the rest of the day and the following night, though worn out with toil and wounds, we defended the rampart; Liv. 22.59.5posterō diē, cum circumsessī ab exercitū victōre aquā arcērēmur, nec ūlla iam per cōnfertōs hostīs ērumpendī spēs esset, nec esse nefās dūcerēmus quīnquāgintā mīlibus hominum ex aciē nostrā trucīdātīs aliquem ex Cannēnsī pugnā Rōmānum mīlitem restāre, tunc dēmum pactī sumus pretium, quō redēmptī dīmitterēmur, arma, in quibus nihil iam auxiliī erat, hostī trādidimus.on the next day, when, surrounded by the victorious army, we were cut off from water, and there was no longer any hope of breaking out through the densely packed enemy, and we did not think it a sin that, when fifty thousand men of our army had been slaughtered, some Roman soldier should survive the battle of Cannae, then at last we agreed on a price at which we should be ransomed and released, and handed over to the enemy arms in which there was no longer any help.
Liv. 22.59.7Maiōrēs quoque accēperāmus sē ā Gallīs aurō redēmisse, et patrēs vestrōs, asperrimōs illōs ad condiciōnēs pācis, lēgātōs tamen captīvōrum redimendōrum grātiā Tarentum mīsisse.We had heard, too, that our ancestors had ransomed themselves from the Gauls with gold, and that your fathers, most unyielding as they were over terms of peace, had nevertheless sent envoys to Tarentum to ransom captives. Liv. 22.59.8Atquī et ad Aliam cum Gallīs et ad Hēraclēam cum Pyrrhō utraque nōn tam clāde īnfāmis quam pavōre et fugā pugna fuit.And yet both the battle at the Allia against the Gauls and that at Heraclea against Pyrrhus were infamous not so much for the losses as for panic and flight. Liv. 22.59.8Cannēnsēs campōs acervī Rōmānōrum corporum tegunt, nec supersumus pugnae, nisi in quibus trucīdandīs et ferrum et vīrēs hostem dēfēcērunt.Heaps of Roman bodies cover the plains of Cannae, and none of us survive the battle except those in butchering whom the enemy's steel and strength gave out. Liv. 22.59.9Sunt etiam dē nostrīs quīdam, quī nē in aciē quidem fuērunt, sed praesidiō castrīs relictī, cum castra trāderentur, in potestātem hostium vēnērunt.There are also some of our number who were not even in the battle line, but, left to guard the camp, came into the enemy's power when the camp was surrendered.
Liv. 22.59.10Haud equidem ūllīus cīvis et commīlitōnis fortūnae aut condiciōnī invideō, nec premendō alium mē extulisse velim: nē illī quidem, nisi pernīcitātis pedum et cursūs aliquod praemium est, quī plērīque inermēs ex aciē fugientēs nōn prius quam Venusiae aut Canusī cōnstitērunt, sē nōbīs meritō praetulerint glōriātīque sint in sē plūs quam in nōbīs praesidiī reī pūblicae esse.For my part I do not envy the fortune or situation of any citizen and fellow soldier, nor would I wish to raise myself by pushing another down: but not even those men, unless there is some reward for swiftness of foot and running, who for the most part fled from the battle unarmed and did not stop before they reached Venusia or Canusium, could rightly put themselves before us or boast that there was more protection for the state in them than in us. Liv. 22.59.11Sed et illīs bonīs ac fortibus mīlitibus ūtēminī et nōbīs etiam promptiōribus prō patriā, cum beneficiō vestrō redēmptī atque in patriam restitūtī fuerimus.But you will find them good and brave soldiers, and us still more eager for our country, when we have been ransomed by your kindness and restored to our country.
Liv. 22.59.12Dīlēctum ex omnī aetāte et fortūnā habētis;You are holding a levy from every age and condition; Liv. 22.59.12octō mīlia servōrum audiō armārī.I hear that eight thousand slaves are being armed. Liv. 22.59.12Nōn minor numerus noster est, nec maiōre pretiō redimī possumus, quam iī emuntur;Our number is no smaller, nor can we be ransomed at a greater price than they are bought for; Liv. 22.59.12nam sī cōnferam nōs cum illīs, iniūriam nōminī Rōmānō faciam.for if I were to compare us with them, I should do injury to the Roman name. Liv. 22.59.13Illud etiam in tālī cōnsiliō animadvertendum vōbīs cēnseam, patrēs cōnscrīptī, sī iam dūriōrēs esse velītis quod nūllō nostrō meritō faciātis, cui nōs hostī relictūrī sītis.This too, I would think, you should consider in such a deliberation, conscript fathers, if you now wish to be harsher, which you would be through no fault of ours: to what enemy you are going to abandon us. Liv. 22.59.14Pyrrhō vidēlicet, quī hospitum numerō captīvōs habuit?To Pyrrhus, I suppose, who treated his captives as guests? Liv. 22.59.14An barbarō ac Poenō, quī utrum avārior an crūdēlior sit, vix exīstimārī potest?Or to a barbarian and a Carthaginian, of whom it can hardly be judged whether he is greedier or crueller?
Liv. 22.59.15Sī videātis catēnās squālōrem dēfōrmitātem cīvium vestrōrum, nōn minus profectō vōs ea speciēs moveat, quam sī ex alterā parte cernātis strātās Cannēnsibus campīs legiōnēs vestrās.If you could see the chains, the squalor, the disfigurement of your fellow citizens, that sight would surely move you no less than if on the other side you beheld your legions laid low on the plains of Cannae. Liv. 22.59.16Intuērī, potestis sollicitūdinem et lacrimās in vestibulō cūriae stantium cognātōrum nostrōrum exspectantiumque respōnsum vestrum.You can see the anxiety and tears of our kinsfolk standing in the entrance of the Curia and awaiting your reply. Liv. 22.59.16Cum iī prō nōbīs prōque iīs, quī absunt, ita suspēnsī ac sollicitī sint, quem cēnsētis animum ipsōrum esse, quōrum in discrīmine vīta lībertāsque est?When they are so anxious and troubled on behalf of us and of those who are absent, what do you think is the state of mind of those whose life and liberty are at stake? Liv. 22.59.17Sī, mē dius fidius, ipse in nōs mītis Hannibal contrā nātūram suam esse velit, nihil tamen nōbīs vītā opus esse cēnseāmus, cum indignī ut redimerēmur vōbīs vīsī sīmus.If, so help me heaven, Hannibal himself should wish to be gentle towards us, against his own nature, we should still think we had no need of life, since we had seemed to you unworthy to be ransomed.
Liv. 22.59.18Rediēre Rōmam quondam remissī ā Pyrrhō sine pretiō captīvī;Captives once returned to Rome, sent back by Pyrrhus without ransom; Liv. 22.59.18sed rediēre cum lēgātīs, prīmōribus cīvitātis, ad redimendōs sēsē missīs.but they returned with envoys, the leading men of the state, who had been sent to ransom them. Liv. 22.59.18Redeam ego in patriam trecentīs nummīs nōn aestimātus cīvis?Am I to return to my country, a citizen not valued at three hundred coins? Liv. 22.59.19Suum quisque animum habet, patrēs cōnscrīptī.Each man has his own feelings, conscript fathers. Liv. 22.59.19Sciō in discrīmine esse vītam corpusque meum: magis mē fāmae perīculum movet, nē ā vōbīs damnātī ac repulsī abeāmus;I know that my life and person are at stake: but the danger to our good name moves me more, that we should go away condemned and rejected by you; Liv. 22.59.19neque enim vōs pretiō pepercisse hominēs crēdent."for men will not believe that you were sparing the expense.'