yourself, a man of such character, my address will be
solely to you; who, I feel convinced, will prove yourself a good man
and a worthy citizen in vain, if the state on the other hand should
halt. Pernicious counsels will have the same authority and influence
as those which are sound. For you are mistaken, Lucius Paulus, if you
imagine that you will have a less violent contest with Caius Terentius
than with Hannibal. I know not whether the former, your opponent, or
the latter, your open enemy, be the more hostile. With the latter you
will have to contend in the field only; with the former, at every
place and time. Hannibal, moreover, you have to oppose with your own
horse and foot; while Varro will head your own soldiers against you.
Let Caius Flaminius be absent from your thoughts, even for the omen's
sake. Yet he only began to play the madman's consul, in his province,
and at the head of the army. This man is raving before he put up for
the consulship, afterwards while canvassing for it, and now having
obtained it, before he has seen the camp or the enemy. And he who by
talking largely of battles and marshalled armies, even now excites
such storms among the citizens with their gowns on, what do you think
he will effect among the youth in arms, where words are followed
forthwith by acts? But be assured, if this man, as he protests he
will, shall immediately engage the enemy either I am unacquainted with
military affairs, with this kind of war, and the character of the
enemy, or another place will become more celebrated than the
Trasimenus by our disaster. Neither is this the season for boasting
while I am addressing one man; and besides, I have exceeded the bounds
of moderation in despising rather than in courting fame. But the case
is really this. The only way of conducting the war against Hannibal is
that which I adopted: nor does the event only, that instructor of
fools, demonstrate it, but that same reasoning which has continued
hitherto, and will continue unchangeable so long as circumstances
shall remain the same. We are carrying on war in Italy, in our own
country, and our own soil. All around us are countrymen and allies in
abundance. With arms, men, horses, and provisions, they do and will
assist us. Such proofs of their fidelity have they given in our
adversity. Time, nay, everyday makes us better, wiser, and firmer.
Hannibal, on the contrary, is in a foreign, a hostile land, amidst all
hostile and disadvantag