nly pretended to have lost the day. But what Marcellus is
so justly admired for, is that after such great armies had been
routed, their generals killed, and the whole military system of Rome
thrown into confusion, he inspired his troops with a confidence that
enabled them to hold their own against the enemy. He roused his men
from their former timid and disheartened condition, making them eager
to distinguish themselves in battle, and, what is more, never to yield
the victory without a determined struggle. And all this, as far as any
single man could, was effected by Marcellus; for whereas his troops
had been accustomed to be well satisfied if they escaped with their
lives from Hannibal, he taught them to be ashamed of surviving defeat,
to blush to give way ever so little, and to grieve if they were not
victorious.
II. Since, then, Pelopidas never was defeated when he was in command,
and Marcellus gained more victories than any Roman of his time;
perhaps he who was so hard to conquer may, in consideration of his
many successes, be held equal to him who never suffered a reverse.
Moreover, the one took Syracuse, while the other failed before
Lacedaemon. But I hold it a greater feat than taking Sicily, to have
marched upon Sparta, and been the first man to cross the Eurotas,
unless indeed it should be said that the credit of this exploit
belongs more to Epameinondas than to Pelopidas, as also does the
battle of Leuktra, whereas the glory of Marcellus's achievements is
all his own. For he took Syracuse alone, and beat the Gauls without
his colleague, and, with no one to assist him, but every one hanging
back, he measured himself with Hannibal and changed the whole
complexion of the war, by being the first to introduce a daring
policy.
III. As for their deaths, I can praise neither one nor the other, but
I am grieved at the unworthy manner of their end. It is strange, that
Hannibal was never even wounded in a number of battles which it would
weary one to recount; and I admire the conduct of Chrysantas in
Xenophon's 'Cyropaedia,' who, when standing with his weapon drawn,
about to strike an enemy, heard the trumpet sound the recall, and
leaving his man, quietly and orderly retreated. Yet Pelopidas may be
excused by his excitement during a battle, and his courage, which
urged him to avenge himself on the enemy, for the best thing is for
the general to be victorious and to survive, and the next, for him to
die "breathing fo
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