Dio's Rome, Volume 2: An Historical Narrative Originally Composed in Greek During the Reigns of Septimius Severus, Geta and Caracalla, Macrinus, Elagabalus and Alexander Severus: and Now Presented in English FormCassius Dio Cocceianus
History
Dio's Rome, Volume 2: An Historical Narrative Originally Composed in Greek During the Reigns of Septimius Severus, Geta and Caracalla, Macrinus, Elagabalus and Alexander Severus: and Now Presented in English Form
Cassius Dio Cocceianus
Rome -- History
[-45-] "As to its being most just, then, for us to fight against him no
one, I think, will have any contention to make. And that he is neither
invincible nor even a difficult adversary you can see from the other
members of his race whom you have often conquered before and have
recently conquered very easily, and you can calculate further from what
we learn about the man himself. For in general he has no native force
that is united and welded together, and at present, since he is
expecting no reverse, he utterly lacks preparation. Again, not one of
his countrymen would readily aid him, not even if he makes most tempting
offers. Who would choose to be his ally and fight against us before
receiving any injury at our hands? Is it not rather likely that all
would coöperate with us, instead of with him,--from a desire to
overthrow his principality, which joins theirs, and obtain from us some
share of his territory?
"Even if some should band together, they would not prove at all superior
to us. For, to omit the rest,--our numbers, our age, our experience, our
deeds,--who is there ignorant of the fact that we have armor over all
our body alike, whereas they are for the most part naked, and that we
employ both plan and arrangement, whereas they, unorganized, rush at
everything in a rage. Be sure not to dread their charge nor the
greatness of either their bodies or their shout. For voice never yet
killed any man, and their bodies, having the same hands as we, can
accomplish no more, but will be capable of much greater damage through
being both big and naked. And though their charge is tremendous and
headlong at first, it is easily exhausted and lasts but a short time.
[-46-] To you who have doubtless experienced what I mention and have
conquered men like them I make these suggestions so that you need not
appear to have been influenced by my talk and may really feel a most
steadfast hope of victory as a result of what has already been
accomplished. However, a great many of the very Gauls who are like them
will be our allies, so that even if these nations did have anything
terrible about them, it will belong to us as well as to the others.
"Do you, then, look at matters in this way and instruct the rest. I
might as well tell you that even if some of you do hold opposite views,
I, for my part, fight just as I am and will never abandon the position
to which I was assigned by my country. The tenth legion will be enough
for me. I am sure that they, even if there should be need of going
through fire, would readily go through it naked. The rest of you be off
the quicker the better and cease consuming supplies here to no purpose,
recklessly spending the public money, laying claim to other men's
labors, and appropriating the plunder gathered by others."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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