186. tui: gen. of ego, like you; some adjs. like similis which usually take the dat. may be modified by a gen. as here.
187. supervacanea: superfluous.
189. nescio an: I do not know whether = I am inclined to suppose.
190. adversarius: political opponent.
maneat te:may await you = may prove to be.
191. rem…hunc (192): a highly effective ASYNDETON.
192. nobilior: here, more notorious.
193. ita res se habet: a common idiom, = the situation (the fact of the matter) is this.
194. ratio: here, method, system.
195. stultorum: it is the mark of a fool to learn simply by trial and error, simply by experience undirected by reason.
196. ratio: here, reasoning, judgment.
donec: conj., as long as.
197. sede: sedes, seat, abode, home.
solo: solum,soil, earth.
199. commeatibus: commeatus, supplies, provisions.
Gaius Terentius Varro, a plebeian, and Lucius Aemilius Paulus, a patrician, are elected consuls.
180 Cum his orationibus accensa plebs esset, C. Terentius consul unus creatur ut in manu eius essent comitia rogando collegae. Tum experta nobilitas parum fuisse virium in competitoribus, L. Aemilium Paulum infestum plebei, diu ac multum recusantem, ad petitionem compellit. (XXII. 35.1–3, excerpts)
Fabius exhorts Paulus as the latter sets out with Varro against Hannibal.
185 Q. Fabius Maximus sic eum proficiscentem adlocutus fertur: “Si aut collegam, id quod mallem, tui similem, L. Aemili, haberes aut tu collegae tui esses similis, supervacanea esset oratio mea. Erras enim, L. Paule, si tibi minus certaminis cum C. Terentio quam cum Hannibale futurum censes: nescio an infestior 190 hic adversarius quam ille hostis maneat te. Atqui si hic, quod facturum se denuntiat, extemplo pugnaverit, aut ego rem militarem, belli hoc genus, hostem hunc ignoro, aut nobilior alius Trasumenno locus nostris cladibus erit. Ita res se habet: una ratio belli gerendi adversus Hannibalem est, qua ego gessi. Nec 195 eventus modo hoc docet—stultorum iste magister est—sed eadem ratio, quae fuit futuraque, donec res eaedem manebunt, immutabilis est. In Italia bellum gerimus, in sede ac solo nostro; omnia circa plena civium ac sociorum sunt; armis, viris, equis, commeatibus iuvant iuvabuntque—id iam fidei documentum in 200 adversis rebus nostris dederunt; meliores, prudentiores, constantiores nos tempus diesque facit. Hannibal contra in aliena, in hostili est terra, inter omnia inimica infestaque, procul ab domo, ab patria; neque illi terra neque mari est pax; nullae eum urbes accipiunt, nulla moenia; nihil usquam sui videt; in diem 205 rapto vivit; partem vix tertiam exercitus eius habet quem Hiberum amnem traiecit; plures fame quam ferro absumpti, nec his paucis iam victus suppeditat. Dubitas ergo quin sedendo superaturi simus eum?
201. tempus diesque: = each day that passes.
203. illi: DAT. OF POSSESSION.
204. usquam: adv., anywhere.
in diem rapto (205):by what he has plundered for the day.
205. eius: here a weak demonstrative with exercitus, delayed by attraction to the rel. cl., of that army.
Hiberum:the Ebro river, in eastern Spain.
206. fame quam ferro: ALLITERATION emphasizes the contrast; the style throughout this speech is highly rhetorical.
207. victus: food.
suppeditat: suppeditare,to supply, furnish, suffice (for).
208. superaturi simus: we are going to overcome; the ACT. PERIPHRASTIC, sometimes termed the “fut. subjunct.,” formed with the fut. act. partic. + subjunct. of sum, here with a CL. OF IDEAL CERTAINTY after dubitas quin, do you doubt that.
210. idem…idem (211): i.e., an immediate battle.
tui: nom. pl.; sc. milites.
212. resistas oportet (213): oportet may take a JUSSIVE SUBJUNCT. or an inf.
215. falsa infamia: i.e., the unfounded charges which his political enemies would make against him.
nimis saepe: with laborare.
216. aiunt: often employed, as here, with a proverbial expression.
217. sine…vocent (218): sine from sinere, let them call you; ut is often omitted as the introductory word in a JUSSIVE NOUN CL.
218. metuat: volo and its compounds may take the subjunct. (with or without ut/ne) as well as the more common inf.
221. tuae potestatis: PRED. GEN. OF POSSESSION = in your own control.
223. desis: deesse + dat., to be wanting, fail.
