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In terms of content, Scipio‟s harangue 396 looks to the future and echoes Polybius‟
introductory remark that the Romans were fighting for world domination. 397 It closes by
echoing an admonition made by Hannibal at the start of the war: that the men must
conquer or die; for the Romans, this meant no more running away as happened at
Cannae (Hist. 15.10.1-7). As noted at the start of this chapter, Hannibal‟s harangue, by
contrast, looks back to the past as he reminds his men of their prior victories, seventeen
years of comradeship in Italy, and urging them to maintain their record of invincibility
(Hist. 15.11.6-12). Described by Walbank 398 as „full of commonplaces,‟ which may be
so, but the harangue seems, at least in part, adapted to suit the figure who is about to be
defeated.
The sequence of the two exhortations in Livy‟s text is a reversal of that in the
Polybian account and they are patterned differently against the army dispositions.
Luce 399 notes, for example, that the exhortations by Scipio (father, son) and Hannibal to
their respective armies before Zama and before the Ticinus battles are the only such
chiastically arranged pairs in Livy‟s surviving work. The exhortations are directly
adjacent to each other, with Hannibal‟s first, and they precede the paired dispositions of
the forces (Roman dispositions placed first) to create a BcBrArAc pattern (Livy, 30.33).
Hannibal‟s speech looks back to the past but, in keeping with Livy‟s depiction of
Hannibal losing to Marcellus, Hannibal does not refer to an invincible record of
victories in Italy. As Hannibal moves down the ranks it is apparent that he knows many
men personally as he recalls the deeds of certain individuals; language was no barrier
(Livy, 30.32.4). 400
Scipio‟s harangue opens by recalling the conquest in Spain; he reiterates that the
Carthaginians were treaty breakers and suffered an innate lack of fides. He closes by
looking forward, not to world domination but to something far more tangible for his
men, the spoils of Carthage:
396
Walbank, 1967, 456 comments that the speech contains „little but commonplaces; and there may be
some anachronism.‟
397
Walbank 1967, 444 describes Polybius‟ comment as an „interesting anachronism‟ and that it shows the
issue of the war was not yet of interest to areas beyond the western Mediterranean, despite Agelaus‟
warning Hist. 5.104. Lancel, 1998, 187 argues that the unprovoked declaration of war against Philip of
Macedon in 200BC marks the birth of Roman imperialism (as punishment for his dead letter alliance with
Hannibal in 215BC).
398
Walbank, 1967, 459 describes the content as „mainly commonplaces.‟
399
Luce, 1977, 27, n58 Book 21: Scipio – Hannibal; Book 30: Hannibal – Scipio.
400
Serrati, 2005, 250 reminds readers that Hannibal spent many years in Spain and was possibly as fluent
in Spanish dialects as well as his own language. Cf. Kaplan, 2003, 34: „Hannibal could only communicate
through interpreters.‟
181