[Linenotes: 5. +Aemula virtus Capuae.+ In 216 B.C. Capua was, after Rome, the richest and most powerful city in Italy. As the result of Cannae she aspired to dominion over Italy. +Spartacus acer+, leader of the Servile War, 73-71 B.C. 6. +novis rebus infidelis+ = _faithless to revolution_, because they assisted in betraying Catiline’s plot 63 B.C.--Wickham. 9. +impia ... aetas+ = _we an impious generation whose blood is foredoomed_ (i.e. there is a curse on us) _shall destroy_ (Rome).]
Egressus curia Hannibal in templo magistratuum consedit, comprehendique Decium Magium atque ante pedes destitutum causam dicere iussit. Qui cum manente ferocia animi negaret lege foederis id cogi posse, tum iniectae catenae, ducique ante lictorem { 15} in castra est iussus. Quoad capite aperto est ductus, contionabundus incessit ad circumfusam undique multitudinem vociferans: ‘Habetis libertatem, Campani, quam petistis: foro medio, luce clara, videntibus vobis nulli Campanorum secundus vinctus ad mortem { 20} rapior. Quid violentius capta Capua fieret? Ite obviam Hannibali, exornate urbem diemque adventus eius consecrate, ut hunc triumphum de cive vestro spectetis.’
+Context.+ After the Revolt of Capua, when Hannibal made a public entry into the city, the whole population, with the exception of Decius Magius and his son, poured out to meet him.
[Linenotes: 11. +in templo magistratuum+ = _on the magistrates’ bench_, (or _tribunal_). 12. +Decium Magium+, one of the few Capuan nobles faithful to Rome. 14-15. +negaret ... posse+ = _urged that by the terms of the treaty_ (i.e. between the Capuans and H.) _this could not be insisted on_. --Church and Brodribb.]
A. _‘Capua,’ it is said, ‘became Hannibal’s Cannae.’_
Cum victoria Hannibal posset uti, frui maluit relictaque Roma Campaniam Tarentumque peragrare, ubi mox et ipse et exercitus ardor elanguit adeo ut vere dictum sit Capuam Hannibali Cannas fuisse. Si quidem invictum Alpibus, indomitum armis Campani--quis { 5} crederet?--soles et tepentes fontibus Baiae subegerunt.
[Linenotes: 2. +Campaniam Tarentumque+, once the two most fertile districts in Italy. 4. +Capuam ... fuisse.+ Ihne says: ‘Whatever may have been the pleasures and indulgences of Hannibal’s troops in Capua, their military qualities cannot have suffered by them, as the subsequent history of the war sufficiently demonstrates.’ 7-8. +tepentes fontibus Baiae+, on a small bay west of Naples and opposite Puteoli, abounded in warm mineral springs.]