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approaching with flattery each day, he persuaded them to report to him whatever Gelimer had promised them, on the condition 4.1.10 that they would act as cowards in the battle. And these barbarians said that they had no enthusiasm for fighting; for they feared that if the Vandals were defeated, the Romans would not send them back to their ancestral homes, but they would be forced to grow old and die right there in Libya; and furthermore they were anxious about the booty, that it would be taken away from them. 4.1.11 Then indeed Belisarius gave them pledges that, if the Vandals were decisively defeated, they would immediately be sent to their homes with all their spoils, and so he bound them by oaths that they would indeed help them carry through the war with all enthusiasm. 4.1.12 And when everything had been prepared for him in the best possible way and the circuit-wall had already been finished, having called together the whole 4.1.13 army, he spoke as follows: "An exhortation, men of Rome, I do not know that I need to make to you, you who so recently have defeated the enemy that this Carthage and all Libya is a possession of your valor, and for this reason you will have no need of any counsel urging you to daring. For the spirits of those who have been victorious are least accustomed to be diminished. 4.1.14 But this one thing I think is not inopportune to remind you, that if you conduct yourselves bravely in the present circumstance as you have before, immediately it will mean the end for the Vandals of their hopes, and for you of the 4.1.15 battle. So that it is fitting for you to enter into this engagement most enthusiastically. For toil is always sweet to men when it is ending and approaching its conclusion. Therefore, let none of you take into account the throng of the Vandals. 4.1.16 For war is not wont to be decided by the multitude of men nor by the size of their bodies, but by the valor of their souls. And let come upon you the most powerful thing of all among men, the shame for your own actions. 4.1.17 For it is a disgrace for those who have sense to be defeated by themselves and to be seen as less than their own valor. For I know well that the enemy, being seized by both terror and the memory of their misfortunes, are forced to become more cowardly, the one frightening them with what has already happened, 4.1.18 the other driving away the hope of success. For fortune, once it has appeared hostile, enslaves the spirit of those who have fallen into its hands. And that the contest is now for greater things for us than before, 4.1.19 I shall make clear. For in the previous battle, if things did not go well for us, the danger was in not taking what belonged to others, but now, if we do not win the contest, 4.1.20 we shall lose what is our own. Inasmuch, therefore, as possessing nothing is a lighter thing than being deprived of one's possessions, by so much now more than before is our fear in a most 4.1.21 critical situation. And yet before, though our infantry had been left behind, we happened to win the victory, but now, with God gracious and entering the engagement with the entire army, I have hope to conquer the camp 4.1.22 of the enemy, men and all. Having, therefore, the end of the war at hand, do not through any negligence put it off to another time, lest, when the opportunity has passed by, 4.1.23 you be forced to seek it again. For the fortune of war, when postponed, is not wont to proceed in the same way as it is, especially if it is prolonged by the will of those who are waging 4.1.24 it. For the divine power is always accustomed to be indignant with those who throw away their present good fortune. But if anyone thinks that the enemy, seeing their children and wives and their most precious possessions in our hands, will dare beyond what is prudent, and will run risks beyond their existing strength, he does not think correctly. 4.1.25 For excessive passion, arising in their souls for their most precious things, is accustomed to destroy even their existing strength and does not allow them to use their present resources; you, therefore, considering all these things, it is fitting to go against the enemy with great contempt." 4.2.1 Having exhorted them with such words, Belisarius on the same day sent all the horsemen, except five hundred, entrusting to John the Armenian both his guards and the standard, which the Romans call a 'bandon',

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θωπείᾳ μετιὼν ἡμέρᾳ ἑκάστῃ ἐξενεγκεῖν εἰς αὐτὸν ἔπεισεν ὅσα αὐτοῖς ὁ Γελίμερ ὑποσχόμενος εἴη, ἐφ' 4.1.10 ᾧ ἐν τῇ ξυμβολῇ κακοὶ γένωνται. ἔφασκον δὲ οἱ βάρβαροι οὗτοι οὐδεμίαν σφίσι προθυμίαν ἐς τὸ μάχεσθαι εἶναι· δεδιέναι γὰρ μὴ Βανδίλων ἡσσημένων οὐκ ἀποπέμψονται Ῥωμαῖοι σφᾶς ἐς τὰ πάτρια ἤθη, ἀλλ' αὐτοῦ ἀναγκάζοιντο ἐν Λιβύῃ γηράσκοντες θνήσκειν· καὶ μὴν καὶ περὶ τῇ λείᾳ, μὴ ἀφαιρεθῶσιν αὐτὴν, ἐν 4.1.11 φροντίδι εἶναι. τότε δὴ οὖν αὐτοῖς Βελισάριος πιστὰ ἔδωκεν ὡς, ἢν κατὰ κράτος Βανδίλοι ἡσσηθεῖεν, αὐτίκα δὴ μάλα ἐς τὰ οἰκεῖα ξὺν πᾶσι λαφύροις σταλήσονται, οὕτω τε αὐτοὺς ὅρκοις καταλαμβάνει ἦ μὴν πάσῃ προθυμίᾳ ξυνδιενεγκεῖν σφίσι τὸν πόλεμον. 4.1.12 Ἐπειδή τε ἅπαντά οἱ ὡς ἄριστα παρεσκεύαστο καὶ ὁ περίβολος ἤδη ἀπείργαστο, ξυγκαλέσας ἅπαν τὸ 4.1.13 στράτευμα ἔλεξε τοιάδε «Παραίνεσιν μὲν, ἄνδρες Ῥω»μαῖοι, οὐκ οἶδα ὅτι δεῖ ποιεῖσθαι πρὸς ὑμᾶς, οἵ γε «οὕτω τοὺς πολεμίους ἔναγχος νενικήκατε ὥστε Καρ»χηδών τε ἥδε καὶ Λιβύη ξύμπασα κτῆμα τῆς ὑμε»τέρας ἀρετῆς ἐστι, καὶ δι' αὐτὸ ξυμβουλῆς οὐδεμιᾶς «ὑμῖν ἐς εὐτολμίαν ὁρμώσης δεήσει. τῶν γὰρ νενικη»κότων ἥκιστα ἐλασσοῦσθαι φιλοῦσιν αἱ γνῶμαι. 4.1.14 «ἐκεῖνο δὲ μόνον ὑπομνῆσαι ὑμᾶς οὐκ ἄπο καιροῦ «οἴομαι εἶναι, ὡς, ἢν ὁμοίως ὑμῖν αὐτοῖς ἐν τῷ πα»ρόντι ἀνδραγαθίζοισθε, αὐτίκα δὴ μάλα τὸ πέρας «ἕξει τοῖς μὲν Βανδίλοις τὰ τῆς ἐλπίδος, ὑμῖν δὲ ἡ 4.1.15 «μάχη. ὥστε ὑμᾶς ὡς προθυμότατα εἰκὸς ἐς ξυμβο»λὴν τήνδε καθίστασθαι. ἡδὺς γὰρ ἀεὶ τοῖς ἀνθρώ»ποις ἀπολήγων τε καὶ εἰς καταστροφὴν βαδίζων ὁ «πόνος. τὸν μὲν οὖν τῶν Βανδίλων ὅμιλον ὑμῶν 4.1.16 «διαλογιζέσθω μηδείς. οὐ γὰρ ἀνθρώπων πλήθει οὐδὲ «σωμάτων μέτρῳ, ἀλλὰ ψυχῶν ἀρετῇ φιλεῖ ὁ πόλεμος «διακρίνεσθαι. εἰσίτω δὲ ὑμᾶς τὸ πάντων ἰσχυρότα»τον τῶν ἐν ἀνθρώποις, ἡ ἐπὶ τοῖς πρασσομένοις 4.1.17 «αἰδώς. αἰσχύνη γὰρ τοῖς γε νοῦν ἔχουσι τὸ σφῶν «αὐτῶν ἡσσᾶσθαι καὶ τῆς οἰκείας ἀρετῆς ἐλάσσους «ὀφθῆναι. τοὺς γὰρ πολεμίους εὖ οἶδα ὅτι ὀρρωδία «τε καὶ κακῶν μνήμη περιλαβοῦσαι ἀναγκάζουσι κα»κίους γενέσθαι, ἡ μὲν τοῖς φθάσασι δεδιττομένη, ἡ 4.1.18 «δὲ ἀνασοβοῦσα τὴν τοῦ κατορθώσειν ἐλπίδα. τύχη 4.1.18 «γὰρ εὐθὺς μοχθηρὰ ὀφθεῖσα δουλοῖ τῶν αὐτῇ περι»πεπτωκότων τὸ φρόνημα. ὡς δὲ νῦν ἡμῖν ἢ πρό4.1.19 «τερον ὑπὲρ μειζόνων ὁ ἀγών ἐστιν ἐγὼ δηλώσω. ἐν «μὲν γὰρ τῇ προτέρᾳ μάχῃ τῶν πραγμάτων ἡμῖν οὐκ «εὖ προϊόντων ἐν τῷ μὴ τὴν ἀλλοτρίαν λαβεῖν ὁ κίν»δυνος ἦν, νῦν δὲ, ἢν μὴ τῶν ἀγώνων κρατήσωμεν, 4.1.20 «τὴν ἡμετέραν ἀποβαλοῦμεν. ὅσῳ τοίνυν τὸ κεκτῆ»σθαι μηδὲν τοῦ τῶν ὑπαρχόντων ἐστερῆσθαι κουφό»τερον, τοσούτῳ νῦν μᾶλλον ἢ πρότερον ἐν τοῖς 4.1.21 «ἀναγκαιοτάτοις ὁ φόβος. καίτοι πρότερον τῶν πεζῶν «ἡμῖν ἀπολελειμμένων τὴν νίκην ἀνελέσθαι τετύχηκε, «νῦν δὲ ἵλεῴ τε τῷ θεῷ καὶ τῷ παντὶ στρατῷ ἐς τὴν «ξυμβολὴν καθιστάμενος κρατήσειν τοῦ στρατοπέδου 4.1.22 «τῶν πολεμίων αὐτοῖς ἀνδράσιν ἐλπίδα ἔχω. πρόχειρον «οὖν ἔχοντες τὸ τοῦ πολέμου πέρας μή τινι ὀλιγωρίᾳ «ἐς ἄλλον αὐτὸ ἀπόθησθε χρόνον, μὴ παραδραμόντα 4.1.23 «τὸν καιρὸν ἐπιζητεῖν ἀναγκάζησθε. ἀναβαλλομένη «γὰρ ἡ τοῦ πολέμου τύχη οὐχ ὁμοίως τοῖς καθεστῶσι «χωρεῖν πέφυκεν, ἄλλως τε ἢν καὶ γνώμῃ τῶν αὐτὸν 4.1.24 «διαφερόντων μηκύνηται. τοῖς γὰρ τὴν ὑπάρχουσαν «εὐημερίαν προϊεμένοις τὸ δαιμόνιον ἀεὶ νεμεσᾶν εἴω»θεν. εἰ δέ τις ἐννοεῖ τοὺς πολεμίους, παῖδάς τε καὶ «γυναῖκας καὶ τὰ τιμιώτατα ὑπὸ ταῖς ἡμετέραις ὁρῶν»τας χερσὶ, τολμήσειν μὲν παρὰ γνώμην, κινδυνεύσειν «δὲ παρὰ τὴν ὑπάρχουσαν αὐτοῖς δύναμιν, οὐκ ὀρθῶς 4.1.25 «οἴεται. θυμὸς γὰρ ὑπεράγαν ἐν ταῖς ψυχαῖς ὑπὲρ «τῶν τιμιωτάτων φυόμενος τήν τε οὖσαν ἰσχὺν «καθαιρεῖν εἴωθε καὶ τοῖς καθεστῶσιν οὐκ ἐᾷ χρῆ»σθαι· ἃ δὴ πάντα λογιζομένους ὑμᾶς πολλῷ τῷ κατα»φρονήματι ἐπὶ τοὺς πολεμίους ἰέναι προσήκει.» 4.2.1 Τοσαῦτα Βελισάριος παρακελευσάμενος ἱππέας μὲν ἅπαντας, πλὴν πεντακοσίων, ἡμέρᾳ τῇ αὐτῇ ἔστειλε, τούς τε ὑπασπιστὰς καὶ τὸ σημεῖον, ὃ δὴ βάνδον καλοῦσι Ῥωμαῖοι, Ἰωάννῃ ἐπιτρέψας τῷ Ἀρμενίῳ