Kitap 23
5.15
So when the bridge had been broken down (as was said before) and all had crossed, the emperor thought that the most urgent of all his duties was to address the soldiers, who were advancing confidently through trust in themselves and their leader. Therefore, when the signal had been given with the trumpets, and all the centuries, cohorts and maniples had come together, he took his place upon a mound of earth, surrounded by a ring of high officials, and with calm countenance and favoured with the unanimous devotion of all, spoke as follows:
5.16
Seeing the great vigour and eagerness that animate you, my valiant soldiers, I have resolved to address you, in order to explain in full detail that this is not the first time—as some evil-minded men mutter—that the Romans have invaded the Persian kingdom. For not to mention Lucullus and Pompey, who, passing through the Albani and the Massagetae, whom we now call the Alani, broke into this nation also and came to the Caspian Sea, we know that Ventidius,See Plut., Ant. 33, 4; 34, 1; Val. Max. vi. 9, 9. the lieutenant-general of Antony, inflicted innumerable sanguinary defeats in this region.
