Kitap 23
43
Hanno had come close up to the walls, and, seeing amongst the senators Herennius Bassus and Herius Pettius, asked for an interview with them. Having obtained permission from Marcellus they went out to him. He addressed them through an interpreter. After magnifying the merits and good fortune of Hannibal and dwelling upon the decaying strength and greatness of Rome, he went on to urge that even if Rome were what she once had been, still men who knew by experience how burdensome the Roman government was to their allies and with what indulgence Hannibal had treated all those of his prisoners who belonged to any Italian nation must surely prefer the alliance and friendship of Carthage to those of Rome. If both the consuls and their two armies had been at Nola, they would still be no more a match for Hannibal than they were at Cannae, how then could one praetor with a few raw soldiers defend the place? It was of more importance to them whether the town were taken or surrendered than it was to Hannibal; he would get possession of it in any case as he had got possession of Capua and Nuceria. But what a difference there was between the fate of Capua and that of Nola, they knew best, situated as they were midway between the two places. He did not want to prophesy what would happen to the city if it were captured; he preferred to pledge his word that if they would give up Marcellus and his garrison and the city of Nola no one but themselves should dictate the terms on which they would become allies and friends of Hannibal.
