Kitap 26
48
Leaving C. Laelius with the marines in charge of the city, Scipio led his legions the same day back into camp. They were well-nigh worn out; they had fought in the open field, had undergone much toil and danger in the capture of the city, and after capturing it had sustained a conflict on unfavourable ground with those who had taken refuge in the citadel. So he gave them one day's respite from all military duties and ordered them to seek refreshment and rest. The next day he issued orders for all the soldiers and marines to appear on parade that he might address them. First he offered up a thanksgiving to the immortal gods because they had not only made him master in a single day of the wealthiest city in all Spain, but had also brought together beforehand into the place all the resources of Africa and Spain, so that whilst nothing was left to the enemy he and his men had a superabundance of everything. Then he praised the courage of his troops, whom, he said, nothing had daunted, neither the sortie of the enemy, nor the height of the walls, nor the untried depth of the lagoon, nor the fort on the hill, nor the unusual strength of the citadel. Nothing had prevented them from surmounting every obstacle and forcing their way everywhere. Though every man amongst them deserved all the rewards he could give, the glory of the mural crown belonged especially to him who was the first to scale the wall, and the man who considered that he deserved it should claim it.
