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The consul in his reply reminded the tribune that he did not receive Liguria as his province nor was it with the Ligurians that he had been at war, nor was it over the Ligurians that he asked for a triumph. Q. Minucius would, he felt quite sure, soon subjugate them, and then he would ask for a triumph and it would be granted him because it would be well deserved. He (the speaker) was asking for a triumph over the Boii after defeating them in battle, depriving them of their camp, receiving the submission of the entire nation two days after the battle, and bringing away a number of hostages as a guarantee of peace for the future. But a much stronger reason for his request being granted was the fact that the number of Gauls killed amounted to more than all the thousands of Boii, to say the least, with which any Roman general before his time had ever fought. Out of 50,000 men more than half had fallen, many thousands had been made prisoners, only old men and boys were left among the Boii. Could then anyone wonder why the victorious army after leaving not a single active enemy in the province had come to Rome to grace the consul's triumph? "If," he continued, "the senate wishes to employ these soldiers in another field, in what way do you think they will be made more ready to face fresh toils and dangers? By recompensing them in full for the perils and labours they have already undergone, or by sending them off with expectations instead of rewards after they have been cheated of the hopes already formed? As for myself, I had glory enough to last my lifetime on the day when the senate judged me to be the best and worthiest in the commonwealth and sent me to receive Mater Idaea. The bust of P. Scipio Nasica will be sufficiently honoured by bearing that record inscribed upon it though neither consulship nor triumph were added."
