Ammianus Marcellinus, Res Gestae, John C. Rolfe (Translator), 24.8.1

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[1] Under these conditions, in order to reassure the anxious soldiers, the emperor gave orders that some of the prisoners, who were naturally slender, as almost all the Persians are, besides being now thin from exhaustion, should be placed before them; then, looking towards our men, he said: Behold those whom your heroic hearts think to be men, mere ugly she-goats disfigured with filth, who, as abundant experience has shown, throw away their arms and take to flight before they come to grips.¹

Res Gestae. Ammianus Marcellinus. John C. Rolfe (Translator). Cambridge, MA. 1935-1940.

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Current edition Perseus

History (English) (Ammianus Marcellinus. Ammianus Marcellinus, with an English translation, Vols. I-III. Rolfe, John C., translator. Cambridge, MA; London: Harvard University Press; W. Heinemann, 1935-1940 (printing).)

Editions (1)

Res Gestae Perseus (Ammianus Marcellinus. Ammianus Marcellinus, with an English translation, Vols. I-III. Rolfe, John C., editor. Cambridge, MA; London: Harvard University Press; W. Heinemann, 1935-1940 (printing).) — 24.8.1 focus

[1] Has ob res ut solaretur anxios milites princeps, captives graciles suapte natura, ut omnes paene sunt Persae, et macie iam confectos, iussit in medium duci, nostrosque respiciens, En inquit quos Martia ista pectora viros existimant, deformes illuvie capellas et taetras, utque crebri docuerunt eventus, antequam manus conferant abiectis armis vertentes semet in fugam.

Notes on the current edition

History

1. Agesilaus used a similar artifice against the Persians; cf. Xenophon, Ages., i. 28 (p. 73, L.C.L.); and Plut. Ages., 9, 5.

Ammianus Marcellinus Res Gestae 24.8.1

John C. Rolfe (Translator)

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