KemetLeads

Their words

“No keener weapon has been put into men's hands by the immortal gods than a contempt for death.”

As reported by Livy · Ab Urbe Condita 21.44.9 (trans. W. M. Roberts, 1905)

Context Words Livy gives Hannibal as he addressed his army in northern Italy in 218 BCE, after crossing the Alps and before the first clash with Rome.

Portrait of Hannibal Barca
Hannibal BarcaTunisia · 247–183 BC
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More words from Hannibal Barca

“This oath, thus taken before my father, I have so strictly kept even to this day, that no man ought to doubt but that I shall be of the same mind for the rest of my life.”
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“For either you must conquer, or die, or fall alive into the hands of your foes.”
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“Gisco, another thing has escaped your notice which is more amazing still… in all this multitude there is no one who is called Gisco.”
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“Years and a chequered experience of good and evil fortune have so disillusioned me that I prefer to take reason rather than Fortune as my guide.”
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“Peace once established is a better and safer thing than hoping for victory; that is in your hands, this in the hands of the gods.”
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