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“For either you must conquer, or die, or fall alive into the hands of your foes.”

As reported by Polybius · Histories 3.63.4 (trans. W. R. Paton, 1922)

Context After crossing the Alps in 218 BC, he addressed his army before the battle of the Ticinus, having made captives fight one another to show the choice his men faced, Polybius says.

Portrait of Hannibal Barca
Hannibal BarcaTunisia · 247–183 BC
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