ccount of what had befallen Aigan and Rufinus, and
wishing to admonish them to be of good cheer, he spoke as follows: "Men
who have campaigned with Belisarius, let no fear of these men enter your
minds, and, if Moors gathered to the number of fifty thousand have
already defeated five hundred Romans, let not this stand for you as an
example. But call to mind your own valour, and consider that while the
Vandals defeated the Moors, you have become masters of the Vandals in
war without any effort, and that it is not right that those who have
conquered the greater should be terrified before those who are inferior.
And indeed of all men the Moorish nation seems to be the most poorly
equipped for war's struggle. For the most of them have no armour at all,
and those who have shields to hold before themselves have only small
ones which are not well made and are not able to turn aside what strikes
against them. And after they have thrown those two small spears, if they
do not accomplish anything, they turn of their own accord to flight. So
that it is possible for you, after guarding against the first attack of
the barbarians, to win the victory with no trouble at all. But as to
your equipment of arms, you see, of course, how great is the difference
between it and that of your opponents. And apart from this, both valour
of heart and strength of body and experience in war and confidence
because you have already conquered all your enemies,--all these
advantages you have; but the Moors, being deprived of all these things,
put their trust only in their own great throng. And it is easier for a
few who are most excellently prepared to conquer a multitude of men not
good at warfare than it is for the multitude to defeat them. For while
the good soldier has his confidence in himself, the cowardly man
generally finds that the very number of those arrayed with him produces
a want of room that is full of peril. Furthermore, you are warranted in
despising these camels, which cannot fight for the enemy, and when
struck by our missiles will, in all probability, become the cause of
considerable confusion and disorder among them. And the eagerness for
battle which the enemy have acquired on account of their former success
will be your ally in the fight. For daring, when it is kept commensurate
with one's power, will perhaps be of some benefit even to those who make
use of it, but when it exceeds one's power it lends into danger. Bearing
these thing