Reliquae Pergamenae naves cum adversarios premerent acrius, repente in eas vasa fictilia de quibus supra mentionem fecimus conici coepta sunt. Quae iacta initio risum pugnantibus concitarunt, neque qua re id fieret poterat intellegi. Postquam autem naves suas oppletas conspexerunt serpentibus, nova re perterriti, cum quid potissimum vitarent non viderent, puppes verterunt seque ad sua castra nautica rettulerunt. Sic Hannibal consilio arma Pergamenorum superavit, neque tum solum, sed saepe alias pedestribus copiis pari prudentia pepulit adversarios.
When the other Pergamene ships began to press their opponents too hard, on a sudden the earthenware jars of which I have spoken began to be hurled at them. At first these projectiles excited the laughter of the combatants, and they could not understand what it meant. But as soon as they saw their ships filled with snakes, terrified by the strange weapons and not knowing how to avoid them, they turned their ships about and retreated to their naval camp. Thus Hannibal overcame the arms of Pergamum by strategy; and that was not the only instance of the kind, but on many other occasions in land battles he defeated his antagonists by a similar bit of cleverness.
final_alignments\Cornelius_Nepos_Hannibal.json