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[14] Haec 
non hostili modo odio 
sed amoris etiam stimulis 
amatam apud aemulum cernens cum dixisset, 
non mediocri cura 
Scipionis animum pepulit; 
et fidem criminibus 
raptae prope inter arma nuptiae 
neque consulto 
neque exspectato Laelio 
faciebant 
tamque praeceps festinatio 
ut quo die 
captam hostem uidisset 
eodem matrimonio iunctam acciperet 
et ad penates hostis sui 
nuptiale sacrum conficeret. 
et eo foediora haec uidebantur 
Scipioni quod 
ipsum in Hispania iuuenem 
nullius forma pepulerat captiuae. 
haec secum uolutanti 
Laelius ac Masinissa superuenerunt. 
quos cum pariter ambo 
et benigno uoltu excepisset 
et egregiis laudibus 
frequenti praetorio celebrasset, 
abductum in secretum Masinissam 
sic adloquitur: 
'aliqua te existimo, Masinissa, 
intuentem in me bona 
et principio in Hispania 
ad iungendam mecum amicitiam uenisse 
et postea in Africa 
te ipsum spesque omnes tuas 
in fidem meam commisisse. 
atqui nulla earum uirtus est 
propter quas tibi adpetendus uisus sim 
qua ego 
aeque ac temperantia 
et continentia libidinum gloriatus fuerim. 
hanc te quoque 
ad ceteras tuas eximias uirtutes, 
Masinissa, adiecisse uelim. 
non est, non--
mihi crede--
tantum ab hostibus armatis 
aetati nostrae periculi 
quantum ab 
circumfusis undique uoluptatibus.
qui eas temperantia sua 
frenauit ac domuit 
multo maius decus 
maioremque uictoriam sibi peperit 
quam nos Syphace uicto habemus. 
quae me absente 
strenue ac fortiter fecisti 
libenter et commemoraui 
et memini: 
cetera te ipsum 
reputare tecum 
quam me dicente 
erubescere malo. 
Syphax 
populi Romani auspiciis 
uictus captusque est. 
itaque ipse coniunx regnum 
ager oppida 
homines qui incolunt, 
quicquid denique Syphacis fuit, 
praeda populi Romani est; 
et regem coniugemque eius, 
etiamsi non ciuis Carthaginiensis esset, 
etiamsi non patrem eius 
imperatorem hostium uideremus, 
Romam oporteret mitti, 
ac senatus populique Romani 
de ea iudicium atque arbitrium esse 
quae 
regem socium nobis alienasse 
atque in arma egisse praecipitem dicatur. 
uince animum; 
caue deformes 
multa bona uno uitio 
et tot meritorum gratiam 
maiore culpa 
quam causa culpae est corrumpas.'

[14] [Since he said] this
not only out of hatred towards an enemy, 
but also from the stings of love, 
seeing the woman he loved with his rival,
he filled Scipio's heart  )
with exceptional anxiety. )
As for proof of the charges, 
the hurried wedding almost on the battlefield,
without consulting 
or even waiting for Laelius, 
supplied that proof.
So headlong was Masinissa's haste 
that on the very day 
he saw his enemy prisoner,
on that same day he took her in marriage, 
and it was before the penates of his enemy
that he performed the marriage rites. 
These things appeared all the more shocking 
to Scipio because 
when he himself was in Spain as a young man,
no captive girl's beauty had ever moved him.
Whilst he was thinking this over, 
Laelius and Masinissa appeared. 
When [he had welcomed] both alike
with a kindly expression
and [addressed them] with exceptional praises
in the presence of a crowded pretorium,
he took Masinissa quietly aside 
and spoke to him as follows: 
"I think, Masinissa, that you, 
seeing [some] good qualities in me
both at the start in Spain 
came to establish friendly relations with me, 
and afterwards in Africa 
entrusted yourself and all your hopes )
to me.                                )
Now, there is no virtue among those 
by which I seem to have attracted you 
upon which [I pride myself] 
so much as upon my continence 
and the control of my passions. 
That you [had added] this also
to your other outstanding virtues, 
Masinissa, is what I would wish. 
There is not, not -
believe me - 
so much [danger] from armed foes
at our time of life   
as from 
pleasures spread all around us.         
The man who has curbed and tamed these )
 by his self-control                   )
[has won for himself] much greater glory 
and a greater victory 
than we have with the defeat of Syphax. 
The things that [you have done] in my absence
with courage and energy
I have gladly mentioned 
and remember; 
The other things [I prefer] that you yourself
should reflect upon when alone, 
rather than that, as I mention them,
you should blush. 
Syphax 
under the auspices of the people of Rome
has been defeated and captured, 
and so he, his wife, his kingdom, 
his territory, his towns,
the people who dwell in them,
 whatever in short Syphax possessed, 
are the spoils of war of the Roman people. 
Both the king and his wife,
even if she were not a Carthaginian citizen, 
if we did not [see] her father    )
in command of the enemy's forces, )
would need to be sent to Rome, 
and the senate and people of Rome
should have judgement and decision about her, 
who [is alleged] 
to have estranged an allied king from us 
and driven him headlong to arms.
 Conquer your feelings 
and beware lest you spoil
many good qualities with one vice
and [sully] the grace of so many services 
by a fault which is out of all proportion 
to its cause."