| Keywords |
|
| ID |
4121 |
| Text |
De rebus gestis Rogerii Calabriae et Siciliae comitis et Roberti Guiscardi ducis fratris eius (1075 - 1100) Geoffrey Malaterra |
| Quotation |
"Ita ne - inquit -, o fortissimi, hactenus viribus exhausti estis, ut, absque recordatione alicuius militaris laudis, in profundum putribundae defectionis submersi, ulterius respirare nequeatis. Recordamini antecessorum, sed et gentis nostrae, nostraeque hactenus habitae strenuitatis preconizatae, devitantes notas futuri vituperii. Recordamini quot millia hostium apud Ceramum pauciores, quam nunc debellatores exstinxistis. Fortuna tunc vobis arridens ab eodem, quo et nunc adhuc regitur. Resumite pristinas vires: victoria post fugam fortiter agentibus laudis reparatio est" |
| Translation |
O you most brave men', he said, 'have you so exhausted your strength that having failed to accomplish any noteworthy feat of arms and sunk to the depths by deserting in the most rotten manner, you cannot now pull yourselves together! Let us remember your ancestors, and the courage [strenuitas] which our race once used to have and [indeed] for which it was renowned, and avoid the scorn of those in the future. Remember how many thousand enemies you defeated at Cerami with fewer men than there are here now. Fortune favoured you then, it will act in the same way here and now as it did formerly. Get back to your former valour - by acting bravely and [gaining] the victory after your flight your reputation will be restored'. |
| Quotation source |
II, 35 |
| Associated use case(s) |
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| Comment |
Descriptors: brave, exhausted, sunk, courage, renowned, favoured, valour. This speech appeals to the Norman perception that their ancestors, the Norman people, were brave and valourous. Count Roger shouts these speech in order to rally his troops, who have retreated up a nearby mountain, Monte Turone, fleeing from an army of Africans and Arabs. |
