But that it was impossible for the valour of one who served in the Roman camp to remain in obscurity; that many who had served with him had reported to him how brave a man he was, how often and what dangers he had encountered for the safety and honour of the Roman people; and how in the battle of Cannae he had not given over fighting till, almost bloodless, he was buried under a heap of men, horses, and arms which fell upon him.

Go on then," says he, "and prosper in your career of valour, with me you shall receive every honour and every reward, and the oftener you be with me, the more you shall find it will be to your honour and emolument." He presented the young man, delighted with these promises, with a horse of distinguished beauty, ordered the quaestor to give him five hundred denarii, and commanded the lictors to allow him to approach him whenever he might please.
16.

The violent spirit of the youth was so much soothed by the courteous treatment of Marcellus, that thenceforward no one of the allies displayed greater courage or fidelity in aiding the Roman cause.

Hannibal being now at the gates, for he had moved his camp back again from Nuceria to Nola, and the commons beginning to turn their attention to revolt afresh, Marcellus, on the approach of the enemy, retired within the walls; not from apprehension for his camp, but lest he should give an opportunity for betraying the city, which too many were anxiously watching for.

The troops on both sides then began to be drawn up; the Romans before the walls of Nola, the Carthaginians before their own camp.