τοιαύτην μεταβολὴν ἡ τύχη καὶ δύναμιν ἔχει, πᾶσαν ἀνθρωπίνην ὑπεροχὴν ἀνελπίστως σφάλλουσα.

Dies sagt Scipio Aemilianus bei der Eroberung Karthagos 146 v.u.Z., als der besiegte Hasdrubal kniend vor ihm um Gnade fleht.
Und dann fällt dem Scipio noch Homer (Ilias VI 448 f.) ein.

Die komplette Stelle lautet bei Diodor XXXI 23 f.:

At the fall of Carthage the general, forgetting his proud courage, or rather his proud talk, abandoned the deserters and approached Scipio in the guise of a suppliant. Clasping Scipio by the knees and sobbing as he urged every possible plea, he moved him to compassion. Scipio exhorted him to take heart, and addressing the friends who sat with him in council, said: “This is the man who a while back was not willing to accept any offer of safety on highly favourable terms. Such is the inconstancy of Fortune and her power; unpredictably she brings about the collapse of all human pretensions.”
When Carthage had been put to the torch and the flames were doing their awful work of devastation throughout the whole city, Scipio wept unabashedly. Asked by Polybius, his mentor, why he was thus affected, he said: “Because I am reflecting on the fickleness of Fortune. Some day, perhaps, the time will come, when a similar fate shall overtake Rome.” And he cited these lines from the poet, Homer:

The day will come when sacred Ilium shall perish,
with Priam and his people.

Das ist eine für die Antike typische Moral von der Geschichte.

Appian in den Punischen Kriegen (VIII 130 ff.) erzählt die Anekdote noch ausführlicher. Sie geht wohl auf den Bericht des Polybios zurück, der selbst nicht erhalten ist.