Act 5, Scene 2

Field of battle between the British and Roman camps.

[Enter, from one side, LUCIUS, IACHIMO, and the Roman Army: from the other side, the British Army; POSTHUMUS LEONATUS following, like a poor soldier. They march over and go out. Then enter again, in skirmish, IACHIMO and POSTHUMUS LEONATUS he vanquisheth and disarmeth IACHIMO, and then leaves him]
Iachimo
2831 The heaviness and guilt within my bosom
2832 Takes off my manhood: I have belied a lady,
2833 The princess of this country, and the air on't
2834 Revengingly enfeebles me; or could this carl,
2835 A very drudge of nature's, have subdued me
2836 In my profession? Knighthoods and honours, borne
2837 As I wear mine, are titles but of scorn.
2838 If that thy gentry, Britain, go before
2839 This lout as he exceeds our lords, the odds
2840 Is that we scarce are men and you are gods.
[Exit]
[The battle continues; the Britons fly; CYMBELINE is taken: then enter, to his rescue, BELARIUS, GUIDERIUS, and ARVIRAGUS]
Belarius
2841 Stand, stand! We have the advantage of the ground;
2842 The lane is guarded: nothing routs us but
2843 The villany of our fears.
Guiderius and Arviragus
2844 Stand, stand, and fight!
[Re-enter POSTHUMUS LEONATUS, and seconds the Britons: they rescue CYMBELINE, and exeunt. Then re-enter LUCIUS, and IACHIMO, with IMOGEN]
Caius Lucius
2845 Away, boy, from the troops, and save thyself;
2846 For friends kill friends, and the disorder's such
2847 As war were hoodwink'd.
Iachimo
2848 'Tis their fresh supplies.
Caius Lucius
2849 It is a day turn'd strangely: or betimes
2850 Let's reinforce, or fly.
[Exeunt]

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Notes

TLN 2831archaic vocab
“heaviness and guilt within my bosom Takes off my manhood”
Iachimo confesses that a crushing sense of guilt is stripping him of his fighting capacity. 'Takes off' means removes or disables; 'manhood' here means specifically military courage and strength, not simply masculinity. He has been defeated by Posthumus — a man he considers far beneath him socially — and his conscience supplies the reason.
TLN 2832archaic vocab
“I have belied a lady, The princess of this country”
'Belied' means slandered or lied about — Iachimo told Posthumus false stories about Imogen's supposed infidelity. This is not merely dishonesty; to 'belie' a woman's chastity was among the gravest social injuries an Elizabethan could inflict, because a woman's reputation for virtue was tied directly to her family's honor and her husband's standing.
TLN 2834archaic vocab
“could this carl, A very drudge of nature's, have subdued me”
'Carl' (also 'churl') was a term for a rude, low-born peasant or laborer, used contemptuously. 'A very drudge of nature's' means a mere slave of nature — someone born with no breeding or refinement, as opposed to a gentleman formed by education and rank. Iachimo cannot believe a man he dismisses as a rustic nobody has beaten him in single combat.
TLN 2838syntax grammar
“If that thy gentry, Britain, go before This lout as he exceeds our lords, the odds Is that we scarce are men and you are gods”
Iachimo's final lines are compressed to the point of obscurity. The logic: 'If the ordinary soldiers of Britain surpass [us Romans] as much as this rough fellow exceeds our lords, then the comparison would make Romans barely human and Britons divine.' He is saying: if one British peasant-soldier can beat a Roman knight, then Britain's whole army must be almost superhuman. 'Gentry' here does not mean the wealthy landowner class specifically but 'people of quality' or simply 'people' in a generalizing sense.
TLN 2846archaic vocab
“the disorder's such As war were hoodwink'd”
'Hoodwink'd' means blindfolded. The image is commonly associated with falconry, where a hawk's hood was a leather cap placed over its eyes to keep it calm. Lucius says the battle is so chaotic — friends killing friends — that war itself seems to be fighting blindfolded, unable to tell its own side from the enemy.