This scene, and the scene preceding it, has Ross delivering important news. Arguably, when does he not.... But that got me thinking. What message is he really trying to convey? In the first scene, the message is to the king. In the second one, the message is to Macbeth. The message to Macbeth, it's relatively clear: the king has charged him (Ross) to bring tidings to Macbeth about his being appointed Thane of Cawdor, a lofty position indeed. But Ross gets all flowery about it. Why?
Ross feels the need to expound the fact that the king received message after message regarding the details of how wonderful Macbeth was in the fight against the Norwegian invaders, ultimately resulting in Macbeth challenging the invading king, "point against point, rebellious arm 'gainst arm, curbing his lavish spirit."
Ross just spent the better part of, chances are, a couple days looking for and tracking Macbeth simply to deliver the news. So why the flowery description? I'm certain he would have been practicing all that he wanted to say. That would mean that Macbeth needed to hear all the exposition. What does that say of the mind of Macbeth? Of Ross?
In contrast, Ross pretty much gets to the point with the king. While the message is being delivered to Duncan, the extraneous stuff is for the benefit of the court. The words chosen were intended to spur into action the members of the court (the king's sons, Lennox, and other attending Thanes). Or was it to make Ross seem more important? No. Ross would not, nor does not, specifically draw attention to himself. He is happy just doing his duty.
Still, though, why would he need to spur the others into action if he concludes his report with the words, "the victory fell on us"? What does Ross know? What does he suspect? What does he fear? He describes Macbeth as "Bellona's Bridegroom". That is a reference to the Roman goddess of war. Basically he called Macbeth the husband to the Roman patron goddess, describing his demeanor as one of strong military might, warlike in nature.
Maybe he's not spurring them into action, but he's more cautioning them regarding this "great hero" and that, while it is time to celebrate such a great victory, things have not been fully settled. There is still work to do. Ross is coming from Fife, homeland of Macduff. It is later established, or suspected or interpreted to be, that he is an actual cousin to Macduff. If they are not actual family, which I doubt given the geography of the area, Ross regularly consults with Macduff and trusts heavily in his wisdom. As such, they would have strong family ties.
So here we have two important messages being delivered. It brings me back to why Ross chose his specific wording. Well, to expound a bit on the scenes, the first message, while it is being delivered to the king, it is on the battlefield. One of the valiant captains has just regaled the king, his sons, and attending thanes of the glorious battle that Macbeth and Banquo led against the invaders. But Ross is rushing in to tell the same tale, in more direct wording.
I think in this first scene, Ross wanted to convey three very important things: 1. the Norwegian king was assisted by the Thane of Cawdor; 2. what stopped the advance was the terrible battle prowess of Macbeth; and 3. we held to our honor by ensuring that the conquered paid full tribute to the victors.
The second scene has Ross conveying three things as well: 1.the king is beside himself with the deeds of Macbeth on the battlefield; so much so that 2. the king is appointing Macbeth the Thane of Cawdor, in addition to his Thane of Glamis; when questioned by Macbeth, Ross reveals that 3. the former Thane of Cawdor was the traitor that allowed the invasion in the first place, and because of that treachery, his life and title is forfeit.
I keep running in circles. I wonder if I should stop here and revisit this....
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