37.6. Their tidings were true, but they caused no answerable activity among the senators; and Gaius Sempronius, to whom the command had been assigned by lot, trusting to fortune as though it were the most constant thing in the world, because he had commanded the victorious nation against the people they had defeated, conducted everything so carelessly and rashly that Roman discipline was more in evidence in the Volscian army than in the Roman.
37.6. vana attulere; sed nec perinde patres moti sunt, et C. Sempronius, cui ea provincia sorti evenit, tamquam constantissimae rei fortunae fretus, quod victoris populi adversus victos dux esset, omnia temere ac neglegenter egit, adeo ut disciplinae Romanae plus in Volsco exercitu quam in Romano esset.
37.7. Accordingly Fortune, as on many another occasion, waited on desert. In the first battle, which Sempronius entered without caution or deliberation, his line was not strengthened with reserves nor was his cavalry skilfully posted, when the fighting began. The battle-cries were the first intimation how the affair was likely to go;
37.7. fortuna, ut saepe alias, virtutem est secuta. proelio, quod ab Sempronio incaute inconsulteque commissum est, non subsidiis firmata acie, non equite apte locato concursum est.
37.9. for the enemy's was louder and fuller, that of the Romans dissonant and uneven and, dragging more with each repetition, betrayed the faintness of their hearts. This caused the enemy to charge the more boldly, thrusting with shields and making play with swords.
37.9. indicium primum fuit quo res inclinatura esset, excitatior crebriorque ab hoste sublatus: ab Romanis dissonus, impar, segnius saepe iteratus prodidit pavorem animorum.
37.10. On the Roman side helmets nodded, as their wearers looked this way and that for help, and irresolute soldiers made falteringly for the nearest group; at one moment the standards would be left behind by the retreat of the front-rankers, at the next they would be falling back among their proper maniples.
37.10. ferocior inlatus hostis urgere scutis, micare gladiis. ex parte nutant circumspectantibus galeae, et incerti trepidant applicantque se turbae;
37.11. It was not yet a definite flight, not yet a victory; the Romans sought rather to protect themselves than to fight; the Volscians advanced and bore hard against the Roman line, but saw more of their enemies killed than running away.
37.11. signa nunc resistentia deseruntur ab antesignanis, nunc inter suos manipulos recipiuntur. fuga certa, nondum victoria erat; tegi magis Romanus quam pugnare; Volscus inferre signa, urgere aciem, plus caedis hostium videre quam fugae.
38.1. But now the Romans were everywhere falling back, and it was in vain that Sempronius the consul upbraided or encouraged them.
38.1. omnibus locis ceditur nequiquam Sempronio consule obiurgante atque hortante. nec imperium nec maiestas valebat, dataque mox terga hostibus forent, ni Sex.
38.2. There was no virtue either in his authority or in his dignity; and his men would presently have shown the enemy their backs, had not a cavalry decurion named Sextus Tempanius, just as the situation was becoming desperate, come with prompt courage to the rescue.
38.2. Tempanius, decurio equitum, labante iam re praesenti animo subvenisset. cum magna voce exclamasset ut equites qui salvam rem publicam vellent esse ex equis desilirent, omnium turmarum equitibus velut ad consulis imperium motis, haec inquit, parmata cohors sistit impetum hostium, actum de imperio est.
38.3. In a loud voice he cried out that the horsemen who wished to save the state should leap down from their horses, and when the troopers in every squadron had bestirred themselves as if at the command of the consul, he added: “Unless this bucklered cohort stops the enemy's rush it is all over with our supremacy. Follow my spear as your guidon; show Romans and Volscians that when you are mounted no cavalry are your equals, nor any infantry, when you fight on foot!” When a cheer had shown their approval of this exhortation, he advanced with uplifted spear. Wherever they went they forced a passage; holding their targets up before them, they charged where they saw the distress of their friends was greatest.
38.3. pro vexillo cuspidem meam; ostendite Romanis Volscisque neque equitibus vobis ullos equites nec peditibus esse pedites pares. clamore comprobata adhortatio esset, vadit alte cuspidem gerens. incedunt, vi viam faciunt; eo se inferunt obiectis parmis ubi suorum plurimum laborem vident.
38.5. The fortune of the day was restored at every point where their onset carried them; nor was there any doubt that if those few men could have been present everywhere at the same time the enemy would have turned tail.
38.5. omnibus locis pugna, in quae eos impetus tulit; nec dubium erat quin, si tam pauci simul obire omnia possent, terga daturi hostes fuerint.
39.1. When the Volscian general saw that their attack could not anywhere be stopped, he ordered his troops to give ground to the men with bucklers, the enemy's new cohort, until, carried forward in their rush, they should be cut off from their friends.
39.1. cum iam parte nulla sustinerentur, dat signum Volscus imperator ut parmatis, novae cohorti hostium, locus detur, donec done impetu inlati ab suis excludantur.
39.2. On this being done, the horsemen were intercepted, and were unable to break through in the same way as they had got over, since their enemies were most thickly crowded together where they had made their path. When the consul and the Roman legions could nowhere see the soldiers who a moment before had been a shield to the entire army, they pressed forward to save at any cost so many heroic men from being surrounded and borne down by the enemy.
39.2. ubi est factum, interclusi equites nec perrumpere eadem qua transierant posse, ibi maxime confertis hostibus qua viam fecerant, et consul legionesque Romanae cum quod tegumen modo omnis exercitus fuerat nusquam viderent, ne tot fortissimos viros interclusos opprimeret hostis, tendunt in quemcumque casum.
39.4. The Volscians, facing two ways, sustained on one side the onset of the consul and the legions, and on the other front pressed home their attack upon Tempanius and his troopers;
39.4. Volsci hinc consulem ac legiones sustinere, altera fronte instare Tempanio atque equitibus; qui cum saepe conati nequissent perrumpere ad suos, tumulo quodam occupato in orbem se tutabantur, nequaquam inulti; nec pugnae finis ante noctem fuit.
39.5. who, having failed, in spite of many attempts, to force their way through to their friends, had seized a certain mound and, forming a circle, were defending themselves, not without taking vengeance on their assailants. The battle did not end till nightfall. Neither did the consul relax his efforts anywhere, but kept the enemy engaged as long as there was any light. Darkness put a stop to the indecisive struggle, and the terror in each camp was such, in consequence of men's ignorance of the outcome, that both armies, abandoning their wounded and a good part of their baggage, retreated to the nearest hills, as though defeated.
39.5. quoque nusquam remisso certamine dum quicquam superfuit lucis, hostem tenuit. incertos diremit; tantusque ab imprudentia eventus utraque castra tenuit pavor ut relictis sauciis et magna parte impedimentorum ambo pro victis exercitus se in montes proximos reciperent.
39.7. Nevertheless the mound was besieged till after midnight. But when word was brought to the besiegers that their camp was abandoned, they too supposed that their side had been defeated, and every man fled where his panic led him in the darkness.
39.7. tamen circumsessus ultra mediam noctem est. cum circumsedentibus nuntiatum esset castra deserta esse, victos rati suos et ipsi, qua quemque in tenebris pavor tulit fugerunt.
39.8. Tempanius feared an ambush and kept his soldiers close till daylight. Then, descending with a few followers to reconnoitre, he discovered by questioning some wounded enemies that the camp of the Volscians was deserted, whereupon he joyfully called his men down from the hill and made his way into the Roman camp.
39.8. Tempanius metu insidiarum suos ad lucem tenuit. deinde ipse cum paucis speculatum cum ab sauciis hostibus sciscitando comperisset castra Volscorum deserta esse, laetus ab tumulo suos devocat et in castra Romana penetrat.
39.9. There he found everything abandoned and forlorn and the same desolation he had met with on the ground of the enemy; and, before the Volsci could learn of their blunder and return, he carried with him such of the wounded as he was able, and not knowing what way the consul had gone, took the nearest road to the City.
39.9. cum vasta desertaque omnia atque eandem quam apud hostes foeditatem invenisset, priusquam Volscos cognitus error reduceret, quibus poterat sauciis ductis secum, ignarus quam regionem consul petisset, ad urbem proximis itineribus pergit.
40.1. Thither the rumour of an unsuccessful engagement and the abandonment of the camp had already made its way, and more than all the rest the horsemen had been mourned, with public as well as private lamentations. The consul Fabius was keeping watch before the gates —for the panic had permeated even the City —when cavalry were espied a long way off, and caused no little trepidation, since men knew not who they could be.
40.1. eo fama pugnae adversae castrorumque desertorum perlata erat, et ante omnia deplorati erant equites non privato magis quam publico luctu, consul terrore urbi quoque iniecto stationem ante portas agebat, cum equites procul visi non sine terrore ab dubiis quinam essent, mox cogniti tantam ex metu laetitiam fecere ut clamor urbem pervaderet gratulantium salvos victoresque redisse equites,
40.3. But being soon after recognized, they turned the people's fear to such rejoicing that the City was filled with the noise of congratulations on the safe and victorious return of the horse; and from the houses which a little while before had been filled with sadness and had bewailed their sons as dead, the inhabitants ran out into the street, and trembling mothers and wives, heedless of decorum in their happiness, hurried to meet the troops, and flung themselves with utter abandonment into the arms of their loved ones, being scarcely able to control themselves for joy.
40.3. et ex maestis paulo ante domibus quae conclamaverant suos, procurreretur in vias, pavidaeque matres ac coniuges oblitae prae gaudio decoris obviam agmini occurrerent, in suos quaeque simul corpore atque animo vix prae gaudio compotes effusae.
40.4. The plebeian tribunes, who had set a day for the trial of Marcus Postumius and Titus Quinctius, because of their responsibility for the reverse at Veii, thought a favourable opportunity was afforded by the odium recently incurred by the consul Sempronius for renewing men's displeasure with them.
40.4. plebi qui M. Postumio et T. Quinctio diem dixerant, quod ad Veios eorum opera male pugnatum esset, occasio visa est per recens odium Semproni consulis renovandae in eos invidiae.
40.5. So, having called a meeting, they loudly declared that the state had been betrayed at Veii by its generals; and that then, because they had gone scot free, the army fighting with the Volsci had been betrayed by the consul, their heroic cavalry given over to slaughter, and the camp basely abandoned.
40.5. advocata contione cum proditam Veiis rem publicam esse ab ducibus, proditum deinde, quia illis impune fuerit, in Volscis ab consule exercitum, traditos ad caedem fortissimos equites, deserta foede castra vociferati essent, C.
40.6. Then Gaius Junius, one of the tribunes, commanded the cavalryman Tempanius to be called, and turning to him spoke as follows: “Sextus Tempanius, I ask you whether you think that Gaius Sempronius the consul either joined battle at a suitable moment, or strengthened his line with supports, or performed any of the duties of a good consul;”
40.6. Iunius, unus ex tribunis, Tempanium equitem vocari iussit coramque ei Sex. Tempani inquit, quaero de te, arbitrerisne C. Sempronium consulem aut in tempore pugnam inisse aut firmasse subsidiis aciem aut ullo boni consulis functum officio, et tune ipse victis legionibus Romanis tuo consilio equitem ad pedes deduxeris restituerisque pugnam;
40.7. “and whether you yourself, when the Roman legions had been beaten, dismounted the cavalry of your own motion and restored the fortunes of the battle; then, when you and your troopers had been cut off from our line, if either the consul himself came to your rescue or sent supports;”
40.7. excluso deinde ab acie nostra tibi atque equitibus num aut consul ipse subvenerit aut miserit praesidium;
40.8. “furthermore, whether you had any help anywhere next day, or you and your cohort forced a way to the camp by your own valour; whether you found any consul in the camp and any army, or a deserted camp and wounded and forsaken soldiers.”
40.8. postero denique die ecquid praesidii usquam habueris, an tu cohorsque in castra vestra virtute perruperitis; ecquem in castris consulem, ecquem exercitum inveneritis, an deserta castra, relictos saucios milites.
40.9. “In the name of your courage and your loyalty, which alone have preserved the republic in this war, you must now answer these questions; finally you must tell us where Gaius Sempronius and our legions are; whether you were abandoned, or yourself abandoned the consul and the army; —in one word, whether we have been defeated or victorious.”
40.9. pro virtute tua fideque, qua una hoc bello res publica stetit, dicenda tibi sunt hodie; denique ubi C. Sempronius, ubi legiones nostrae sint; desertus sis an deserueris consulem exercitumque; victi denique simus an vicerimus.
41.1. To these questions Tempanius is said to have replied in homely terms but with a soldierly dignity, in which was neither self-praise nor self-complacent criticism of others. Touching the degree of skill in military matters possessed by Gaius Sempronius, it was not for a soldier, he said, to appraise a general: that had been the Roman People's business when it elected Sempronius consul at the comitia.
41.1. haec Tempani oratio incompta fuisse dicitur, ceterum militariter gravis, non suis vana 2 laudibus, non crimine alieno laeta. prudentia rei bellicae in C. Sempronio esset, non militis de imperatore existimationem esse, sed populi Romani fuisse, cum eum comitiis consulem legeret. ne ab se imperatoria consilia neu consulares artes exquirerent, quae pensitanda magnis quoque animis atque ingeniis essent; sed quod viderit referre posse.
41.3. It was not, therefore, to him that they must address inquiries concerning the strategy of commanders and the qualifications of consuls; even the weighing of such abilities demanded great mental and intellectual powers.
41.3. autem se, priusquam ab acie intercluderetur, consulem in prima acie pugnantem, adhortantem, inter signa Romana telaque hostium versantem.
41.4. But that which he had seen he was able to report; and he had seen the consul, before he had himself been cut off from the main army, fighting in the front line, encouraging his men, and moving about amidst the standards of the Romans and the enemy's missiles.
41.4. se a conspectu suorum ablatum ex strepitu tamen et clamore sensisse usque ad noctem extractum certamen, nec ad tumulum quem ipse tenuerat prae multitudine hostium credere perrumpi potuisse.
41.5. He had afterwards been carried out of sight of his friends; but still, from the din and shouting, he had made out that the struggle had been prolonged till nightfall, and he did not believe that it had been possible to break through to the hillock which he himself had held, in view of the enemy's numbers.
41.5. ubi esset se nescire; arbitrari, velut ipse in re trepida loci praesidio se suosque sit tutatus, sic consulem servandi exercitus causa loca tutiora castris cepisse;
41.6. Where the army was, he did not know; he supposed that, just as he himself had protected himself and his men by taking up a strong position, so likewise the consul, in order to save his army, had occupied a place of greater security than the camp.
41.6. nec Volscorum meliores res esse credere quam populi Romani; fortunam noctemque omnia erroris mutui implesse. deinde, ne se fessum labore ac volneribus tenerent, cum ingenti laude non virtutis magis quam moderationis dimissum.
41.7. And he did not believe that the Volsci were any better off than the Roman People; chance and darkness had at every point confused both armies.
41.7. haec agerentur, iam consul via Labicana ad fanum Quietis erat. missa plaustra iumentaque alia ab urbe exercitum adfectum proelio ac via nocturna excepere.
41.8. On his going on to beg that they would not detain him, exhausted by toil and wounds, it is said that he was dismissed with the highest praise, no less for his moderation than for his bravery. Meanwhile the consul had already reached the shrine of Quies on the Labican road. Thither wagons and beasts of burden were dispatched from the City, and brought the soldiers back, weary from fighting and the nightmarch. A little later the consul entered the City, and showed no less concern to extol Tempanius with well-merited praise than to clear himself of blame.
41.8. post in urbem est ingressus consul, non ab se magis enixe amovens culpam quam Tempanium meritis laudibus ferens. civitati ab re male gesta et iratae ducibus M. Postumius reus obiectus, qui tribunus militum pro consule ad Veios fuerat, decem milibus aeris gravis damnatur.
41.10. While the citizens were grieving over their defeat, and were filled with resentment against their commanders, Marcus Postumius, who had been military tribune with consular authority at Veii, was brought before them for trial and condemned to pay a fine of ten thousand pounds of bronze.
41.10. T. Quinctium collegam eius, quia et in Volscis consul auspicio dictatoris Postumi Tuberti et ad Fidenas legatus dictatoris alterius Mam. res prospere gesserat, totam culpam eius temporis in praedamnatum collegam transferentem omnes tribus absolverunt.
41.11. Titus Quinctius his colleague, having been victorious both in the Volscian country, when consul under the auspices of the dictator Postumius Tubertus, and at Fidenae, as lieutenant to the other dictator, Mamercus Aemilius, shifted all the blame for the present campaign upon his colleague who had already been condemned, and was acquitted by all the tribes. It is said that the memory of his father Cincinnatus, whom the people venerated, was a help to him, and also the fact that Quinctius Capitolinus, now well-stricken in years, supplicated and implored them not to suffer him, who had but a little time to live, to be the bearer of such sad news to Cincinnatus. The plebs elected in their absence Sextus Tempanius, Marcus Asellius, Tiberius Antistius, and Tiberius Spurillius to be plebeian tribunes. These were men whom the cavalry had also chosen, at the instance of Tempanius, to act as centurions over them.
41.11. ei Cincinnati patris memoria dicitur, venerabilis viri, et exactae iam aetatis Capitolinus Quinctius suppliciter orans ne se brevi reliquo vitae spatio tam tristem nuntium ferre ad Cincinnatum paterentur. Plebs tribunos plebi absentes Sex. Tempanium M. Asellium Ti. Antistium Ti. Spurillium fecit, quos et pro centurionibus sibi praefecerant Tempanio auctore equites.
42.2. The senate, feeling that the hatred of Sempronius made the title of consul offensive, ordered the election of military tribunes with consular powers. The successful candidates were Lucius Manlius Capitolinus, Quintus Antonius Merenda, Lucius Papirius Mugillanus.
42.2. , cum odio Semproni consulare nomen offenderet, tribunos militum consulari potestate creari iussit. sunt L. Manlius Capitolinus Q. Antonius Merenda L. Papirius Mugillanus.
42.3. At the very beginning of the year Lucius Hortensius, tribune of the plebs, brought an action against Gaius Sempronius, consul of the year before. The tribune's four colleagues besought him in full sight of the Roman People not to persecute their general, in whom nothing could be reckoned amiss save his ill-fortune; but this Hortensius would not brook, regarding it as a test of his perseverance and persuaded that the defendant was relying not on the entreaties of the tribunes, which were thrown out merely to preserve appearances, but on their veto.
42.3. statim anni L. Hortensius tribunus plebis C. Sempronio, consuli anni prioris, diem dixit. cum quattuor collegae inspectante populo Romano orarent ne imperatorem suum innoxium, in quo nihil praeter fortunam reprehendi posset, vexaret, aegre Hortensius pati, temptationem eam credens esse perseverantiae suae nec precibus tribunorum, quae in speciem modo iactentur, sed auxilio confidere reum.
42.5. And so, turning now to Sempronius, he demanded to be told where the well-known patrician spirit was, and where the courage that placed its confident reliance upon innocence; was it in the shadow of the tribunate that a former consul had found a hiding-place?
42.5. modo ad eum conversus, ubi illi patricii spiritus, ubi subnixus et fidens innocentiae animus esset quaerebat; sub tribunicia umbra consularem virum delituisse?
42.6. And again, addressing his colleagues, he asked, “But what do you mean to do, if I persist in prosecuting the defendant?”
42.6. modo ad collegas: autem, si reum perago, quid acturi estis? an erepturi ius populo et eversuri tribuniciam potestatem?
42.7. “Will you rob the people of their rights and overthrow the authority of the tribunes?” When they replied that the authority of the Roman People was supreme over Sempronius and all other men, and that they neither desired nor were able to annul the people's judgment;
42.7. illi et de Sempronio et de omnibus summam populi Romani potestatem esse dicerent nec se iudicium populi tollere aut velle aut posse, sed si preces suae pro imperatore, qui sibi parentis esset loco, non valuissent, se vestem cum eo mutaturos, tum Hortensius Non videbit inquit, plebs Romana sordidatos tribunos suos.
42.8. but that if their entreaties in behalf of their commander, who stood in the relation of a parent to them, should prove ineffectual, they would put on mourning with him, then Hortensius declared, “The Roman plebs shall not see its tribunes clad in mourning. Gaius Sempronius may go free, for me, since his command has gained him this, to be so beloved by his soldiers.” Nor was the loyalty of the four tribunes more pleasing to both plebs and senators than was the disposition of Hortensius to yield so readily to reasonable entreaties.
42.8. C. Sempronium nihil moror, quando hoc est in imperio consecutus, ut tam carus esset militibus. pietas quattuor tribunorum quam Hortensi tam placabile ad iustas preces ingenium pariter plebi patribusque gratius fuit.
42.10. Fortune now ceased to favour the Aequi, who had accepted the dubious victory of the Volsci as their own.
42.10. diutius fortuna Aequis indulsit, qui ambiguam victoriam Volscorum pro sua amplexi fuerant.
43.1. The next year Numerius Fabius Vibulanus and Titus Quinctius Capitolinus, the son of Capitolinus, were consuls. Under the leadership of Fabius, to whom this command had been assigned by lot, nothing worthy of relation was accomplished.
43.1. anno Num. Fabio Vibulano T. Quinctio Capitolini filio Capitolino consulibus ductu Fabii, cui sorte ea provincia evenerat, nihil dignum memoratu actum.
43.2. The Aequi had scarce made an irresolute show of battle when they were routed and driven disgracefully from the field, and the consul got no credit by the affair. He was accordingly denied a triumph; but because he had relieved the ignominy incurred by Sempronius's defeat, he was allowed to enter the City in an ovation.
43.2. trepidam tantum ostendissent aciem Aequi, turpi fuga funduntur haud magno consulis decore. triumphus negatus, ceterum ob Sempronianae cladis levatam ignominiam ut ovans urbem intraret concessum est.
43.3. But while the war had been concluded with less of a struggle than men had feared, in the City tranquillity gave place to unexpected and serious quarrels, which broke out between the plebs and the senators, and began over the duplication of the number of quaestors.
43.3. bellum minore quam timuerant dimicatione erat perfectum, sic in urbe ex tranquillo necopinata moles discordiarum inter plebem ac patres exorta est, coepta ab duplicando quaestorum numero.
43.4. This measure —that besides the two city quaestors two others should be elected to assist the consuls in the administration of wars —was proposed by the consuls and received the hearty approval of the senate, but the tribunes of the plebs made a fight to have half of the quaestors —hitherto patricians had been chosen —taken from the plebs.
43.4. rem—praeter duos urbanos ut crearentur alii quaestores duo qui consulibus ad ministeria belli praesto essent—a consulibus relatam cum et patres summa ope adprobassent, tribuni plebi certamen intulerunt ut pars quaestorum—nam ad id tempus patricii creati erant—ex plebe fieret.
43.5. Against this provision both consuls and senators at first exerted themselves with all their might; afterwards they were ready to concede that, just as in the case of tribunes with consular powers, so likewise with the quaestors, the people should be unrestricted in their choice; but making no headway with this offer, they dropped the whole question of enlarging the number of quaestors.
43.5. quam actionem primo et consules et patres summa ope adnisi sunt; concedendo deinde ut, quemadmodum in tribunis consulari potestate creandis, sic in quaestoribus liberum esset arbitrium populi, cum parum proficerent, totam rem de augendo quaestorum numero omittunt.
43.6. It was then taken up where they had left it by the tribunes; and other revolutionary schemes came to the fore in quick succession, among them one for enacting an agrarian law. When the senate, because of these disturbances, preferred that consuls be elected rather than tribunes, yet was unable to pass a resolution on account of tribunician vetoes, the government passed from the consuls to an interrex; nor was even this accomplished without a violent struggle, for the tribunes tried to prevent the patricians from holding a meeting.
43.6. omissam tribuni, aliaeque subinde, inter quas et agrariae legis, seditiosae actiones exsistunt. quos motus cum senatus consules quam tribunos creari mallet, neque posset per intercessiones tribunicias senatus consultum fieri, res publica a consulibus ad interregnum, neque id ipsum—nam coire patricios tribuni prohibebant—sine certamine ingenti, redit.
43.8. The greater part of the ensuing year dragged on with contests between the new tribunes and several interreges. At one time the tribunes would keep the patricians from meeting to appoint an interrex; at another time they would interpose their veto against the interrex, that the senate might not pass a resolution to hold the consular elections.
43.8. pars maior insequentis anni per novos tribunos plebi et aliquot interreges certaminibus extracta esset modo prohibentibus tribunis patricios coire ad prodendum interregem, modo interregem interpellantibus, ne senatus consultum de comitiis consularibus faceret, postremo L.
43.9. Finally Lucius Papirius Mugillanus was named interrex, and upbraiding now the senators, now the tribunes of the plebs, reminded them how the state, abandoned and forsaken by men, had been protected by the providential care of Heaven, and existed by the grace of the Veientine truce and the dilatory policy of the Aequi.
43.9. Papirius Mugillanus proditus interrex castigando nunc patres, nunc tribunos plebi desertam omissamque ab hominibus rem publicam, deorum providentia curaque exceptam memorabat Veientibus indutiis et cunctatione Aequorum stare.
43.10. If an alarm should break out in that quarter, was it their pleasure that the republic should be caught without a patrician magistrate? that there should be no army, no general to enrol an army?
43.10. si quid increpet terroris, sine patricio magistratu placere rem publicam opprimi? exercitum, non ducem scribendo exercitui esse? An bello intestino bellum externum propulsaturos?
43.11. Or did they expect to beat off a foreign foe with a civil war? But if both should come at once, the help of the gods themselves would scarce suffice to stay the destruction of the Roman commonwealth. Why would they not every man abate somewhat of his full rights and compromise harmoniously on a middle course, the Fathers consenting that military tribunes should be chosen instead of consuls, the tribunes interposing no veto to prevent four quaestors being taken promiscuously from plebeians and patricians by free election of the people?
43.11. si in unum conveniant, vix deorum opibus quin obruatur Romana res resisti posse. illi remittendo de summa quisque iuris mediis consiliis copularent concordiam, patres patiendo tribunos militum pro consulibus fieri, tribuni plebi non intercedendo quo minus quattuor quaestores promise de plebe ac patribus libero suffragio populi fierent?
44.1. The election of tribunes was held first. The tribunes with consular powers who were chosen were all patricians, namely Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus (for the third time), Lucius Furius Medullinus (for the second time), Marcus Manlius, and Aulus Sempronius Atratinus.
44.1. primum comitia sunt habita. tribuni consulari potestate omnes patricii, L. Quinctius Cincinnatus tertium L. Furius Medullinus iterum M. Manlius A. Sempronius Atratinus.
44.2. The last-named held the election for quaestors. Among the several plebeians who sought the place were the son of a plebeian tribune, named Aulus Antistius, and the brother of another, Sextus Pompilius. Yet neither the authority nor the support of these men could prevent the people from giving the preference, because of their noble birth, to men whose fathers and grandfathers they had seen consuls.
44.2. tribuno comitia quaestorum habente petentibusque inter aliquot plebeios filio A. Antisti tribuni plebis et fratre alterius tribuni plebis Sex., nec potestas nec suffragatio horum valuit quin quorum patres avosque consules viderant eos nobilitate praeferrent.
44.3. This made all the tribunes furious, but more than all the rest Pompilius and Antistius, who were incensed at the defeat of their kinsmen.
44.3. omnes tribuni plebi, ante omnes Pompilius Antistiusque, repulsa suorum accensi. id rei esset?
44.4. What in the world, they asked, was the meaning of this? Had neither their own services nor the wrongs which the patricians had inflicted, nor even the pleasure of exercising a right —since what had before been unlawful was now permitted —availed to elect a single quaestor from the plebs, let alone a military tribune?
44.4. suis beneficiis, non patrum iniuriis, non denique ius usurpandi libidine, cum liceat quod ante non licuerit, si non tribunum militarem, ne quaestorem quidem quemquam ex plebe factum!
44.5. Of no avail had been a father's entreaties for his son, a brother's for his brother, not though they had been tribunes of the plebs, and invested with an inviolable office, created for the protection of liberty. There was fraud in the matter, beyond question, and Aulus Sempronius had employed more artifice than honesty in the election.
44.5. valuisse patris pro filio, fratris pro fratre preces, tribunorum plebis, potestatis sacrosanctae ad auxilium libertatis creatae. profecto in re esse, et A. Sempronium comitiis plus artis adhibuisse quam fidei. iniuria queri suos honore deiectos.
44.6. It was by his wrong-doing, they complained, that their relations had been defeated for office. And so, since they could not attack the man himself, secure as he was not only in his innocence but in the magistracy which he was filling, they turned their anger upon Gaius Sempronius, the cousin of Atratinus; and prosecuted him, with the co-operation of their colleague Marcus Canuleius, on the score of the humiliation suffered in the Volscian war.
44.6. cum in ipsum et innocentia tutum et magistratu, in quo tunc tune erat, impetus fieri non posset, flexere iras in C. Sempronium, patruelem Atratini, eique ob ignominiam Volsci belli adiutore collega M. Canuleio diem dixere.
44.7. The same tribunes frequently mentioned in the senate the division of the public lands, a measure which Gaius Sempronius had always stoutly resisted, for they reckoned —and rightly —that either he would abandon the cause and his defence would become a matter of less concern to the patricians, or that persevering in his attitude he would give offence, up to the moment of his trial, to the plebeians.
44.7. ab iisdem tribunis mentio in senatu de agris dividendis inlata est, cui actioni semper acerrime C. Sempronius restiterat, ratis, id quod erat, aut deposita causa leviorem futurum apud patres reum aut perseverantem sub iudicii tempus plebem offensurum.
44.8. He chose to face the storm of unpopularity and to injure his own cause rather than be found wanting in that of the nation; and he held fast to the same opinion, that there should be no largess, for that would redound to the advantage of the three tribunes. It was not land for the plebs they were then looking for, he declared, but hatred for himself; he was as ready as another to confront that tempest with a courageous heart; nor ought the senate to set so high a value upon himself or any other citizen that their tenderness for him should bring about a general disaster.
44.8. invidiae obici maluit et suae nocere causae quam publicae deesse; stetitque in eadem sententia ne qua largitio, cessura in trium gratiam tribunorum, fieret; nec tum agrum plebi, sed sibi invidiam quaeri; se quoque subiturum eam tempestatem forti animo; nec senatui tanti se civem aut quemquam alium debere esse, ut in parcendo uni malum publicum fiat.
44.10. His spirit was not a whit less firm when the day of trial came. He pleaded his own cause; the senators exerted in vain every means of mollifying the plebs; and he was condemned to pay a fine of fifteen thousand asses. The same year a Vestal virgin named Postumia was put on trial for unchastity.
44.10. demissiore animo, cum dies venit, causa ipse pro se dicta, nequiquam omnia expertis patribus ut mitigarent plebem, quindecim milibus aeris damnatur. anno Postumia virgo Vestalis de incestu causam dixit crimine innoxia, ab suspicione propter cultum amoeniorem ingeniumque liberius quam virginem decet parum abhorrens.
44.12. She was innocent of the charge, though open to suspicion because of her pretty clothes and the unmaidenly freedom of her wit. After she had been remanded and then acquitted, the pontifex maximus, in the name of the college, commanded her to abstain from jests, and to dress rather with regard to sanctity than coquetry.
44.12. ampliatam, deinde absolutam pro collegii sententia pontifex maximus abstinere iocis colique sancte potius quam scite iussit. anno a Campanis Cumae, quam Graeci tum urbem tenebant, capiuntur.
44.13. In this same year Cumae, a city which the Greeks then held, was captured by the Campanians. The ensuing year had as military tribunes with consular powers Agrippa Menenius Lanatus, Publius Lucretius Tricipitinus, and Spurius Nautius Rutulus.
44.13. annus tribunos militum consulari potestate habuit Agrippam Menenium Lanatum P. Lucretium Tricipitinum Sp. Nautium Rutulum, annus felicitate populi Romani periculo potius ingenti quam clade insignis.
45.1. It was a year remarkable, thanks to the good fortune of the Roman People, for a great danger but not a disaster. The slaves conspired to set fire to the City at points remote from one another, and, while the people should be busy everywhere with rescuing their houses, to seize the Citadel and the Capitol with an armed force.
45.1. urbem ut incenderent distantibus locis coniurarunt, populoque ad opem passim ferendam tectis intento ut arcem Capitoliumque armati occuparent.
45.2. Jupiter brought their wicked schemes to naught, and on the evidence of two of their number the guilty were arrested and punished.
45.2. nefanda consilia Iuppiter, indicioque duorum comprehensi sontes poenas dederunt. dena milia gravis aeris, quae tum divitiae habebantur, ex aerario numerata et libertas praemium fuit.
45.3. Each informant was rewarded from the public treasury with ten thousand pounds of bronze —which passed for wealth in those days —and with freedom. The Aequi then began to prepare again for war; and word was brought to Rome on good authority that new enemies, the Labicani, were making common cause with the old ones.
45.3. inde ab Aequis reparari coeptum; et novos hostes Labicanos consilia cum veteribus iungere haud incertis auctoribus Romam est allatum.
45.4. As for the Aequi, the citizens had by now grown accustomed to war with them, as to an annual occurrence; but they dispatched envoys to Labici, and having got them back with an ambiguous answer, from which it appeared that though war was not as yet being organized, yet peace would not long continue, they commissioned the Tusculans to watch that no fresh outbreak should occur at that place.
45.4. Aequorum iam velut anniversariis armis adsueverat civitas: Labicos legati missi cum responsa inde rettulissent dubia, quibus nec tum bellum parari nec diuturnam pacem fore appareret, Tusculanis negotium datum adverterent animos ne quid novi tumultus Labicis oreretur.
45.5. To the military tribunes with consular authority who held office the ensuing year, Lucius Sergius Fidenas, Marcus Papirius Mugillanus, and Gaius Servilius, son of the Priscus who as dictator had captured Fidenae, there came, just as they had entered on their magistracy, ambassadors from Tusculum, who announced that the Labicani had armed and, after devastating the Tusculan countryside in company with an Aequian army, had encamped on Algidus.
45.5. insequentis anni tribunos militum consulari potestate inito magistratu legati ab Tusculo venerunt, L. Sergium Fidenatem M. Papirium Mugillanum C. Servilium Prisci filium, quo dictatore Fidenae captae fuerant. legati Labicanos arma cepisse et cum Aequorum exercitu depopulatos agrum Tusculanum castra in Algido posuisse.
45.7. Thereupon war was declared against the Labicani, and the senate resolved that two of the tribunes should proceed to the front, while one attended to matters in Rome. At this a dispute immediately broke out amongst the tribunes, each of whom boasted of his superiority as a general and spurned the care of the City as a thankless and ignoble task.
45.7. Labicanis bellum indictum; factoque senatus consulto ut duo ex tribunis ad bellum proficiscerentur, unus res Romae curaret, certamen subito inter tribunos exortum; se quisque belli ducem potiorem ferre, curam urbis ut ingratam ignobilemque aspernari.
45.8. While the astonished senators watched this unseemly rivalry amongst the colleagues, Quintus Servilius exclaimed, “Since you have no respect for this order nor for the republic, a father's authority shall end your quarrel. My son shall preside over the City, without recourse to lots. I only hope that those who are eager to make the campaign may conduct it with more consideration and harmony than they display in seeking it.”
45.8. parum decorum inter collegas certamen mirabundi patres conspicerent, Q. Servilius nec ordinis huius ulla inquit, nec rei publicae est verecundia, patria maiestas altercationem istam dirimet. meus extra sortem urbi praeerit. utinam qui adpetunt consideratius concordiusque quam cupiunt gerant.
46.1. It was determined not to make a general levy on the entire people, but ten tribes were chosen by lot. From these the two tribunes enrolled the men of military age and led them to war.
46.1. haberi non ex toto passim populo placuit; decem tribus sorte ductae sunt. iis scriptos iuniores duo tribuni ad bellum duxere.
46.2. The bickerings which had commenced between them in the City grew much hotter in the camp, from the same eagerness to command; they could not agree on anything; each strove for his own opinion; each desired his own plans and his own orders to be the only valid ones;
46.2. inter eos in urbe certamina cupiditate eadem imperii multo impensius in castris accendi; nihil sentire idem, pro sententia pugnare; sua consilia velle, sua imperia sola rata esse;
46.3. each despised the other and was in turn despised by him, until at last, reproved by their lieutenants, they arranged to exercise the supreme command on alternate days.
46.3. contemnere in vicem et contemni, donec done castigantibus legatis tandem ita comparatum est ut alternis diebus summam imperii haberent.
46.4. When the report of this reached Rome, it is said that Quintus Servilius, taught by years and experience, besought the immortal gods that the strife between the tribunes might not result more disastrously to the republic than had been the case at Veii, and as though certain defeat were imminent, urged his son to enlist soldiers and make ready arms.
46.4. cum allata Romam essent, dicitur Q. Servilius, aetate et usu doctus precatus ab dis immortalibus ne discordia tribunorum damnosior rei publicae esset quam ad Veios fuisset, et velut haud dubia clade imminente institisse filio ut milites scriberet et arma pararet.
46.5. Nor was he a false prophet. For under the leadership of Lucius Sergius, whose day it was to command, the Romans found themselves in an unfavourable position close to the enemy's camp, whither they had been drawn, when the Aequi feigned fear and retired to their rampart, by the vain hope of capturing it; and there they were suddenly attacked by the Aequi and driven pellmell down a sloping valley, where many of them, as they rather tumbled down than retreated, were overtaken and put to the sword.
46.5. falsus vates fuit. ductu L. Sergi, cuius dies imperii erat, loco iniquo sub hostium castris, cum, quia simulato metu receperat se hostis ad vallum, spes vana expugnandi castra eo traxisset, repentino impetu Aequorum per supinam vallem fusi sunt, multique in ruina maiore quam fuga oppressi obtruncatique.
46.6. That day they defended their camp with difficulty, and on the next, when the enemy had almost surrounded it, they abandoned it by a disgraceful flight through the opposite gate.
46.6. eo die aegre retenta, postero die circumfusis iam magna ex parte hostibus per aversam portam fuga turpi deseruntur. legatique et quod circa signa roboris de exercitu fuit Tusculum petiere:
46.7. The generals and their lieutenants and such of the army's strength as kept to the standards made for Tusculum: the others, scattering through the fields, this way and that, hastened to Rome by divers roads and reported a much heavier defeat than had been sustained.
46.7. palati alii per agros passim multis itineribus maioris quam accepta erat cladis nuntii Romam contenderunt.
46.8. There was the less dismay for the reason that the event had tallied with men's apprehensions, and because reserves which they could look to in the hour of danger had been made ready by the tribune of the soldiers.
46.8. trepidationis fuit, quod eventus timori hominum congruens fuerat, et quod subsidia quae respicerent in re trepida praeparata erant ab tribune militum.
46.9. It was by his orders too that the lesser magistrates had quieted the confusion in the City, when the scouts whom he had hurriedly sent out reported that the generals and the army were at Tusculum, and that the enemy had not broken camp.
46.9. eiusdem per minores magistratus sedato in urbe tumultu speculatores propere missi nuntiavere Tusculi duces exercitumque esse, hostem castra loco non movisse.
46.10. And —what raised men's courage most — Quintus Servilius Priscus was in consequence of a senatorial decree named dictator —a man whose clear vision in public affairs the state had proved on many previous occasions, but particularly in the outcome of this war, because he alone had viewed the quarrel of the tribunes with anxiety, before their defeat.
46.10. , quod plurimum animorum fecit, dictator ex senatus consulto dictus Q. Servilius Priscus, vir cuius providentiam in re publica cum multis aliis tempestatibus ante experta civitas erat tum eventu eius belli, quod uni certamen tribunorum suspectum ante rem male gestam fuerat.
46.11. Having appointed his son, by whom, when military tribune, he had himself been pronounced dictator, to be master of the horse, —as some authorities have recorded; for others write that Servilius Ahala was master of the horse that year, —he set out with a fresh army for the war, sent for the troops which were at Tusculum, and fixed his camp two miles from the enemy.
46.11. equitum creato a quo ipse tribuno militum dictator erat dictus, filio suo—ut tradidere quidam; nam alii Ahalam Servilium magistrum equitum eo anno fuisse scribunt, —novo exercitu profectus ad bellum accitis qui Tusculi erant, duo milia passuum ab hoste locum castris cepit.
47.1. In consequence of their success, the Aequi had taken over the arrogance and carelessness which the Roman generals had shown, and the result was seen in the very first battle.
47.1. ex re bene gesta superbia neglegentiaque ad Aequos quae in Romanis ducibus fuerat.
47.2. When the dictator had attacked with his cavalry and had thrown the enemy's front ranks into confusion, he ordered the legions to advance rapidly, and when one of his standard-bearers hesitated, cut him down.
47.2. primo statim proelio cum dictator equitatu immisso antesignanos hostium turbasset, legionum inde signa inferri propere iussit signiferumque ex suis unum cunctantem occidit.
47.3. So eager for combat were the troops, that the Aequi could not stop their rush, and when, defeated in the field, they had withdrawn to their camp in a disordered flight, it was stormed with less expenditure of time and effort than the battle itself had cost.
47.3. ardor ad dimicandum fuit ut impetum Aequi non tulerint, victique acie cum fuga effusa petissent castra, brevior tempore et certamine minor castrorum oppugnatio fuit quam proelium fuerat.
47.4. Having captured and sacked the camp, the dictator relinquished the plunder to his soldiers; and the cavalry, which had pursued the enemy as they fled from their encampment, came back with the report that all the Labicani, after their defeat, and a great part of the Aequi, had taken refuge in Labici.
47.4. direptisque castris cum praedam dictator militi concessisset secutique fugientem ex castris hostem equites renuntiassent omnes Labicanos victos, magnam partem Aequorum Labicos confugisse, postero die ad Labicos ductus exercitus oppidumque corona circumdata scalis captum ac direptum est.
47.6. Next day the army marched to Labici and, drawing a cordon about the town, stormed it with ladders and plundered it. Leading his victorious army back to Rome, the dictator resigned his office eight days after his appointment; and the senate seized the opportunity, before the tribunes of the plebs could stir up agrarian troubles by proposing a division of the Labican territory, to resolve, in a largely-attended meeting, that a colony should be planted in Labici.
47.6. Dictator exercitu victore Romam reducto die octavo quam creatus erat magistratu se abdicavit; et opportune senatus priusquam ab tribunis plebi agrariae seditiones mentione inlata de agro Labicano dividendo fierent, censuit frequens coloniam Labicos deducendam.
47.7. Fifteen hundred colonists were sent from the City, and each received two iugera. The year that followed the capture of Labici, having as military tribunes with consular powers Agrippa Menenius Lanatus, Gaius Servilius Structus, and Publius Lucretius Tricipitinus (all these for the second time), together with Spurius Rutilius Crassus;
47.7. ab urbe mille et quingenti missi bina iugera acceperunt. Labicis deinde tribunis militum consulari potestate Agrippa Menenio Lanato et C. Servilio Structo et P. Lucretio Tricipitino, iterum omnibus his, et Sp.
47.8. and the succeeding year, with Aulus Sempronius Atratinus (for his third term) and Marcus Papirius Mugillanus and Spurius Nautius Rutulus (for their second) were a period of tranquillity in foreign relations but of civil discord arising out of agrarian laws.
47.8. Rutilio Crasso, et insequente anno A. Sempronio Atratino tertium, et duobus iterum, M. Papirio Mugillano et Sp. Nautio Rutulo biennium tranquillae externae res, discordia domi ex agrariis legibus fuit.
48.1. Those who stirred up the people were Spurius Maecilius, tribune of the plebs for the fourth time, and Marcus Metilius, for the third, both having been elected in their absence.
48.1. volgi erant Sp. Maecilius quartum et M. Metilius tertium tribuni plebis, ambo absentes creati.
48.2. On their proposing a law that the land which had been captured from enemies should be divided up among the citizens, a plebiscite which would mean the confiscation of the fortunes of a great part of the nobles —for there was scarcely any land, as might be expected in the case of a city situated on alien soil, which had not been gained by force of arms;
48.2. cum rogationem promulgassent ut ager ex hostibus captus viritim divideretur, magnaeque partis nobilium eo plebi scito publicarentur fortunae—nec enim ferme quicquam agri, ut in urbe alieno solo posita, non armis partum erat, nec quod venisset adsignatumve publice esset praeterquam plebs habebat,
48.4. nor was much, if any, of that which had been sold or assigned by the state held by other than plebeians, —it appeared that a desperate struggle was at hand between the plebs and the patricians.
48.4. —atrox plebi patribusque propositum videbatur certamen. tribuni militum nunc in senatu, nunc conciliis privatis principum cogendis viam consilii inveniebant, cum Ap.
48.5. The military tribunes had hit upon no plan of action either in the senate or in the private conferences which they held with the leading men, when Appius Claudius, grandson of him who had been decemvir for drawing up the laws, himself the youngest of the council of senators, announced —so the story goes —that he was bringing them from his house an old family device;
48.5. Claudius, nepos eius qui decemvir legibus scribendis fuerat, minimus natu ex patrum concilio, dicitur dixisse vetus se ac familiare consilium domo adferre; proavum enim suum Ap. Claudium ostendisse patribus viam unam dissolvendae tribuniciae potestatis per collegarum intercessionem.
48.7. for it had been his great-grandfather Appius Claudius who had pointed out to the senators that the only way to break the power of the tribunes lay through the veto of their colleagues.
48.7. homines novos auctoritate principum de sententia deduci, si temporum interdum potius quam maiestatis memor adhibeatur oratio.
48.8. It was not difficult for the leading men of the state to induce upstart politicians to change their minds, if they would but suit their discourse meantime rather to the exigencies of the crisis than to their lofty station. The sentiments of such fellows varied with their fortunes: when they saw that their colleagues, by taking the lead in the management of affairs, had appropriated all the favour of the populace in advance and had left no room there for themselves, they would incline without reluctance to the cause of the senate, by supporting which they might gain the goodwill not only of the order as a whole, but also of the foremost senators.
48.8. fortuna illis animos esse; ubi videant collegas principes agendae rei gratiam omnem ad plebem praeoccupasse nec locum in ea relictum sibi, haud gravate adclinaturos se ad causam senatus, per quam cum universo ordini, tum primoribus se patrum concilient.
48.10. When they had all expressed their approval, and especially Quintus Servilius Priscus, who praised the young man as one who had not degenerated from the Claudian stock, everybody was given the task of inducing such of the tribunician college as he could to interpose their vetoes.
48.10. cunctis et ante omnes Q. Servilio Prisco, quod non degenerasset ab stirpe Claudia conlaudante iuvenem, negotium datur ut quos quisque posset ex collegio tribunorum ad intercessionem perlicerent.
48.11. The senate adjourned and the leading members began to canvass the tribunes. By arguments in which they mingled warnings with the promise that their action would earn the tribunes the personal gratitude of individuals, as well as that of the senate as a body, they got six men to promise their opposition.
48.11. senatu prensantur ab principibus tribuni. monendo pollicendoque, gratum id singulis privatim, gratum universo senatui fore, sex ad intercessionem comparavere. die cum ex composito relatum ad senatum esset de seditione quam Maecilius Metiliusque largitione pessimi exempli concirent, eae orationes a primoribus patrum habitae sunt ut pro se quisque iam nec consilium sibi suppetere diceret nec se ullam opem cernere aliam usquam praeterquam in tribunicio auxilio;
48.13. Next day when the senate, in accordance with a preconcerted plan, had taken up the question of the sedition which Maecilius and Metilius were beginning by proposing a donation of the most objectionable type, the principal senators made speeches in which each took occasion to say that he could think of nothing to suggest and saw no help for the situation anywhere save in the assistance of the tribunes; this was the power to whose protection the harassed republic, like a private citizen in distress, now fled for succour; it was a, glorious thing both for the men themselves and for their office that the tribunate possessed no less strength for the resistance of its wicked colleagues than for troubling the senate and promoting discord between the orders.
48.13. in eius potestatis fidem circumventam rem publicam, tamquam privatum inopem, confugere; praeclarum ipsis potestatique esse non ad vexandum senatum discordiamque ordinum movendam plus in tribunatu virium esse quam ad resistendum improbis collegis.
48.15. Loud shouts were then heard from the entire senate and appeals were addressed to the tribunes from every part of the Curia. Then, after silence had been obtained, those who had been won over by the favour of the chief senators declared their readiness to veto the measure which their colleagues had proposed but the senate deemed subversive of the republic.
48.15. deinde universi senatus ortus, cum ex omnibus partibus curiae tribuni appellarentur. silentio facto ii qui praeparati erant gratia principum, quam rogationem a collegis promulgatam senatus censeat dissolvendae rei publicae esse, ei se intercessuros ostendunt. intercessoribus ab senatu actae.
48.16. The thanks of the senate were voted the protesters. The authors of the bill convened an assembly, and accusing their colleagues of being traitors to the interests of the plebs and slaves of the consulars, and in other ways bitterly denouncing them, withdrew their measure.
48.16. rogationis contione advocata proditores plebis commodorum ac servos consularium appellantes aliaque truci oratione in collegas invecti actionem deposuere.
49.1. There would have been two wars in the ensuing year, in which Publius Cornelius Cossus, Gaius Valerius Potitus, Quintus Quinctius Cincinnatus, and Numerius Fabius Vibulanus were military tribunes with consular powers, had not the war with Veii been delayed, thanks to the superstition of the Veientine leaders, whose farms an overflow of the Tiber had laid waste, chiefly by ruining the farmhouses.
49.1. bella insequens annus habuisset, quo P. Cornelius Cossus C. Valerius Potitus Q. Quinctius Cincinnatus Num. Fabius Vibulanus tribuni militum consulari potestate fuerunt, ni Veiens bellum religio principum distulisset, quorum agros Tiberis super ripas effusus maxime ruinis villarum vastavit.
49.3. At the same time the Aequi were deterred by the defeat they had suffered three years before from marching to the assistance of the Bolani, a tribe of their own race.
49.3. Aequos triennio ante accepta clades prohibuit Bolanis, suae gentis populo, praesidium ferre.
49.4. These people had made incursions into the neighbouring territory of Labici and attacked the new settlers.
49.4. inde in confinem agrum Labicanum factae erant novisque colonis bellum inlatum.
49.5. The consequences of this outrage they had hoped to avoid by means of the co-operation of all the Aequi; but, having been abandoned by their friends, they lost their town and their lands, in a war which does not even merit description, as the result of a siege and a single skirmish.
49.5. noxam cum se consensu omnium Aequorum defensuros sperassent, deserti ab suis ne memorabili quidem bello, per obsidionem levemque unam pugnam et oppidum et fines amisere.
49.6. An attempt on the part of Lucius Decius, a plebeian tribune, to carry a law providing that colonists should be sent to Bolae too, as well as to Labici, was frustrated through the intervention of his colleagues, who intimated that they would permit no plebiscite to pass unless it had the warrant of the senate.
49.6. ab L. Decio tribuno plebis, ut rogationem ferret qua Bolas quoque, sicut Labicos, coloni mitterentur, per intercessionem collegarum, qui nullum plebi scitum nisi ex auctoritate senatus passuros se perferri ostenderunt, discussum est.
49.7. Bolae was retaken the next year, and the Aequi planted a colony there and strengthened the town with new defenders. Rome now had the following military tribunes with consular powers, Gnaeus Cornelius Cossus, Lucius Valerius Potitus, Quintus Fabius Vibulanus (for the second time), and Marcus Postumius Regillensis.
49.7. insequente anno receptis Aequi coloniaque eo deducta novis viribus oppidum firmarunt, tribunis militum Romae consulari potestate Cn. Cornelio Cosso L. Valerio Potito Q. Fabio Vibulano iterum M. Postumio Regillensi.
49.8. To this last was intrusted the campaign against the Aequi. He was a wrongheaded man, yet he showed it more in the hour of victory than during the campaign.
49.8. bellum adversus Aequos permissum est, pravae mentis homini, quam tamen victoria magis quam bellum ostendit.
49.9. For he was energetic in raising an army and leading it to Bolae, where, after breaking the spirit of the Aequi in some trifling engagements, he finally forced an entrance into the town. He then diverted the quarrel from the enemy to his fellow-citizens; and though he had proclaimed at the time of the attack that the booty should belong to the soldiers, when he had taken the town he broke his promise.
49.9. exercitu impigre scripto ductoque ad Bolas cum levibus proeliis Aequorum animos fregisset, postremo in oppidum inrupit. ab hostibus in cives certamen vertit et cum inter oppugnationem praedam militis fore edixisset, capto oppido fidem mutavit.