12.14. The centurions began to mingle with the soldiers; the murmuring was not confined to little knots of men, but in the main street and before the commander's tent there was now one general clamour; the throng increased to the bigness of an assembly, and on every side shouts were heard that they should go instantly to the dictator, and that Sextus Tullius should be spokesman for the army, as became his courage.
12.14. immiscerique militibus centuriones nec in circulis modo fremere sed iam in principiis ac praetorio in unum sermones confundi atque in contionis magnitudinem crescere turba et uociferari ex omnibus locis ut extemplo ad dictatorem iretur; uerba pro exercitu faceret Sex. Tullius, ut uirtute eius dignum esset.
13.1. It was now the seventh campaign in which Tullius had served as first centurion, nor was there anyone in the army, at least among the foot-soldiers, more distinguished for his services.
13.1. septimum primum pilum iam Tullius ducebat neque erat in exercitu, qui quidem pedestria stipendia fecisset, uir factis nobilior.
13.2. At the head of the men, who followed in a body, he approached the platform, where the amazement of Sulpicius on seeing the mob was not greater than at seeing it led by Tullius, a soldier most obedient to authority. “By your leave, Dictator,” he began, “the entire army, deeming itself condemned in your mind for cowardice and almost deprived of its arms by way of humiliation, has asked me to plead its cause with you.”
13.2. is praecedens militum agmen ad tribunal pergit mirantique Sulpicio non turbam magis quam turbae principem Tullium, imperiis oboedientissimum militem, 'si licet, dictator' inquit, 'condemnatum se uniuersus exercitus a te ignauiae ratus et prope ignominiae causa destitutum sine armis orauit me ut suam causam apud te agerem.
13.4. “For my part, even if we could be taunted with anywhere quitting a post, with turning our backs on the foe, with shamefully losing our standards, I should still think you ought to hearken to our entreaty that we be permitted to redeem our fault with valour, and by winning new renown blot out the memory of our disgrace.”
13.4. equidem, sicubi loco cessum, si terga data hosti, si signa foede amissa obici nobis possent, tamen hoc a te impetrari aequum censerem ut nos uirtute culpam nostram corrigere et abolere flagitii memoriam noua gloria patereris.
13.5. “Even the legions that were routed at the Allia afterwards set out from Veii and by manful conduct won back the very City their cowardice had lost. In our case, thanks to the kindness of the gods and to your good fortune and that of the Roman People, both our cause and our glory are unimpaired.”
13.5. etiam ad Alliam fusae legiones eandem quam per pauorem amiserant patriam profectae postea a Ueiis uirtute reciperauere. nobis deum benignitate, felicitate tua populique Romani, et res et gloria est integra;
13.6. “Yet I hardly dare to mention glory, since the enemy flout us with every species of insult, as though we were women cowering behind our rampart; and since you, our general —a thing far harder to bear —regard us as an army without spirit, without swords, and without hands, and ere you have given us a trial, have so despaired of us as to reckon yourself a commander of cripples and weaklings.”
13.6. quamquam de gloria uix dicere ausim, si nos et hostes haud secus quam feminas abditos intra uallum omnibus contumeliis eludunt, et tu imperator noster—quod aegrius patimur—exercitum tuum sine animis, sine armis, sine manibus iudicas esse et, priusquam expertus nos esses, de nobis ita desperasti ut te mancorum ac debilium ducem iudicares esse.
13.7. “For how else can we account for it, that you, an experienced and fearless general, should, as they say, be sitting down with folded hands? Indeed, however this may be, it is more reasonable that you should seem to distrust our bravery, than that we should seem to distrust yours.”
13.7. quid enim aliud esse causae credamus, cur ueteranus dux, fortissimus bello, compressis, quod aiunt, manibus sedeas? utcumque enim se habet res, te de nostra uirtute dubitasse uideri quam nos de tua uerius est.
13.8. “But if this is not your own but public policy, and if some agreement amongst the senators, and not the Gallic war, keeps us in exile from the City and from our homes, then I beg you to hear what I have to say, as though it were spoken not by his soldiers to a general but by the plebs to the patricians —for if the plebs, even as you have your policies, should assert that they proposed likewise to have theirs, who, pray, could be angry with them?”
13.8. sin autem non tuum istuc sed publicum est consilium, et consensus aliqui patrum, non Gallicum bellum, nos ab urbe, a penatibus nostris ablegatos tenet, quaeso, ut ea quae dicam non a militibus imperatori dicta censeas sed a plebe patribus—quae si, ut uos uestra habeatis consilia, sic se sua habituram dicat, quis tandem suscenseat?—milites nos esse non seruos uestros, ad bellum non in exsilium missos;
13.9. “I say, then, we are your soldiers, not your slaves; you have sent us to war, not into banishment; if anyone would give us the signal and lead us into battle, we are ready to quit us in the fight like men and Romans: but if there be no occasion for our arms, we had rather spend our leisure in Rome than in a camp.”
13.9. si quis det signum, in aciem educat, ut uiris ac Romanis dignum sit, pugnaturos: si nihil armis opus sit, otium Romae potius quam in castris acturos.
13.10. “Thus much we would say to the patricians. But of you, our general, we, your soldiers, beg that you give us an opportunity of fighting. We are eager not only to conquer, but to conquer under your leadership; to win for you the glorious laurel; to enter the City with you in the march of triumph; and following your chariot, to approach the throne of Jupiter Optimus Maximus with gratulations and rejoicings.”
13.10. haec dicta sint patribus. te, imperator, milites tui oramus ut nobis pugnandi copiam facias; cum uincere cupimus, tum te duce uincere, tibi lauream insignem deferre, tecum triumphantes urbem inire, tuum sequentes currum Iouis optimi maximi templum gratantes ouantesque adire.'
13.11. The speech of Tullius was supported by the entreaties of the crowd, who on all sides clamoured for the signal and the command to arm.
13.11. orationem Tulli exceperunt preces multitudinis et undique, ut signum daret, ut capere arma iuberet, clamabant.
14.1. Though the dictator felt that a good thing had been carried out in a way to set a bad example, yet he undertook to do as the soldiers wished.
14.1. dictator quamquam rem bonam exemplo haud probabili actam censebat tamen facturum quod milites uellent, <in> se recepit Tulliumque secreto quaenam haec res sit aut quo acta more percontatur.
14.2. In private he questioned Tullius what this proceeding meant and on what precedent he had acted. Tullius earnestly besought the dictator not to believe that he had forgotten the training of a soldier, nor forgotten himself and the honour due to his commander: the crowd, he said, had become excited; crowds were generally like their leaders, and he had not refused to lead it, for fear that some other might come forward, of the sort that an unruly mob was likely to choose; for his own part he would do nothing without the approval of his general.
14.2. Tullius magno opere a dictatore petere ne se oblitum disciplinae militaris, ne sui neue imperatoriae maiestatis crederet; multitudini concitatae, quae ferme auctoribus similis esset, non subtraxisse se ducem ne quis alius, quales mota creare multitudo soleret, exsisteret;
14.3. But Sulpicius, he continued, must none the less be very wary himself, to keep the army in hand; postponement would not do, where feelings were so exasperated; the men would choose for themselves a time and place for fighting, if their general did not provide them.
14.3. nam se quidem nihil non arbitrio imperatoris acturum. illi quoque tamen uidendum magno opere esse ut exercitum in potestate haberet; differri non posse adeo concitatos animos; ipsos sibi locum ac tempus pugnandi sumpturos, si ab imperatore non detur.
14.4. While they were talking thus, it chanced that a Gaul attempted to drive off certain sumpter animals that were grazing outside of the stockade, and two Roman soldiers took them away from him. These men were stoned by the Gauls. Whereupon a shout arose in the Roman outpost, and men ran forward on both sides.
14.4. dum haec loquuntur, iumenta forte pascentia extra uallum Gallo abigenti duo milites Romani ademerunt. in eos saxa coniecta a Gallis; deinde ab Romana statione clamor ortus ac procursum utrimque est.
14.5. And now the mellay was likely to end in a regular battle, had not the centurions speedily parted the combatants. Sulpicius was assured by this incident that Tullius spoke truth, and, the situation admitting of no delay, he announced a general engagement for the morrow. Yet the dictator was entering a struggle in which he relied more on the spirit of his troops than on their strength.
14.5. iamque haud procul iusto proelio res erat, ni celeriter diremptum certamen per centuriones esset; adfirmata certe eo casu Tulli apud dictatorem fides est; nec recipiente iam dilationem re, in posterum diem edicitur acie pugnaturos.
14.6. He began therefore to cast about and every way to consider how he might strike terror into the enemy by some stratagem. His cleverness produced a new expedient, which many generals both of our own and foreign countries —some even in the present age —have since employed.
14.6. dictator tamen, ut qui magis animis quam uiribus fretus ad certamen descenderet, omnia circumspicere atque agitare coepit ut arte aliqua terrorem hostibus incuteret. sollerti animo rem nouam excogitat, qua deinde multi nostri atque externi imperatores, nostra quoque quidam aetate, usi sunt:
14.7. Commanding the muleteers to remove the packsaddles from the mules, leaving only a pair of saddle-cloths on each, and arming them, partly with captured weapons, partly with those belonging to the sick, he mounted them.
14.7. mulis strata detrahi iubet binisque tantum centunculis relictis agasones partim captiuis, partim aegrorum armis ornatos imponit.
14.8. Having in this way made out near a thousand, he mixed a hundred cavalrymen with them and ordered them to go up by night on to the mountains above the camp and conceal themselves in the woods, and not to stir from thence until they received a signal from him.
14.8. his fere mille effectis centum admiscet equites et nocte super castra in montes euadere ac siluis se occultare iubet neque inde ante mouere quam ab se acceperint signum.
14.9. The dictator himself, as soon as it was light, began to deploy his front along the lower slopes, on purpose to make the enemy take their stand facing the mountains where the preparations had been made for inspiring them with a fear which, groundless though it was, yet served the Romans almost better than actual strength.
14.9. ipse, ubi inluxit, in radicibus montium extendere aciem coepit sedulo, ut aduersus montes consisteret hostis, instructo uani terroris apparatu, qui quidem terror plus paene ueris uiribus profuit.
14.10. At first the Gallic leaders supposed that the Romans would not come down into the plain; then, when they saw that they had suddenly begun to descend, they also, being themselves eager for the combat, rushed into battle, and the fighting began before the signal could be given by the generals.
14.10. primo credere duces Gallorum non descensuros in aequum Romanos; deinde, ubi degressos repente uiderunt, et ipsi auidi certaminis in proelium ruunt priusque pugna coepit quam signum ab ducibus daretur.
15.1. The right wing of the Gauls attacked fiercely, and it would have been impossible to stop them, if the dictator had not happened to be there. Calling out to Sextus Tullius by name, he chid him and asked if this was the kind of fighting he had promised that the men should do.
15.1. acrius inuasere Galli dextrum cornu; neque sustineri potuissent, ni forte eo loco dictator fuisset, Sex. Tullium nomine increpans rogitansque sicine pugnaturos milites spopondisset?
15.2. Where were those shouts with which they had called for arms? Where were their threats that they would begin the battle without the general's orders? Here was their general himself, who with a loud voice summoned them to fight, and advanced, sword in hand, in the very van!
15.2. ubi illi clamores sint arma poscentium, ubi minae iniussu imperatoris proelium inituros? en ipsum imperatorem clara uoce uocare ad proelium et ire armatum ante prima signa; ecquis sequeretur eorum qui modo ducturi fuerint, in castris feroces, in acie pauidi?
15.3. Of those who but now were ready to lead, was there none to follow? They might swagger in camp; in the field they were arrant cowards. What he said was the truth, and so stung them with shame that they rushed on the weapons of the enemy in utter forgetfulness of danger.
15.3. uera audiebant; itaque tantos pudor stimulos admouit, ut ruerent in hostium tela alienatis a memoria periculi animis. hic primo impetus prope uecors turbauit hostes, eques deinde emissus turbatos auertit.
15.4. This well-nigh frenzied onset first threw their enemies into disarray, and before they could recover their confusion the cavalry charged and routed them. The dictator himself, as soon as he saw that a part of their line was wavering, turned the infantry attack against their left, where he descried a throng of the enemy gathering, and made the appointed signal to those on the mountain.
15.4. ipse dictator, post quam labantem una parte uidit aciem, signa in laeuum cornu confert, quo turbam hostium congregari cernebat, et iis qui in monte erant signum quod conuenerat dedit.
15.5. And when they too raised a shout and were seen to be moving obliquely down the mountain in the direction of the Gallic camp, the enemy, fearing to be shut out, ceased fighting and rushed pell-mell for their entrenchments.
15.5. ubi inde quoque nouus clamor ortus et tendere obliquo monte ad castra Gallorum uisi sunt, tum metu ne excluderentur omissa pugna est cursuque effuso ad castra ferebantur.
15.6. There however they were met by Marcus Valerius, the master of the horse, who, having scattered the enemy's right wing, was then riding up to their works;
15.6. ubi cum occurrisset eis M. Ualerius magister equitum, qui profligato dextro cornu obequitabat hostium munimentis, ad montes siluasque uertunt fugam plurimique ibi a fallaci equitum specie agasonibusque excepti sunt;
15.7. whereupon they turned and fled towards the mountains and the woods, where very many of them were intercepted by the muleteers masquerading as cavalry; and those whose fright had carried them into the woods were pitilessly slaughtered, after the battle had died down. Not since the time of Marcus Furius has anyone celebrated a Gallic triumph that was better deserved than that of Gaius Sulpicius. He also collected from the spoils a considerable weight of gold, which he walled up with hewn stone in the Capitol, and so dedicated.
15.7. et eorum, quos pauor pertulerat in siluas, atrox caedes post sedatum proelium fuit. nec alius post M. Furium quam C. Sulpicius iustiorem de Gallis egit triumphum. auri quoque ex Gallicis spoliis satis magnum pondus saxo quadrato saeptum in Capitolio sacrauit.
15.9. In the same year the consuls, too, waged war with varying success. Gaius Plautius defeated the Hernici and reduced them to subjection; his colleague Fabius showed neither prudence nor skill in his battle with the Tarquinienses.
15.9. eodem anno et a consulibus uario euentu bellatum; nam Hernici a C. Plautio deuicti subactique sunt, Fabius collega eius incaute atque inconsulte aduersus Tarquinienses pugnauit.
15.10. And yet the disaster experienced on the field was overshadowed by the fact that the Tarquinienses slew three hundred and seven captured Roman soldiers as a sacrifice —an act of savage cruelty that greatly emphasized the humiliation of the Roman People.
15.10. nec in acie tantum ibi cladis acceptum quam quod trecentos septem milites Romanos captos Tarquinienses immolarunt; qua foeditate supplicii aliquanto ignominia populi Romani insignitior fuit.
15.11. In addition to this defeat, the Romans suffered the devastation of their fields in sudden incursions made by the Privernates, and afterwards by the Veliterni.
15.11. accessit ad eam cladem et uastatio Romani agri, quam Priuernates, Ueliterni deinde, incursione repentina fecerunt. eodem anno duae tribus, Pomptina et Publilia, additae;
15.12. In the same year two tribes were added; the Pomptine and the Publilian; the votive games, which Marcus Furius had vowed as dictator, were given; and a statute against bribery was then for the first time laid before the people by Gaius Poetelius, tribune of the plebs, with the approbation of the senate.
15.12. ludi uotiui, quos M. Furius dictator uouerat, facti; et de ambitu ab C. Poetelio tribuno plebis auctoribus patribus tum primum ad populum latum est;
15.13. By this measure they thought to have suppressed corrupt practices, particularly on the part of men risen from the people, who were wont to haunt the country fairs and gathering-places.
15.13. eaque rogatione nouorum maxime hominum ambitionem, qui nundinas et conciliabula obire soliti erant, compressam credebant.
16.1. Less agreeable to the senate was a measure which came up in the following year, in the consulship of Gaius Marcius and Gnaeus Manlius. It fixed the rate of interest at one per cent., and was carried through by Marcus Duillius and Lucius Menenius, tribunes of the plebs.
16.1. haud aeque laeta patribus insequenti anno C. Marcio Cn. Manlio consulibus de unciario fenore a M. Duillio L. Menenio tribunis plebis rogatio est perlata; et plebs aliquanto eam cupidius sciuit [accepit].
16.2. The commons ratified it much more eagerly than they had done the other law. Besides the new wars determined on in the previous year, the Faliscans also rose up as enemies. They were charged with two offences: their youth had fought on the side of the Tarquinienses; and they had refused the demand of the fetials that they should give up the Romans who had taken refuge in Falerii, after the defeat.
16.2. ad bella noua priore anno destinata Falisci quoque hostes exorti duplici crimine quod et cum Tarquiniensibus iuuentus eorum militauerat et eos qui Falerios perfugerant cum male pugnatum est, repetentibus fetialibus Romanis non reddiderant.
16.3. This command was assigned to Gnaeus Manlius. Marcius led an army into the territory of Privernum, unravaged during a long period of peace, and loaded his troops with booty. This abundance he administered bountifully, and sequestering nothing to the public treasury, encouraged the men to augment their private fortunes.
16.3. ea prouincia Cn. Manlio obuenit. Marcius exercitum in agrum Priuernatem, integrum pace longinqua, induxit militemque praeda impleuit. ad copiam rerum addidit munificentiam, quod nihil in publicum secernendo augenti rem priuatam militi fauit.
16.4. The Privernates having encamped in front of their town, within strong intrenchments, Marcius called his soldiers together and thus addressed them: “I give you now for booty the camp and city of our enemies, if you promise me that in the battle you will play the part of men, and be not more ready to plunder than to fight.”
16.4. Priuernates cum ante moenia sua castris permunitis consedissent, uocatis ad contionem militibus 'castra nunc' inquit 'uobis hostium urbemque praedae do, si mihi pollicemini uos fortiter in acie operam nauaturos nec praedae magis quam pugnae paratos esse.'
16.5. They clamoured loudly for the signal and entered the battle with spirit, emboldened by no uncertain expectations. There in the fore-front Sextus Tullius, who has been mentioned before, cried out, “Look, general, and see how your army keeps the promises it gave you!” Then, laying down his javelin, he drew his sword and charged the foe.
16.5. signum poscunt ingenti clamore celsique et spe haud dubia feroces in proelium uadunt. ibi ante signa Sex. Tullius, de quo ante dictum est, exclamat 'adspice, imperator' inquit, 'quemadmodum exercitus tuus tibi promissa praestet', piloque posito stricto gladio in hostem impetum facit.
16.6. All of the front line followed Tullius, and putting the enemy to flight at the first shock, pursued them to the town, where the Romans were already bringing up their scaling ladders to the wall, when the place surrendered. A triumph was celebrated over the Privernates.
16.6. sequuntur Tullium antesignani omnes primoque impetu auertere hostem; fusum inde ad oppidum persecuti, cum iam scalas moenibus admouerent, in deditionem urbem acceperunt. triumphus de Priuernatibus actus.
16.7. The other consul accomplished nothing worth recording, except that without precedent he got a law passed in his camp before Sutrium —the men voting by tribes —which levied a tax of one-twentieth on manumissions. The Fathers ratified this law, since it brought in no small revenue to the empty treasury; but the tribunes of the plebs, troubled less by the law than by the precedent established, had it made a capital offence for anyone thereafter to summon the people to the comitia away from Rome.
16.7. ab altero consule nihil memorabile gestum, nisi quod legem nouo exemplo ad Sutrium in castris tributim de uicensima eorum qui manumitterentur tulit. patres, quia ea lege haud paruum uectigal inopi aerario additum esset, auctores fuerunt;
16.8. If this should be permitted, there was nothing, they argued, however baneful to the people, which could not be carried through by the votes of soldiers sworn to obey their consul.
16.8. ceterum tribuni plebis, non tam lege quam exemplo moti, ne quis postea populum seuocaret, capite sanxerunt: nihil enim non per milites iuratos in consulis uerba, quamuis perniciosum populo, si id liceret, ferri posse.
16.9. In the same year Gaius Licinius Stolo was prosecuted under his own statute by Marcus Popilius Laenas, and condemned to pay a fine of ten thousand asses, on the charge that he held with his son a thousand iugera of land, and by emancipating his son had evaded the law.
16.9. eodem anno C. Licinius Stolo a M. Popilio Laenate sua lege decem milibus aeris est damnatus, quod mille iugerum agri cum filio possideret emancupandoque filium fraudem legi fecisset.
17.1. New consuls now came in, Marcus Fabius Ambustus and Marcus Popilius Laenas, each for the second time. They had two wars. One of these was easy; it was waged by Laenas against the Tiburtes, and he shut up the enemy within their city and pillaged their fields. The other consul was routed by the Faliscans and Tarquinienses in his first engagement.
17.1. noui consules inde, M. Fabius Ambustus iterum et M. Popilius Laenas iterum, duo bella habuere, facile alterum cum Tiburtibus, quod Laenas gessit, qui hoste in urbem compulso agros uastauit; Falisci Tarquiniensesque alterum consulem prima pugna fuderunt.
17.3. The panic was chiefly due to this, that their priests, bearing serpents and blazing torches before them, came rushing on like Furies, and utterly dismayed the Roman soldiers with the extraordinary sight. At first they were like men frantic and distraught, and flung themselves in a disordered mob into their own works.
17.3. inde terror maximus fuit quod sacerdotes eorum facibus ardentibus anguibusque praelatis incessu furiali militem Romanum insueta turbauerunt specie. et tum quidem uelut lymphati et attoniti munimentis suis trepido agmine inciderunt;
17.4. Then when the consul, the lieutenants and the tribunes laughed at them and upbraided them for being scared like children at idle tricks, shame caused a sudden revulsion in their feelings, and they rushed, as if blinded, on the very objects from which they had fled.
17.4. deinde, ubi consul legatique ac tribuni puerorum ritu uana miracula pauentes inridebant increpabantque, uertit animos repente pudor et in ea ipsa quae fugerant uelut caeci ruebant.
17.5. In this spirit they brushed aside the enemy's vain paraphernalia, and hurling themselves on his real fighting men, they routed the whole army, and even captured the camp that day. As they returned victorious with the rich plunder they had won, they jested in soldier-fashion and scoffed not only at the enemy's devices but at their own fright as well.
17.5. discusso itaque uano apparatu hostium, cum in ipsos armatos se intulissent, auerterunt totam aciem castrisque etiam eo die potiti praeda ingenti parta uictores reuerterunt, militaribus iocis cum apparatum hostium tum suum increpantes pauorem.
17.6. All who bore the Etruscan name then rose in arms, and led by the men of Tarquinii and Falerii, advanced as far as Salinae. To meet this fearful danger Gaius Marcius Rutulus was made dictator, the first that was ever appointed from the plebs, and he named a plebeian also, Gaius Plautius, to be master of the horse.
17.6. concitatur deinde omne nomen Etruscum et Tarquiniensibus Faliscisque ducibus ad Salinas perueniunt. aduersus eum terrorem dictator C. Marcius Rutulus primus de plebe dictus magistrum equitum item de plebe C. Plautium dixit.
17.7. But the patricians thought it shameful that even the dictatorship should now be common; and they exerted all their influence to prevent anything being decreed or made ready for the dictator, to carry on that war.
17.7. id uero patribus indignum uideri etiam dictaturam iam in promiscuo esse; omnique ope impediebant ne quid dictatori ad id bellum decerneretur parareturue. eo promptius cuncta ferente dictatore populus iussit.
17.8. For which reason the people voted the more promptly everything that the dictator proposed. Marching out from the City and setting his army across the Tiber by means of rafts, wherever a rumour of the enemy called him, he surprised many straggling pillagers as they roamed about the fields, on both sides of the river; he also captured their camp in a surprise attack, and with it eight thousand soldiers;
17.8. profectus ab urbe utraque parte Tiberis, ratibus exercitu, quocumque fama hostium ducebat, traiecto multos populatores agrorum uagos palantes oppressit; castra quoque necopinato adgressus cepit et octo milibus hostium captis, ceteris aut caesis aut ex agro Romano fugatis sine auctoritate patrum populi iussu triumphauit.
17.10. and having slain the rest, or driven them out of Roman territory, was granted a triumph by the people, but without the authorization of the senate.
17.10. quia nec per dictatorem plebeium nec per consulem comitia consularia haberi uolebant et alter consul Fabius bello retinebatur, res ad interregnum redit.
17.11. The patricians were not willing that a consular election should be held by a plebeian, whether dictator or consul, and the other consul being detained by the war, the state relapsed into an interregnum. The office of interrex was held successively by Quintus Servilius Ahala, Marcus Fabius, Gnaeus Manlius, Gaius Fabius, Gaius Sulpicius, Lucius Aemilius, Quintus Servilius, and Marcus Fabius Ambustus.
17.11. interreges deinceps Q. Seruilius Ahala M. Fabius Cn. Manlius C. Fabius C. Sulpicius L. Aemilius Q. Seruilius M. Fabius Ambustus.
17.12. In the second interregnum a controversy arose because two patricians were on the point of being named as consuls; and when the tribunes sought to veto the announcement, the interrex Fabius declared that the Twelve Tables enacted that whatsoever the people decreed last should have the binding force of law, and their votes were also a decree.
17.12. in secundo interregno orta contentio est, quod duo patricii consules creabantur, intercedentibusque tribunis interrex Fabius aiebat in duodecim tabulis legem esse ut, quodcumque postremum populus iussisset, id ius ratumque esset;
17.13. The tribunes gained nothing more by their intervention than a postponement of the comitia, and two patrician consuls were elected, namely Gaius Sulpicius Peticus (for the third time) and Marcus Valerius Publicola. They entered office that very day, in the four hundredth year from the founding of Rome and the thirty-fifth from its recovery from the Gauls, depriving the plebs of the consulship they had enjoyed for ten years.
17.13. iussum populi et suffragia esse. cum intercedendo tribuni nihil aliud quam ut differrent comitia ualuissent, duo patricii consules creati sunt, C. Sulpicius Peticus tertium M. Ualerius Publicola eodemque die magistratum inierunt, quadringentesimo anno quam urbs Romana condita erat, quinto tricesimo quam a Gallis reciperata, ablato post undecimum annum a plebe consulatu [patricii consules ambo ex interregno magistratum iniere, C. Sulpicius Peticus tertium M. Ualerius Publicola ].
18.2. Empulum was won that year from the Tiburtes without any memorable battle being fought; whether, as some writers state, the campaign was conducted there under the auspices of the two consuls; or whether the lands belonging to Tarquinii were ravaged by the consul Sulpicius at the same time that Valerius led his legions against the Tiburtes. The consuls had a harder struggle at home, with the plebs and the tribunes.
18.2. Empulum eo anno ex Tiburtibus haud memorando certamine captum, siue duorum consulum auspicio bellum ibi gestum est, ut scripsere quidam, seu per idem tempus Tarquiniensium quoque sunt uastati agri ab Sulpicio consule, quo Ualerius aduersus Tiburtes legiones duxit.
18.3. They held that honour as well as courage required of them that, even as two patricians had received the consulship, so they should hand it over to successors who were both patricians:
18.3. domi maius certamen consulibus cum plebe ac tribunis erat. fidei iam suae non solum uirtutis ducebant esse, ut accepissent duo patricii consulatum, ita ambobus patriciis mandare:
18.4. indeed they ought rather to withdraw from the consulship altogether, that it might at once become a plebeian magistracy, or else retain undivided that control which they had inherited entire from their fathers.
18.4. quin aut toto cedendum esse, si plebeius iam magistratus consulatus fiat, aut totum possidendum quam possessionem integram a patribus accepissent.
18.5. On the other side, the plebeians were asking angrily why they lived, why they were counted a part of the state, if they were unable by their collective efforts to maintain what the courage of two men, Lucius Sextius and Gaius Licinius, had won for them.
18.5. plebes contra fremit: quid se uiuere, quid in parte ciuium censeri, si, quod duorum hominum uirtute, L. Sexti ac C. Licini, partum sit, id obtinere uniuersi non possint?
18.6. It were better to put up with kings or decemvirs, or —if possible —a more stern type of government than theirs, rather than see the consuls both patricians and have no turns at obeying and commanding, while a part of the people thought themselves established forever in authority and the commons born for no other end than servitude.
18.6. uel reges uel decemuiros uel si quod tristius sit imperii nomen patiendum esse potius quam ambos patricios consules uideant nec in uicem pareatur atque imperetur sed pars altera in aeterno imperio locata plebem nusquam alio natam quam ad seruiendum putet.
18.8. There was no lack of tribunes to promote disturbances, but where all were so excited, to begin with, the leaders were hardly to be discerned.
18.8. non desunt tribuni auctores turbarum, sed inter concitatos per se omnes uix duces eminent.
18.9. After the people had several times gone down to the Campus Martius to no purpose, and many meeting days had been spent in rioting, the persistence of the consuls finally prevailed. The plebs, thereupon, in a burst of resentment, followed their tribunes, who cried out that liberty was lost and that they ought now to leave not only the voting-field but the City, too, which was taken captive and enslaved by the tyranny of the patricians.
18.9. aliquotiens frustra in campum descensum cum esset multique per seditiones acti comitiales dies, postremo uicit perseuerantia consulum: plebis eo dolor erupit, ut tribunos actum esse de libertate uociferantes relinquendumque non campum iam solum sed etiam urbem captam atque oppressam regno patriciorum maesta [plebs] sequeretur.
18.10. The consuls, being deserted by half the people, nevertheless, despite the paucity of voters, completed the election. The successful candidates were both patricians, Marcus Fabius Ambustus (for the third time) and Titus Quinctius. In certain annals I find Marcus Popilius given as consul instead of Titus Quinctius.
18.10. consules relicti a parte populi per infrequentiam comitia nihilo segnius perficiunt. creati consules ambo patricii, M. Fabius Ambustus tertium T. Quinctius. in quibusdam annalibus pro T. Quinctio M. Popilium consulem inuenio.
19.1. Two wars were successfully prosecuted this year, and the Tarquinienses and Tiburtes were forced to make submission. From the latter their city of Sassula was taken, and the rest of their towns would have met with the same fortune, had the whole nation not laid down their arms and cast themselves upon the mercy of the consul.
19.1. duo bella eo anno prospere gesta: cum Tarquiniensibus Tiburtibusque ad deditionem pugnatum. Sassula ex his urbs capta; ceteraque oppida eandem fortunam habuissent, ni uniuersa gens positis armis in fidem consulis uenisset.
19.2. A triumph was celebrated over them, but in all other respects the victory was used with clemency. The men of Tarquinii were shown no ruth; many were slain in the field of battle, and out of the vast number taken prisoners three hundred and fifty-eight were selected —the noblest of them all —to be sent to Rome, and the rest of the populace were put to the sword.
19.2. triumphatum de Tiburtibus; alioquin mitis uictoria fuit. in Tarquinienses acerbe saeuitum; multis mortalibus in acie caesis ex ingenti captiuorum numero trecenti quinquaginta octo delecti, nobilissimus quisque, qui Romam mitterentur;
19.3. Neither were the People less stern towards those who had been sent to Rome, but scourged them all with rods in the middle of the Forum and struck off their heads. Such was the vengeance they exacted of their enemies for the Romans sacrificed in the market-place of Tarquinii.
19.3. uolgus aliud trucidatum. nec populus in eos qui missi Romam erant mitior fuit: medio in foro omnes uirgis caesi ac securi percussi. id pro immolatis in foro Tarquiniensium Romanis poenae hostibus redditum.
19.4. Their success in war induced the Samnites also to apply for their friendship. The senate made a courteous answer to their ambassadors, and granted them a treaty of alliance.
19.4. res bello bene gestae ut Samnites quoque amicitiam peterent effecerunt. legatis eorum comiter ab senatu responsum; foedere in societatem accepti.
19.5. The Roman commons were not so fortunate at home as in the field. For notwithstanding they had been relieved of usury by the adoption of a one per cent. rate, the very poor found even the principal sum a crushing burden, and were being bound over to their creditors. Hence it was that neither the incumbency of two patrician consuls, nor concern for the elections or affairs of state, could divert the thoughts of the plebeians from their personal distresses.
19.5. non eadem domi quae militiae fortuna erat plebi Romanae. nam etsi unciario fenore facto leuata usura erat, sorte ipsa obruebantur inopes nexumque inibant; eo nec patricios ambo consules neque comitiorum curam publicaue studia prae priuatis incommodis plebs ad animum admittebat.
19.6. Accordingly both consulships continued in the hands of the patricians; Gaius Sulpicius Peticus was elected for the fourth time, and Marcus Valerius Publicola for the second. While the citizens were occupied with thoughts of an Etruscan war —for it was rumoured that the people of Caere, out of compassion for their kinsmen of Tarquinii, had made common cause with them —came envoys from the Latins and turned their thoughts upon the Volsci, with a report that they had mustered and equipped an army, which was even then descending upon Latium, from whence it would invade and devastate the territory of the Romans.
19.6. consulatus uterque apud patricios manet; consules creati C. Sulpicius Peticus quartum M. Ualerius Publicola iterum. in bellum Etruscum intentam ciuitatem, quia Caeritem populum misericordia consanguinitatis Tarquiniensibus adiunctum fama ferebat, legati Latini ad Uolscos conuertere, nuntiantes exercitum conscriptum armatumque iam suis finibus imminere; inde populabundos in agrum Romanum uenturos esse.
19.7. The senate therefore resolved that neither threat must be neglected; and ordered that legions should be enrolled for both campaigns, and that the consuls should decide the commands by lot.
19.7. censuit igitur senatus neutram neglegendam rem esse; utroque legiones scribi consulesque sortiri prouincias iussit.
19.8. But the Etruscan war afterwards came to be their chief concern, on the receipt of a dispatch from the consul Sulpicius, who had received the assignment to Tarquinii, with the news that the countryside lying near the Roman salt-works had been pillaged, and a part of the booty carried into the borders of the Caerites, whose soldiers had, without question, been amongst the depredators.
19.8. inclinauit deinde pars maior curae in Etruscum bellum, postquam litteris Sulpici consulis, cui Tarquinii prouincia euenerat, cognitum est depopulatum agrum circa Romanas salinas praedaeque partem in Caeritum fines auectam et haud dubie iuuentutem eius populi inter praedatores fuisse.
19.9. And so the senate recalled Valerius the consul, who was opposing the Volsci and had his camp close to the Tusculan frontier, and ordered him to nominate a dictator.
19.9. itaque Ualerium consulem, Uolscis oppositum castraque ad finem Tusculanum habentem, reuocatum inde senatus dictatorem dicere iussit. T. Manlium L. filium dixit.
19.10. His choice fell upon Titus Manlius, the son of Lucius, who appointed as master of the horse Aulus Cornelius Cossus. Asking for no more than the consular army, the dictator, by the senate's authority, and at the bidding of the people, proclaimed war on the Caerites.
19.10. is cum sibi magistrum equitum A. Cornelium Cossum dixisset, consulari exercitu contentus ex auctoritate patrum ac populi iussu Caeritibus bellum indixit.
20.1. It was then that the Caerites realized for the first time the full danger of war, as if the words of their enemies conveyed a more emphatic hint of it than their own acts, though they had pillaged the Romans and harried them. Beginning then to perceive how inadequate was their strength to such a quarrel, they repented of their raid, and cursed the Tarquinienses, who had encouraged them to fall away.
20.1. tum primum Caerites, tamquam in uerbis hostium uis maior ad bellum significandum quam in suis factis, qui per populationem Romanos lacessierant, esset, uerus belli terror inuasit, et quam non suarum uirium ea dimicatio esset cernebant;
20.2. Nobody made ready his arms and prepared for war, but one and all bade dispatch ambassadors to Rome, to beg forgiveness for their error. The envoys, having approached the senate, were sent by them to be dealt with by the people.
20.2. paenitebatque populationis et Tarquinienses exsecrabantur defectionis auctores; nec arma aut bellum quisquam apparare sed pro se quisque legatos mitti iubebat ad petendam erroris ueniam.
20.3. Calling on the gods whose sacred emblems they had received and religiously protected in the Gallic war, they besought them to inspire the Romans in their prosperity with such compassion for the men of Caere as they themselves had formerly shown for Rome in her time of tribulation. Then, turning to the shrine of Vesta, they invoked the flamens and Vestals whom they had entertained with a pure and scrupulous hospitality.
20.3. legati senatum cum adissent, ab senatu reiecti ad populum deos rogauerunt, quorum sacra bello Gallico accepta rite procurassent, ut Romanos florentes ea sui misericordia caperet quae se rebus adfectis quondam populi Romani cepisset;
20.4. Could anyone, they asked, believe that those who had deserved so well of the Romans had suddenly turned enemies without reason?
20.4. conuersique ad delubra Uestae hospitium flaminum Uestaliumque ab se caste ac religiose cultum inuocabant:
20.5. or that if they had in fact committed an act of hostility, it had been deliberately planned, and had not rather been owing to a fit of madness? Would they undo their own kindness of old, especially kindness to such grateful friends, with new misdeeds; and choose to be enemies of the Roman People in their flourishing state and at the height of their success in war, when they had sought their friendship in the hour of their adversity? Let them not give the name of “purpose” to what should properly be called “force” and “necessity.”
20.5. eane meritos crederet quisquam hostes repente sine causa factos? aut, si quid hostiliter fecissent, consilio id magis quam furore lapsos fecisse, ut sua uetera beneficia, locata praesertim apud tam gratos, nouis corrumperent maleficiis florentemque populum Romanum ac felicissimum bello sibi desumerent hostem, cuius adflicti amicitiam cepissent? ne appellarent consilium, quae uis ac necessitas appellanda esset.
20.6. The Tarquinienses, marching in hostile array through their territories, had sought nothing of them save permission to pass, but had drawn certain rustics after them in their train, who had borne a part in the pillaging with which the people of Caere were now taxed.
20.6. transeuntes agmine infesto per agrum suum Tarquinienses, cum praeter uiam nihil petissent, traxisse quosdam agrestium populationis eius, quae sibi crimini detur, comites.
20.7. If it pleased the Romans that these men should be surrendered, they would surrender them; if they would have them punished, they should be made to suffer. But Caere, the sanctuary of the Roman People, the hostel of its priests and refuge of the Roman religion, let them preserve intact and unstained by the imputation of making war, for the sake of the hospitality it had shown their Vestals and the reverence it had paid their gods.
20.7. eos seu dedi placeat, dedere se paratos esse, seu supplicio adfici, daturos poenas. Caere, sacrarium populi Romani, deuersorium sacerdotum ac receptaculum Romanorum sacrorum, intactum inuiolatumque crimine belli hospitio Uestalium cultisque dis darent.
20.8. The people were moved, not so much by their present claims as by their ancient merits, and chose rather to forget an injury than a kindness. So peace was granted to the people of Caere, and it was resolved that a truce of a hundred years be made, and recorded on a table of bronze.
20.8. mouit populum non tam causa praesens quam uetus meritum, ut maleficii quam beneficii potius immemores essent. itaque pax populo Caeriti data indutiasque in centum annos factas in senatus consultum referri placuit.
20.9. The brunt of the war was turned against the Faliscans, who lay under the same accusation; but the enemy were nowhere encountered. Having ranged over their lands and laid them waste, the Romans refrained from attacking their cities, and led their legions home. The rest of the year was consumed in repairing the walls and towers, and a temple was dedicated to Apollo.
20.9. in Faliscos eodem noxios crimine uis belli conuersa est; sed hostes nusquam inuenti. cum populatione peragrati fines essent, ab oppugnatione urbium temperatum; legionibusque Romam reductis reliquum anni muris turribusque reficiendis consumptum et aedis Apollinis dedicata est.
21.1. In the latter part of the year the consular election was broken off by a quarrel between the patricians and the plebs: the tribunes refused to permit the assembly to be held unless it were held agreeably to the Licinian law, and the dictator was obstinately determined rather to remove the consulship root and branch out of the state than to throw it open to patricians and plebs without distinction.
21.1. extremo anno comitia consularia certamen patrum ac plebis diremit, tribunis negantibus passuros comitia haberi ni secundum Liciniam legem haberentur, dictatore obstinato tollere potius totum e re publica consulatum quam promiscuum patribus ac plebi facere.
21.2. The assembly was therefore repeatedly adjourned, until the dictator's term had expired, and the state reverted to an interregnum. The interreges found the commons hostile to the patricians, and the factional struggle continued until there had been eleven interreges.
21.2. prolatandis igitur comitiis cum dictator magistratu abisset, res ad interregnum rediit. infestam inde patribus plebem interreges cum accepissent, ad undecimum interregem seditionibus certatum est.
21.3. The tribunes continually vaunted their backing of the Licinian law: the plebs were more concerned with the distress they suffered from the increasing weight of usury, and their private worries broke out into public quarrels.
21.3. legis Liciniae patrocinium tribuni iactabant: propior dolor plebi fenoris ingrauescentis erat curaeque priuatae in certaminibus publicis erumpebant.
21.4. Worn out with these, the senate ordered Lucius Cornelius Scipio, the interrex, for harmony's sake to observe the Licinian law at the consular election. Publius Valerius Publicola was elected, with a plebeian colleague named Gaius Marcius Rutulus.
21.4. quorum taedio patres L. Cornelium Scipionem interregem concordiae causa obseruare legem Liciniam comitiis consularibus iussere. P. Ualerio Publicolae datus e plebe collega C. Marcius Rutulus.
21.5. Now that the minds of men were once inclined to concord, the new consuls set themselves to obtain relief in the matter of usury also, which appeared to be the sole obstacle to harmony. They made the discharge of debts a concern of the state, appointing five commissioners, whom they called bankers, from their having the disposition of the money.
21.5. inclinatis semel in concordiam animis noui consules fenebrem quoque rem, quae distinere una animos uidebatur, leuare adgressi solutionem alieni aeris in publicam curam uerterunt quinqueuiris creatis quos mensarios ab dispensatione pecuniae appellarunt.
21.6. These men by their impartiality and diligence fairly earned the distinction which attaches, in all the histories, to the names of Gaius Duillius, Publius Decius Mus, Marcus Papirius, Quintus Publilius, and Titus Aemilius.
21.6. meriti aequitate curaque sunt, ut per omnium annalium monumenta celebres nominibus essent; fuere autem C. Duillius P. Decius Mus M. Papirius Q. Publilius et T. Aemilius.
21.7. In the discharge of a very difficult duty, involving always a hardship for one of the parties, and in most instances for both, they managed matters wisely in other respects, and, in particular, they expended without throwing away the public funds.
21.7. qui rem difficillimam tractatu et plerumque parti utrique, semper certe alteri grauem cum alia moderatione tum impendio magis publico quam iactura sustinuerunt.
21.8. For with long-standing accounts, embarrassed more by the debtors' neglect than by their lack of means, they dealt in one of the following ways: either they paid them out of the treasury —taking security for the people first —at the banking tables they had set up in the Forum; or they settled them upon a valuation, at fair prices, of the debtor's effects. And so, not only without injustice, but even without complaint from either side, a vast amount of indebtedness was cleared off.
21.8. tarda enim nomina et impeditiora inertia debitorum quam facultatibus aut aerarium mensis cum aere in foro positis dissoluit, ut populo prius caueretur, aut aestimatio aequis rerum pretiis liberauit, ut non modo sine iniuria sed etiam sine querimoniis partis utriusque exhausta uis ingens aeris alieni sit.
21.9. A groundless fear of war with Etruria, on a report that the twelve nations had conspired, compelled the appointment of a dictator. The appointment was made in camp —for thither had the resolution of the senate been sent to the consuls —and Gaius Julius became dictator, with Lucius Aemilius for master of the horse. But abroad all was serene, while at home an attempt, made through the dictator, to obtain the return of patricians to both consulships, brought the state to an interregnum.
21.9. terror inde uanus belli Etrusci, cum coniurasse duodecim populos fama esset, dictatorem dici coegit. dictus in castris —eo enim ad consules missum senatus consultum est— C. Iulius, cui magister equitum adiectus L. Aemilius. ceterum foris tranquilla omnia fuere: temptatum domi per dictatorem, ut ambo patricii consules crearentur, rem ad interregnum perduxit.
22.2. The two interreges who were put in, Gaius Sulpicius and Marcus Fabius, brought to pass what the dictator had vainly striven for; and the plebs being now grown more tractable, thanks to the help lately granted them in the relief of debt, both men elected consuls were patricians.
22.2. duo interreges, C. Sulpicius et M. Fabius, interpositi obtinuere quod dictator frustra tetenderat, mitiore iam plebe ob recens meritum leuati aeris alieni, ut ambo patricii consules crearentur.
22.3. These were that very Gaius Sulpicius Peticus, who was the earlier of the two interreges, and Titus Quinctius Poenus. (Some give Caeso, others Gaius, as the praenomen of Quinctius.) Both marched out to fight, Quinctius against the Faliscans, Sulpicius against the Tarquinienses; but nowhere encountering their enemies in battle, they warred rather with the land, which they burnt and pillaged, than with men;
22.3. creati ipse C. Sulpicius Peticus, qui prior interregno abiit, et T. Quinctius Poenus; quidam Caesonem, alii Gaium praenomen Quinctio adiciunt, ad bellum ambo profecti, Faliscum Quinctius, Sulpicius Tarquiniense, nusquam acie congresso hoste cum agris magis quam cum hominibus urendo populandoque gesserunt bella;
22.5. until the obstinacy of both peoples was overcome, as by the wasting of a lingering illness, and they requested a truce, first of the consuls, and later, by their permission, of the senate. They were granted one for forty years.
22.5. cuius lentae uelut tabis senio uicta utriusque pertinacia populi est, ut primum a consulibus, dein permissu eorum ab senatu indutias peterent. in quadraginta annos impetrauerunt.
22.6. The anxiety arising from two threatening wars being thus allayed, it was resolved that while there was some rest from arms they would take the census; for the settlement of debts had brought about the change of ownership in many properties.
22.6. ita posita duorum bellorum quae imminebant cura, dum aliqua ab armis quies esset, quia solutio aeris alieni multarum rerum mutauerat dominos, censum agi placuit.
22.7. But when notice had been given of an assembly for the election of censors, an announcement that he should be a candidate on the part of Gaius Marcius Rutulus, who had been the first plebeian dictator, played havoc with the harmony of the orders;
22.7. ceterum cum censoribus creandis indicta comitia essent, professus censuram se petere C. Marcius Rutulus, qui primus dictator de plebe fuerat, concordiam ordinum turbauit;
22.8. for he seemed to have taken this step at an untoward time, since both the consuls, as it fell out, were then patricians, who declared that they would receive no votes for him;
22.8. quod uidebatur quidem tempore alieno fecisse, quia ambo tum forte patricii consules erant, qui rationem eius se habituros negabant;
22.9. but Rutulus himself held firmly to his purpose, and the tribunes aided him with all their power, in the hope of recovering what they had lost in the election of consuls; and not only was the man's own greatness equal to any honour, however lofty, but the plebs desired that they might be called to share the censorship by the same man who had opened up for them a path to the dictatorship.
22.9. sed et ipse constantia inceptum obtinuit et tribuni omni ui <ut> reciperaturi ius consularibus comitiis amissum adiuuerunt, et cum ipsius uiri maiestas nullius honoris fastigium non aequabat, tum per eundem, qui ad dictaturam aperuisset uiam, censuram quoque in partem uocari plebes uolebat.
22.10. There was no dissenting opinion shown at the assembly, and Marcius was elected, along with Manlius Naevius. There was a dictator in this year also, namely, Marcus Fabius, not because of any threatened war, but to prevent the observance of the Licinian law in the consular election.
22.10. nec uariatum comitiis est, quin cum Manlio †Naeuio censor† Marcius crearetur. dictatorem quoque hic annus habuit M. Fabium, nullo terrore belli sed ne Licinia lex comitiis consularibus obseruaretur.
22.11. Quintus Servilius was assigned to the dictator as master of the horse. But the dictatorship made the unanimity of the patricians no more potent in the election of consuls than it had been in the election of censors.
22.11. magister equitum dictatori additus Q. Seruilius. nec tamen dictatura potentiorem eum consensum patrum consularibus comitiis fecit quam censoriis fuerat: M. Popilius Laenas a plebe consul, a patribus L. Cornelius Scipio datus.
23.2. Marcus Popilius Laenas was chosen from the plebs, Lucius Cornelius Scipio from the patricians. Fortune even made the plebeian consul the more illustrious, for the news that a huge army of Gauls had encamped in Latium found Scipio afflicted with a grave disorder, and the conduct of the war was entrusted by special arrangement to Popilius.
23.2. fortuna quoque inlustriorem plebeium consulem fecit; nam cum ingentem Gallorum exercitum in agro Latino castra posuisse nuntiatum esset, Scipione graui morbo implicito Gallicum bellum Popilio extra ordinem datum.
23.3. He levied troops with energy, and ordered all the young men to assemble under arms outside the Porta Capena, at the temple of Mars, commanding the quaestors to convey the standards thither, from the treasury. After filling up four legions, he turned over the supernumeraries to the praetor, Publius Valerius Publicola, urging the senators to enroll a second army as a national reserve against the uncertain emergencies of war. Having at length concluded all the necessary preparations, he himself marched against the enemy;
23.3. is impigre exercitu scripto, cum omnes extra portam Capenam ad Martis aedem conuenire armatos iuniores iussisset signaque eodem quaestores ex aerario deferre, quattuor expletis legionibus, quod superfuit militum P. Ualerio Publicolae praetori tradidit, auctor patribus scribendi alterius exercitus, quod ad incertos belli euentus subsidium rei publicae esset.
23.5. and that he might first learn their strength before putting it to the test of a decisive battle, he seized and began to fortify an eminence as close as he could find to the camp of the Gauls.
23.5. ipse iam satis omnibus instructis comparatisque ad hostem pergit; cuius ut prius nosceret uires quam periculo ultimo temptaret, in tumulo, quem proximum castris Gallorum capere potuit, uallum ducere coepit.
23.6. These, being a fierce people and by nature eager for the combat, on beholding the Roman ensigns in the distance, at once drew out their line, as if for instant battle. But perceiving that the Romans did not descend into the plain, but sought to protect themselves not only by their position but even with a rampart, they supposed them to be panic-stricken and at the same time the more open to attack for being just then taken up with their task. They advanced, therefore, with hideous yells.
23.6. gens ferox et ingenii auidi ad pugnam cum procul uisis Romanorum signis ut extemplo proelium initura explicuisset aciem, postquam neque in aequum demitti agmen uidit et cum loci altitudine tum uallo etiam tegi Romanos, perculsos pauore rata, simul opportuniores quod intenti tum maxime operi essent, truci clamore adgreditur.
23.7. The Romans without a pause in their work, on which the reserves were engaged, began the action with their troops of the first and second lines, who had been standing alert and armed in front of the working party.
23.7. ab Romanis nec opus intermissum— triarii erant, qui muniebant—et ab hastatis principibusque, qui pro munitoribus intenti armatique steterunt, proelium initum.
23.8. Besides their valour, they had an advantage from the elevation, for their javelins and spears, instead of falling without effect, as they mostly do when thrown on a level field, were steadied by their own weight and all struck home.
23.8. praeter uirtutem locus quoque superior adiuuit, ut pila omnia hastaeque non tamquam ex aequo missa uana, quod plerumque fit, caderent sed omnia librata ponderibus figerentur;
23.9. The Gauls were burdened with the missiles which had either transfixed their bodies, or, sticking in their shields, had made them very heavy; their dash had carried them almost up the slope, but first they halted, uncertain what to do, and then —for the mere delay had abated their ardour and increased that of their foes —they were thrown back, and falling one upon another wrought greater carnage than even their enemies had done; for so headlong was the rout, that more were trodden under foot than slain with the sword.
23.9. oneratique telis Galli, quibus aut corpora transfixa aut praegrauata inhaerentibus gerebant scuta, cum cursu paene in aduersum subissent, primo incerti restitere; dein, cum ipsa cunctatio et his animos minuisset et auxisset hosti, impulsi retro ruere alii super alios stragemque inter se caede ipsa foediorem dare; adeo praecipiti turba obtriti plures quam ferro necati.