1.3. the envoys who had been dispatched to make restitution returned without having achieved a peace, Pontius said: “must not think that this embassy has been of no avail: whatever divine resentment we incurred by breaking the treaty has been appeased.”
1.3. , ubi legati qui ad dedendas res missi erant pace infecta redierunt, nihil actum inquit hac legatione censeatis, expiatum est quidquid ex foedere rupto irarum in nos caelestium fuit.
1.4. “do I know that whatever gods desired that we might be compelled to restore the spoils which had been demanded again of us in accordance with the treaty did not desire that our expiation of the treaty should be so scornfully rejected by the Romans.”
1.4. scio quibuscumque discordi fuit subigi nos ad necessitatem dedendi res quae ab nobis ex foedere repetitae fuerant, iis non fuisse cordi tam superbe ab Romanis foederis expiationem spretam.
1.5. “what more could have been done to mollify the gods and to placate men than we have done? The goods of the enemy which we had taken as booty, and regarded as our own by the laws of war, we restored to them;”
1.5. enim ultra fieri ad placandos deos mitigandosque homines potuit quam quod nos fecimus? hostium in praeda captas, quae belli iure nostrae videbantur, remisimus; auctores belli, quia vivos non potuimus, perfunctos iam fato dedidimus;
1.6. “the authors of the war, whom we could not surrender living, we surrendered dead; their possessions —that no guilt might remain with us from touching them —we carried to Rome.”
1.6. bona eorum, ne quid ex contagione noxae remaneret penes nos, Romam portavimus.
1.7. “more do I owe to you, Romans, or to the treaty, or to the gods, its witnesses? can I proffer as umpire betwixt your anger and my punishment? refuse no nation, no private citizen.”
1.7. ultra tibi, Romane, quid foederi, quid dis arbitris foederis debeo? tibi tuarum irarum, quem meorum suppliciorum iudicem feram? neque populum neque privatum fugio.
1.8. “if, in dealing with the mighty, the weak are left no human rights, yet will I seek protection of the gods, who visit retribution on intolerable pride, and will beseech them that they tum their anger against those who are not content with the restitution of their own possessions, nor the heaping up in addition of ” “other men's; whose rage is not sated with the death of the guilty, nor with the surrender of their lifeless bodies, nor with the master's goods going with that surrender —unless we yield them our blood to drink and our flesh to rend.”
1.8. si nihil cum potentiore iuris humani relinquitur inopi, at ego ad deos vindices intolerandae superbiae confugiam et precabor ut iras suas vertant in eos quibus non suae redditae res, non alienae accumulatae satis sint; quorum saevitiam non mors noxiorum, non deditio exanimatorum corporum, non bona sequentia domini deditionem exsatient, nisi hauriendum sanguinem laniandaque viscera nostra praebuerimus.
1.10. “Samnites, that war is just which is necessary, and righteous are their arms to whom, save only in arms, no hope is left.”
1.10. est bellum, Samnites, quibus necessarium, et pia arma quibus nulla nisi in armis relinquitur spes.
1.11. “, therefore, it is of the utmost moment in the affairs of men whether what they undertake be pleasing in the sight of Heaven or whether it be offensive, be well assured that you waged your former war rather against gods than men, but that you will wage this war now threatening with the gods themselves for your leaders.”
1.11. , cum rerum humanarum maximum momentum sit, quam propitiis rem, quam adversis agant dis, pro certo habete priora bella adversus deos magis quam homines gessisse, hoc quod instat ducibus ipsis dis gesturos. non laeta magis quam vera vaticinatus exercitu educto circa Caudium castra quam potest occultissime locat.
2.2. pronounced these words, as prophetic as they were encouraging, he led his army out and encamped with all possible secrecy in the vicinity of Caudium. he dispatched in the direction of Calatia, where he heard that the Roman consuls were already in camp, ten soldiers in the guise of shepherds, with orders to graze their flocks —dispersed one here another there —at no great distance from the Romans.
2.2. ad Calatiam, ubi iam consules Romanos castraque esse audiebat, milites decem pastorum habitu mittit pecoraque diversos, alium alibi, haud procul Romanis pascere iubet praesidiis;
2.3. encountering pillagers, they were all to tell one story; namely, that the Samnite levies were in Apulia, where they were laying siege with all their forces to Luceria, and were on the point of taking it by assault.
2.3. ubi inciderint in praedatores, ut idem omnibus sermo constet, legiones Samnitium in Apulia esse, Luceriam omnibus copiis circumsedere nec procul abesse quin vi capiant.
2.4. rumour, which had designedly been given out before, had already come to the ears of the Romans, but the prisoners strengthened their belief in it, especially since they all gave the same account.
2.4. is rumor et ante de industria volgatus venerat ad Romanos, sed fidem auxere captivi eo maxime quod sermo inter omnes congruebat.
2.5. The Romans did not hesitate about helping the Lucerini, their good and faithful allies, and preventing Apulia at the same time from a general defection in the face of instant peril: the only subject of deliberation was by what route they should march.
2.5. erat dubium quin Lucerinis opem Romanus ferret, bonis ac fidelibus sociis, simul ne Apulia omnis ad praesentem terrorem deficeret: ea modo qua irent consultatio fuit.
2.6. were two roads to Luceria. skirted the Adriatic, and though open and unobstructed, was long almost in proportion to its safety.
2.6. ad Luceriam ferebant viae, altera praeter oram superi maris, patens apertaque sed quanto tutior tanto fere longior, altera per furculas Caudinas, brevior;
2.7. The other led through the Caudine Forks, and was shorter, but this is the nature of the place: two deep defiles, narrow and wooded, are connected by an unbroken range of mountains on either hand; shut in between them lies a rather extensive plain, grassy and well —watered, with the road running through the middle of it;
2.7. sed ita natus locus est: saltus duo alti angusti silvosique sunt montibus circa perpetuis inter se iuncti; iacet inter eos satis patens clausus in medio campus herbidus aquosusque, per quem medium iter est;
2.8. but before you come to it, you must enter the first defile, and afterwards either retrace the steps by which you made your way into the place, or else —should you go forward —pass out by another ravine, which is even narrower and more difficult.
2.8. sed antequam venias ad eum, intrandae primae angustiae sunt, et aut eadem qua te insinuaveris retro via repetenda aut, si ire porro pergas, per alium saltum artiorem impeditioremque, evadendum.
2.9. this plain the Romans debouched from the rocky gorge of one of the two passes; and advancing forthwith to the other pass, found it blocked with a barrier of felled trees and huge boulders. The enemy's stratagem now stood revealed, and indeed a body of troops was descried at the head of the defile.
2.9. eum campum via alia per cavam rupem Romani demisso agmine cum ad alias angustias protinus pergerent, saeptas deiectu arborum saxorumque ingentium obiacente mole invenere. fraus hostilis apparuisset, praesidium etiam in summo saltu conspicitur.
2.10. The Romans thereupon hastened back to regain the road by which they had come, but found that this was likewise closed with its own barricade and armed men. this they came to a halt, without any command, and a stupor came over the minds of all, and a strange kind of numbness over their bodies; and looking at one another —for every man supposed his neighbour more capable of thinking and planning than himself —they stood for a long time motionless and silent.
2.10. inde retro, qua venerant pergunt repetere viam; eam quoque clausam sua obice armisque inveniunt. inde gradum sine ullius imperio, stuporque omnium animos ac velut torpor quidam insolitus membra tenet, intuentesque alii alios, cum alterum quisque compotem magis mentis ac consilii ducerent, diu immobiles silent;
2.12. , when they saw the tents of the consuls going up and some of the men getting out entrenching tools, although they perceived that in their desperate plight, deprived of every hope, it would be ridiculous for them to entrench themselves, nevertheless, that they might not add a fault to their misfortunes, they fell to digging —each for himself with no encouragement or command from anyone —and fortified a camp close to the water;
2.12. deinde, ubi praetoria consulum erigi videre et expedire quosdam utilia operi, quamquam ludibrio fore munientes perditis rebus ac spe omni adempta cernebant, tamen, ne culpam malis adderent, pro se quisque nec hortante ullo nec imperante ad muniendum versi castra propter aquam vallo circumdant,
2.14. meanwhile not only did their enemies insolently scoff at them, but they jested themselves, with pathetic candour, at the futility of their works and the pains they took.
2.14. sua ipsi opera laboremque inritum, praeterquam quod hostes superbe increpabant, cum miserabili confessione eludentes.
2.15. The dejected consuls did not even call a council, for the situation admitted neither of discussion nor of help, but the lieutenants and tribunes assembled of their own accord, and the soldiers, turning to the headquarters tent, called on their generals for help, which the immortal gods could scarce have given them.
2.15. consules maestos, ne advocantes quidem in consilium, quando nec consilio nec auxilio locus esset, sua sponte legati ac tribuni conveniunt, militesque ad praetorium versi opem open, quam vix di immortales ferre poterant, ab ducibus exposcunt. magis quam consultantes nox oppressit, cum pro ingenio quisque fremerent: obices viarum, alius, per adversa montium, per silvas, qua ferri arma poterunt, eamus, modo ad hostem pervenire liceat, quem per annos iam prope triginta vincimus;
3.2. came, and found them not so much consulting as lamenting, while each murmured as his nature prompted him. “us force the barriers of the road,” said one, “let us scale the mountains, penetrate the forests, go wherever we can carry ” “arms, if only we may come at the enemy, whom we have now been conquering for close upon thirty years; any field will be smooth and level to a Roman who fights against a treacherous Samnite!”
3.2. omnia aequa et plana erunt Romano in perfidum Samnitem pugnanti; alius: aut qua eamus? montes moliri sede sua paramus? haec imminebunt iuga, qua tu ad hostem venias? inermes, fortes ignavi, pariter omnes capti atque victi sumus; ne ferrum quidem ad bene moriendum oblaturus est hostis; sedens bellum conficiet.
3.3. Another would ask: “or by what way can we go? we think to remove the mountains from their seat? long as these ridges tower over you, how shall you come at the enemy? and unarmed, the brave and the cowardly, we are all alike captured and beaten men. The foe will not even draw his sword on us, that we may die with honour; he will end the war by sitting still.”
3.3. in vicem sermonibus qua cibi qua quietis immemor nox traducta est. Samnitibus quidem consilium in tam laetis suppetebat rebus; itaque universi Herennium Pontium, patrem imperatoris, per litteras consulendum censent.
3.4. such —like exchange of talk the night wore on, neither was there any thought of food or sleep. the Samnites were at a loss what course to follow in such happy circumstances; and accordingly they agreed unanimously to dispatch a letter to Herennius Pontius, the father of their general, asking his advice.
3.4. is gravis annis non militaribus solum sed civilibus quoque abscesserat muneribus; in corpore tamen adfecto vigebat vis animi consiliique.
3.5. man, bowed down with years, had already withdrawn not only from military but even from civic duties; yet, despite his bodily infirmity, his mind and judgment retained their vigour.
3.5. ubi accepit ad furculas Caudinas inter duos saltus clausos esse exercitus Romanos, consultus ab nuntio filii censuit omnes inde quam primum inviolatos dimittendos.
3.6. he learned that the Roman armies had been hemmed in between two defiles at the Caudine Forks, and was asked by his son's messenger for his opinion, he advised that they should all be dismissed unscathed, at the earliest possible moment.
3.6. ubi spreta sententia est iterumque eodem remeante nuntio consulebatur, censuit ad unum omnes ones interficiendos.
3.7. policy having been rejected, and the messenger returning a second time to seek his counsel, he recommended that all, to the last man, be slain. received these answers, as inconsistent as the riddling responses of an oracle, the younger Pontius was among the first to conclude that his father's mind had now given way along with his failing body, but yielded to the general desire and sent for him to advise with them in person.
3.7. ubi tam discordia inter se velut ex ancipiti oraculo responsa data sunt, quamquam filius ipse in primis iam animum quoque patris consenuisse in adfecto corpore rebatur, tamen consensu omnium victus est ut ipsum in consilium acciret. gravatus senex plaustro in castra dicitur advectus vocatusque in consilium ita ferme locutus esse ut nihil sententiae suae mutaret, causas tantum adiceret:
3.9. The old man made no objection; he was brought to the camp in a waggon —so the story runs —and being invited to join the council of war, spoke to such purpose as merely, without changing his opinion, to add thereto his reasons: If, he said, they adopted his first proposal —which he held to be the best —they would establish lasting peace and friendship with a very powerful people by conferring an enormous benefit upon them; by adopting the other plan they would postpone the war for many generations, in which time the Roman State, having lost two armies, would not easily regain its strength; there was no third plan.
3.9. priore se consilio, quod optimum duceret, cum potentissimo populo per ingens beneficium perpetuam firmare pace amicitiamque; altero consilio in multas aetates, quibus amissis duobus exercitibus haud facile receptura vires Romana res esset, bellum differre; tertium nullum consilium esse. filius aliique principes percontando exsequerentur, quid si media via consilii caperetur, ut et dimitterentur incolumes et leges iis iure belli victis imponerentur, quidem sententia inquit ea est, quae neque amicos parat nec inimicos tollit.
3.11. his son and the other leading men pressed him to say what would happen if they took a middle course, and while letting them go unhurt imposed terms upon them by the rights of war, as upon the vanquished, “,” he answered, “is in sooth a policy that neither wins men friends nor rids them of their enemies.” “, if you will, those whom you have stung to anger with humiliation; the Roman race is one that knows not how to be still under defeat.” “shame you brand them with in their present necessity, the wound will ever rankle in their bosoms, nor will it suffer them to rest until they have exacted many times as heavy a penalty of you.” proposal was accepted, and Herennius was carried home from the camp.
3.11. modo quos ignominia inritaveritis: ea est Romana gens quae victa quiescere nesciat. semper in pectoribus illorum quidquid istuc praesens necessitas inusserit, nec eos ante multiplices poenas expetitas a vobis quiescere sinet. sententia accepta Herennius domum e castris est avectus. in castris Romanis cum frustra multi conatus ad erumpendum capti essent et iam omnium rerum inopia esset, victi necessitate legatos mittunt qui primum pacem aequam peterent;
4.2. the other camp the Romans, finding themselves now, after many fruitless efforts to break out, in want of everything, were reduced to the necessity of sending envoys; who were first to treat for an equal peace, and, if peace could not be had, to provoke the enemy to fight. them Pontius made answer, that the war was already fought and won; and since they knew not how to admit their plight, even when beaten and made prisoners, he intended to send them unarmed and with a single garment each under the yoke;
4.2. si pacem non impetrarent, uti provocarent ad pugnam. Pontius debellatum esse respondit; et, quoniam ne victi quidem ac capti fortunam fateri scirent, inermes cum singulis vestimentis sub iugum missurum; alias condiciones pacis aequas victis ac victoribus fore:
4.4. in all else the peace should be one of equal terms to the vanquished and the victors; for if the Romans would evacuate the Samnite territory and withdraw their colonies, Romans and Samnites should thenceforward live by their own laws in an equal alliance.
4.4. si agro Samnitium decederetur, coloniae abducerentur, suis inde legibus Romanum ac Samnitem aequo foedere victurum;
4.5. these terms he was ready to conclude a treaty with the consuls; if they were any of them unacceptable, he forbade the envoys to return to him.
4.5. his condicionibus paratum se esse foedus cum consulibus ferire; si quid eorum displiceat, legatos redire ad se vetuit.
4.6. the upshot of this embassy was made known to the Romans, they all straightway fell to groaning, and so overcome were they with sorrow that it seemed as though they could not possibly take it more to heart if they should be told that they must all die in that place., after a long silence —for the consuls were incapable of uttering a word, either for a treaty so disgraceful or against a treaty so necessary —
4.6. cum legatio renuntiaretur, tantus gemitus omnium subito exortus est tantaque maestitia incessit ut non gravius accepturi viderentur si nuntiaretur omnibus eo loco mortem oppetendam esse. diu silentium fuisset nec consules aut pro foedere tam turpi aut contra foedus tam necessarium hiscere possent, tum L. Lentulus, qui princeps legatorum virtute atque honoribus erat:
4.8. Lucius Lentulus, at that time first of the lieutenants both for his valour and his dignities, spoke as follows: “, I have often heard my father say that on the Capitol he was the only man who would not have the senate ransom the City from the Gauls with gold, since their enemies, who were most indolent besiegers, had not shut them in with trench and rampart, and they were able to make a sortie, if not without great danger, yet without certain destruction.”
4.8. meum inquit, consules, saepe audivi memorantem se in Capitolio unum non fuisse auctorem senatui redimendae auro a Gallis civitatis, quando nec fossa valloque ab ignavissimo ad opera ac muniendum hoste clausi essent et erumpere, si non sine magno periculo tamen sine certa pernicie, possent.
4.9. “if, in like manner as they had it in their power to run down from the Capitol, sword in hand, against their enemy, even as the besieged have often sallied out against the besiegers, so we were able, whether on favourable ground or no, only to come to grips with our antagonist, I should not lack my father's spirit in advising you.”
4.9. si, ut illis decurrere ex Capitolio armatis in hostem licuit, quo saepe modo obsessi in obsidentes eruperunt, ita nobis aequo aut iniquo loco dimicandi tantummodo cum hoste copia esset, non mihi paterni animi indoles in consilio dando deesset.
4.10. “do indeed confess that it is glorious to die for one's country, and I am ready to devote myself for the Roman People and the legions, or to throw myself into the midst of the enemy;”
4.10. mortem pro patria praeclaram esse fateor et me vel devovere pro populo Romano legionibusque vel in medios immittere hostes paratus sum;
4.11. “but it is here I see my country, here all the legions Rome possesses, and unless they would rush on death to please themselves, what have they to save by dying?”
4.11. sed hic patriam video, hic quidquid Romanarum legionum est, quae nisi pro se ipsis ad mortem ruere volunt, quid habent quod morte sua servent?
4.12. 'The roof —trees of the City,' someone may say, 'and its walls, and the multitude by whom it is inhabited.', not so! all these are betrayed, not saved, if this army is wiped out!
4.12. 'Tecta urbis' dicat aliquis 'et moenia et eam turbam a qua urbs incolitur.' hercule produntur ea omnia deleto hoc exercitu, non servantur.
4.13. “who shall preserve them? The unwarlike, unarmed rabble?, even as it preserved them from the onset of the Gauls!”
4.13. enim ea tuebitur? videlicet atque inermis multitudo. hercule quam a Gallorum impetu defendit.
4.14. “will they pray perhaps that an army may be sent from Veii, and a Camillus to command it? are all our hopes and our resources, which if we save we save our country; whereas if we give these up to die, we abandon our country and betray it.”
4.14. An a Veiis exercitum Camillumque ducem implorabunt? omnes spes opesque sunt, quas servando patriam servamus, dedendo ad necem patriam deserimus ac prodimus.
4.15. ' But surrender is shameful and humiliating.', but our country is so dear that we would save it by enduring shame, as we would, if need were, by our death.
4.15. ' At foeda atque ignominiosa deditio est.' ea caritas patriae est ut tam ignominia eam quam morte nostra, si opus sit, servemus.
4.16. “us submit then to that indignity, however great, and obey necessity, to which even gods are not superior., consuls, at the cost of arms redeem the City which your sires paid gold to redeem.” The consuls then went to confer with Pontius. The victor proposed a treaty, but they declared that a treaty could not be made without the authorization of the people, nor without fetials and the rest of the customary ceremonial. the Caudine Peace was not entered into by means of a treaty, as people in general believe and as Claudius actually states, but by a guarantee. what need would there have been for guarantors or for hostages in a treaty, where the agreement is concluded with a prayer that the nation responsible for any departure from the recited terms may be smitten by Jupiter even as the swine is smitten by the fetials?
4.16. ergo ista, quantacumque est, indignitas et pareatur necessitati, quam ne di quidem superant., consules, redimite armis civitatem quam auro maiores vestri redemerunt. profecti ad Pontium in conloquium, cum de foedere victor agitaret, negarunt iniussu populi foedus fieri posse nec sine fetialibus caerimoniaque alia sollemni. non, ut volgo credunt Claudiusque etiam scribit, foedere pax Caudina, sed per sponsionem facta est.
5.3. The guarantors were the consuls, the lieutenants, the quaestors, and the tribunes of the soldiers, and the names of all who gave the guarantee are extant, whereas, if the agreement had been entered into as in making a treaty, none would be preserved except those of the two fetials; and because of the inevitable postponement of the treaty, hostages were also required to the number of six hundred knights, whose lives were to be forfeit if the Romans should fail to keep the
5.3. enim aut sponsoribus in foedere opus esset aut obsidibus, ubi precatione res transigitur, per quem populum fiat quo minus legibus dictis stetur, ut eum ita Iuppiter feriat quemadmodum a fetialibus porcus feriatur? consules, legati, quaestores, tribuni militum, nominaque omnium qui spoponderunt exstant, ubi, si ex foedere acta res esset, praeterquam duorum fetialium non exstarent;
5.5. terms. time was then set for the delivery of the hostages and the dismissal of the army without their arms. lamentations broke out in the camp when the consuls returned; and the men could hardly keep from laying violent hands on those through whose rashness they had been led into that place, and through whose cowardice they were now to depart more shamefully than they had come.
5.5. et propter necessariam foederis dilationem obsides etiam sescenti equites imperati, qui capite luerent, si pacto non staretur.
5.6. bethought them how they had been unprovided either with guides or with patrols, but had been driven blindly, like wild beasts, into a trap. looked at one another; they gazed on the arms that they must presently surrender, on the right hands that would be helpless and the bodies that would be at the mercy of the foe.
5.6. inde statutum tradendis obsidibus exercituque inermi mittendo. luctum in castris consulum adventus, ut vix ab iis abstinerent manus quorum temeritate in eum locum deducti essent, quorum ignavia foedius inde quam venissent abituri: illis non ducem locorum, non exploratorem fuisse; beluarum modo caecos in foveam missos.
5.8. pictured to their mind's eye the hostile yoke, the victor's taunts, and fleering countenance; and how they must pass unarmed between the ranks of their armed enemies, and then wend their wretched way, a pitiful band, through the cities of their allies; and finally the return to their own city and their parents, whither they themselves and their ancestors had often returned in triumph. alone had been defeated without a wound, without a weapon, without a battle; to them it had not been granted to draw the sword, nor to join in combat with the enemy; on them in vain had arms, in vain had strength, in vain had bravery been bestowed.
5.8. alios intueri, contemplari arma mox tradenda et inermes futuras dextras obnoxiaque corpora hosti; proponere sibimet ipsi ante oculos iugum hostile et ludibria victoris et voltus superbos et per armatos inermium iter, inde foedi agminis miserabilem viam per sociorum urbes, reditum in patriam ad parentes, quo saepe ipsi maioresque eorum triumphantes venissent:
5.10. they uttered these complaints, the fateful hour of their humiliation came, an hour destined to transcend all anticipations in the bitterness of its reality.
5.10. se solos sine volnere, sine ferro, sine acie victos; sibi non stringere licuisse gladios, non manum cum hoste conferre; sibi nequiquam arma, nequiquam vires, nequiquam animos datos.
5.11. begin with, they were ordered to pass outside the rampart, clad in their tunics and unarmed, and the hostages were at once handed over and led off into custody., the lictors were commanded to forsake the consuls, who then were stripped of their generals' cloaks, —a thing which inspired such compassion in those very men who a little while before had cursed them and had declared that they deserved
5.11. frementibus hora fatalis ignominiae advenit, omnia tristiora experiundo factura quam quae praeceperant animis. primum cum singulis vestimentis inermes extra vallum exire iussi, et primi traditi obsides atque in custodiam abducti.
5.13. to be given up and put to torture, that every man, forgetting his own evil case, averted his eyes from that degradation of so majestic an office, as from a spectacle of horror. the consuls, little better than half —naked, were sent under the yoke, then their subordinates were humbled, each in the order of his rank; and then, one after another, the several legions. The enemy under arms stood on either side, reviling them and mocking them; many they actually threatened with the sword, and some, whose resentment of the outrage showing too plainly in their faces gave their conquerors offence, they wounded or slew outright.
5.13. a consulibus abire lictores iussi paludamentaque detracta: id tantam inter ipsos, qui paulo ante eos exsecrantes dedendos lacerandosque censuerant, miserationem fecit, ut suae quisque condicionis oblitus ab illa deformatione tantae maiestatis velut ab nefando spectaculo averteret oculos. consules prope seminudi sub iugum missi; tum ut quisque gradu proximus erat ita ignominiae obiectus; tum deinceps singulae legiones. armati hostes, exprobrantes eludentesque; gladii etiam plerisque intentati, et volnerati quidam necatique, si voltus eorum indignitate rerum acrior victorem offendisset.
6.3. they were sent under the yoke, and, what was almost harder to bear, while their enemies looked on. emerging from the pass, although they seemed like men raised from the dead, who beheld for the first time the light of day, yet the very light itself, which allowed them to see that dismal throng, was gloomier than any death.
6.3. traducti sub iugum, et quod paene gravius erat, per hostium oculos, cum e saltu evasissent, etsi velut ab inferis extracti tum primum lucem aspicere visi sunt, tamen ipsa lux ita deforme intuentibus agmen omni morte tristior fuit.
6.4. so, although it was in their power to have made Capua before nightfall, yet, questioning the loyalty of their allies, and withheld also by shame, they threw themselves upon the ground along the roadside, not far from the city, with nothing to supply their wants.
6.4. cum ante noctem Capuam pervenire possent, incerti de fide sociorum et quod pudor praepediebat, circa viam haud baud procul Capua omnium egena corpora humi prostraverunt.
6.5. tidings of this were brought to Capua, a feeling of pity, natural to allies, overcame the ingrained arrogance of the Campanians.
6.5. ubi est Capuam nuntiatum, evicit miseratio iusta sociorum superbiam ingenitam Campanis.
6.6. , without an instant's hesitation, they dispatched the insignia of their office to the consuls, together with arms, horses, clothing, and provisions, for the men;
6.6. insignia sua consulibus, arma equos vestimenta commeatus militibus, benigne mittunt;
6.7. and as they drew near Capua, the whole senate and people going forth to meet them used towards them all the rites of hospitality and every public and private courtesy.
6.7. et venientibus Capuam cunctus senatus populusque obviam egressus iustis omnibus hospitalibus privatisque et publicis fungitur officiis.
6.8. the kindness of their allies and their friendly looks and words were so far from drawing the Romans into talk that they could not even be got to raise their eyes or look their friends and comforters in the face;
6.8. illis sociorum comitas voltusque benigni et adloquia non modo sermonem elicere sed ne ut oculos quidem attollerent aut consolantes amicos contra intuerentur efficere poterant:
6.9. so constrained were they by a kind of humiliation —over and above their grief —to avoid the speech and assemblages of men. the following day, when the young nobles sent from Capua to attend them to the borders of Campania had returned, and were called into the senatehouse and questioned by the elders, they reported that they had seemed to be much more sorrowful and dejected than before: their column had marched on in silence and almost as though dumb;
6.9. adeo super maerorem pudor quidam fugere conloquia et coetus hominum cogebat. die cum iuvenes nobiles missi a Capua ut proficiscentes ad finem Campanum prosequerentur revertissent vocatique in curiam percontantibus maioribus natu multo sibi maestiores et abiectiores animi visos referrent: adeo silens ac prope mutum agmen incessisse;
6.12. the old Roman spirit was quite dashed; they had lost their courage with their arms; being saluted, they returned not the salutation; they responded to no questions; not a man of them had been able to open his mouth for shame, as if they still bore on their necks the yoke under which they had been sent;
6.12. iacere indolem illam Romanam, ablatosque cum armis animos; non reddere salutem salutantibus, non dare responsum, non hiscere quemquam prae metu potuisse, tamquam ferentibus adhuc cervicibus iugum sub quod missi essent;
6.13. the Samnites had won not only a famous but a lasting victory, for they had conquered, not Rome —as the Gauls had done before —but a thing which demanded far greater prowess —the Roman valour and independence. were the opinions that were spoken and listened to, and the Roman name had well —nigh been given up for lost in the council of Rome's faithful allies, when Aulus Calavius, son of Ovius, a man of famous birth and achievements and at that time venerable also for his age, asserted that the case was very different:
6.13. habere Samnites victoriam non praeclaram solum sed etiam perpetuam, cepisse enim eos non Romam, sicut ante Gallos, sed, quod multo bellicosius fuerit, Romanam virtutem ferociamque.— cum haec dicerentur audirenturque et deploratum paene Romanum nomen in concilio sociorum fidelium esset, dicitur A. Calavius, filius, clarus genere factisque, tum etiam aetate verendus, longe aliter se habere rem dixisse:
7.3. that obstinate silence, those eyes fixed on the ground and ears deaf to every consolation, that shame at looking on the light, were signs, he argued, of bosoms bursting with passionate resentment;
7.3. silentium illud obstinatum fixosque in terram oculos et surdas ad omnia solacia aures et pudorem intuendae lucis ingentem molem irarum ex alto animi cientis indicia esse.
7.4. either he knew nothing of the Roman character, or that silence was destined ere long to draw from the Samnites cries and groans of anguish, and the Caudine Peace to become a far more bitter memory to Samnites than to Romans;
7.4. Romana se ignorare ingenia, aut silentium illud Samnitibus flebiles brevi clamores gemitusque excitaturum, Caudinaeque pacis aliquanto Samnitibus quam Romanis tristiorem memoriam fore;
7.5. for each people would have its own native spirit wherever they might encounter, but the Samnites would not everywhere have a Caudine Pass. this time Rome, too, had heard of her shameful calamity.
7.5. quippe suos quemque eorum animos habiturum, ubicumque congressuri sint; saltus Caudinos non ubique Samnitibus fore.
7.6. The first news was that the army was entrapped; then came a gloomier report, more by reason of the disgraceful peace than because of the peril.
7.6. Romae etiam sua infamis clades erat. primum audierunt; tristior deinde ignominiosae pacis magis quam periculi nuntius fuit.
7.7. the rumour of a blockade they had begun to hold a levy; but they afterwards gave over their measures for relief, when they learned that there had been so infamous a capitulation, and immediately, without official sanction of any sort, betook themselves with one mind to every form of mourning.
7.7. famam obsidionis dilectus haberi coeptus erat; dimissus deinde auxiliorum apparatus, postquam deditionem tam foede factam acceperunt, extemploque sine ulla publica auctoritate consensum in omnem formam luctus est.
7.8. The booths round about the Forum were shut up, and ere proclamation could be made, all business was suspended; tunics with the broad stripe of purple were discarded, as were golden rings.
7.8. circa forum clausae, iustitiumque in foro sua sponte coeptum prius quam indictum; lati clavi, anuli aurei positi;
7.9. The citizens were almost more dejected than the army; and not only were they enraged against their generals and those who had favoured and guaranteed the peace, but they even visited their hate upon the innocent soldiers and proposed to exclude them from the City and from their homes.
7.9. paene maestior exercitu ipso civitas esse; nec ducibus solum atque auctoribus sponsoribusque pacis irasci sed innoxios etiam milites odisse et negare urbe tectisve accipiendos.
7.10. this flurry of resentment was dispelled by the arrival of the army, which even angry men could not but pity. they came not like men returning in safety to their homes, after all hope of them had been abandoned; but entering the City late in the day, with the bearing and looks of prisoners, they slipped away every man to his own house, and on the next and the succeeding days not one of them would look into the Forum or the streets.
7.10. concitationem animorum fregit adventus exercitus etiam iratis miserabilis. enim tamquam in patriam revertentes ex insperato incolumes sed captorum habitu voltuque ingressi sero in urbem ita se in suis quisque tectis abdiderunt ut postero atque insequentibus diebus nemo eorum forum aut publicum aspicere vellet.
7.12. The consuls shut themselves up in their houses and would transact no public business, except that they were forced by a senatorial decree to name a dictator to preside at the election.
7.12. in privato abditi nihil pro magistratu agere, nisi quod expressum senatus consulto est ut dictatorem dicerent comitiorum causa.
7.13. designated Quintus Fabius Ambustus, with Publius Aelius Paetus to be master of the horse.
7.13. Q. Fabium Ambustum dixerunt et P. Aelium Paetum magistrum equitum;
7.14. flaw in their appointment occasioned the substitution in their room of Marcus Aemilius Papus, as dictator, and Lucius Valerius Flaccus, as master of the horse., even they did not hold an election; and because the people were dissatisfied with all the magistrates of that year, the state reverted to an interregnum.
7.14. quibus vitio creatis suffecti M. Aemilius Papus dictator. L. Valerius Flaccus magister equitum. per eos comitia habita; et quia taedebat populum omnium magistratuum eius anni, res ad interregnum initerregnum rediit.
7.15. The interreges were Quintus Fabius Maximus and Marcus Valerius Corvus. The latter announced the election to the consulship of Quintus Publilius Philo (for the third time) and Lucius Papirius Cursor (for the second) with the unmistakable approval of the citizens, for there were at that time no leaders more distinguished.
7.15. Q. Fabius Maximus M. Valerius Corvus. consules creavit Q. Publilium Philonem tertium et L. Papirium Cursorem iterum haud dubio consensu civitatis, quod nulli ea tempestate duces clariores essent. creati sunt die, eo—sic enim placuerat patribus—magistratum inierunt sollemnibusque senatus consultis perfectis de pace Caudina rettulerunt; et Publilius, penes quem quern fasces erant,, Sp.
8.2. the day of their election —for so the Fathers had ordained —they entered upon the duties of their magistracy, and having disposed of the routine resolutions, raised the question of the Caudine Peace. Publilius had the fasces, and called on Spurius Postumius to speak. risen to his feet, he said, with the same expression on his countenance as when he had been sent under the yoke, “am not ignorant, consuls, that I have been called on first and bidden to speak because of my disgrace, and not to honour me; not as a senator, but as one charged with the guilt not only of an unlucky war but of a shameful peace.”
8.2. Postumi, inquit. ubi surrexit, eodem illo vultu quo sub iugum missus erat, sum ignarus inquit, consules, ignominiae non honoris causa me primum excitatum iussumque dicere, non tamquam senatorem, sed tamquam reum qua infelicis belli, qua ignominiosae pacis.
8.4. “, you have not raised the question of our wrongdoing or our punishment; I will therefore attempt no defence —though it should be no difficult cause to plead before judges not unacquainted with the fortunes of men and their necessities —but will briefly formulate a motion concerning the subject you have asked us to consider.”
8.4. tamen, quando neque de noxa nostra neque de poena rettulistis, omissa defensione, quae non difficillima esset apud haud ignaros fortunarum humanarum necessitatiumque, sententiam de eo de quo rettulistis paucis peragam; quae sententia testis erit mihine an legionibus vestris pepercerim, cum me seu turpi seu necessaria sponsione obstrinxi;
8.5. “motion will bear witness whether it was myself or your legions that I spared, when I bound myself by a base, or, perhaps, a necessary pledge, —by which, however, the Roman People is not held, since it was given without the people's authorization; nor by its terms is aught but our own persons due to the Samnites.”
8.5. qua tamen, quando iniussu populi facta est, non tenetur populus Romanus, nec quicquam ex ea praeterquam corpora nostra debentur Samnitibus.
8.6. “us be given up, I propose, by the fetials, stripped and bound; let us release the people from their religious obligation, if in any such we have involved them, that no obstacle, divine or human, may block the way to a just and righteous renewal of the war.”
8.6. per fetiales nudi vinctique; exsolvamus religione populum, si qua obligavimus, ne quid divini humanive obstet quo minus iustum piumque de integro ineatur bellum.
8.7. “I move that the consuls enroll an army and arm it and lead it forth, yet without crossing the borders of the enemy, until all the ceremonies incident to our surrender shall have been completed.”
8.7. consules exercitum scribere, armare, educere placet, nec prius ingredi hostium fines, quam omnia iusta in deditionem nostram perfecta erunt.
8.8. “you, immortal gods, I beseech and pray you, if you were not pleased that the consuls Spurius Postumius and Titus Veturius should ” “wage a successful war with the Samnites, yet deem it enough to have seen us sent beneath the yoke, to have seen us bound by an infamous agreement, to behold.”
8.8. , di immortales, precor quaesoque, si vobis non fuit cordi Sp. Postumium T. Veturium consules cum Samnitibus prospere bellum gerere, at vos satis habeatis vidisse nos sub iugum missos, vidisse sponsione infami obligates, videre nudos vinctosque hostibus deditos, omnem iram hostium nostris capitibus excipientes;
8.10. “us, naked and in bonds, delivered to the enemy, receiving on our own heads all the resentment of our foes; and vouchsafe to the new consuls and the Roman legions so to wage war with the Samnites, as, until our consulship, all Rome's wars were waged.”
8.10. novos consules legionesque Romanas ita cum Samnite gerere geere bellum velitis ut omnia ante nos consules bella gesta sunt.
8.11. he had finished speaking, such a thrill of astonishment, and at the same time of pity for the man, ran through the senate, that at first men could hardly believe it was the same Spurius Postumius who had been the author of a peace so shameful;
8.11. ubi dixit, tanta simul admiratio miseratioque viri incessit homines ut modo vix crederent illum ilium eundem esse Sp. Postumium qui auctor tam foedae pacis fuisset;
8.12. and presently they were all compassion, to think that such a man should suffer what would be no ordinary punishment at the hands of enemies enraged by the rupture of the peace.
8.12. modo miserarentur quod vir talis etiam praecipuum apud hostes supplicium passurus esset ob iram diremptae pacis.
8.13. they were all crossing over to support his motion, with nothing but praises for his heroism, Lucius Livius and Quintus Maelius, tribunes of the plebs, endeavoured for a moment to interpose their veto.
8.13. omnes laudibus modo prosequentes virum in sententiam eius pedibus irent, temptata paulisper intercessio est ab L.
8.14. The people, they said, could not be freed from their obligation by surrendering them, unless every advantage which the Samnites had possessed at Caudium were restored to them;
8.14. Livio et Q. Maelio tribunis plebis, qui neque exsolvi religione populum aiebant deditione sua, nisi omnia Samnitibus, qualia apud Caudium fuissent, restituerentur;
8.15. moreover, they had merited no punishment for having preserved by their pledge of peace the army of the Roman People; nor, finally, seeing that they were sacrosanct, could they be surrendered to the enemy or violated. said Postumius: ", surrender us, who are unconsecrate, as you may do without offence to Heaven; afterwards you shall surrender also those sacrosanct ones, when once they have retired from their magistracy; but, if you should listen to me, before surrendering them you would have them scourged here in the Comitium, that they might receive in advance this extra punishment, by way of interest.
8.15. neque se pro eo quod spondendo pacem servassent exercitum populi Romani poenam ullam meritos esse; neque ad extremum, cum sacrosancti essent, dedi hostibus violarive posse. Postumius dedite inquit "profanos nos, quos salva religione potestis; dedetis deinde et istos sacrosanctos, cum primum magistratu abierint, sed, si me audiatis, priusquam dedantur, hic in comitio virgis caesos, hanc iam ut intercalatae poenae usuram habeant.
9.3. when they deny that the people can be freed of their obligation by surrendering us, who is so unacquainted with the fetial law as not to be aware that they say this, more that they may not be surrendered than because the case is so?
9.3. quod deditione nostra negant exsolvi religione populum, id istos magis ne dedantur quam quia ita se res habeat dicere, quis adeo iuris fetialium expers est qui ignoret?
9.4. yet, Conscript Fathers, I do not dispute the fact that guarantees as well as treaties are sacred in the eyes of those who cherish honour among men on an equal footing with obligations due to the gods; but I deny that without the people's authorization any sanction can be given which shall be binding on the people.
9.4. ego infitias eo, patres conscripti, tam sponsiones quam foedera sancta esse apud eos homines apud quos iuxta divinas religiones fides humana colitur; sed iniussu populi nego quicquam sanciri posse quod populum teneat.
9.5. ! If the Samnites with that same arrogance with which they extorted this capitulation from us had compelled us to pronounce the solemn form of words of those who surrender cities, would you tribunes assert that the Roman People had been surrendered, and that this City, with its temples, its holy places, its bounds and waters, was become the property of the Samnites?
9.5. An, si eadem superbia qua sponsionem istam expresserunt nobis Samnites coegissent nos verba legitima dedentium urbes nuncupare, deditum populum Romanum vos tribuni diceretis et hanc urbem templa delubra fines aquas Samnitium esse?
9.6. enough of surrender; we are talking of a guarantee., pray, if we had guaranteed that the Roman People should forsake this City? that they should burn it?
9.6. deditionem, quoniam de sponsione agitur; quid tandem si spopondissemus urbem hanc relicturum populum Romanum? si incensurum? si magistratus, si senatum, si leges non habiturum? si sub regibus futurum? Di meliora, inquis.
9.7. that it should cease to have magistrates, a senate, laws? that it should be subject to the rule of kings? ' The gods forbid!' you say. yet the unworthiness of the conditions cannot lessen the force of a guarantee; if there is anything for which the people can be bound, it can be bound for everything.
9.7. non indignitas rerum sponsionis vinculum levat: si quid est in quod obligari populus possit, in omnia potest. ne illud quidem, quod quosdam forsitan moveat, refert, consul an dictator an praetor spoponderit.
9.8. does it matter, either, as some are perhaps inclined to think, whether consul or dictator or praetor have given the guarantee. this the very Samnites themselves deemed to be true, for not content with the guarantee of consuls, they obliged the lieutenants, the quaestors, and the tribunes of the soldiers to add theirs.
9.8. hoc ipsi etiam Samnites iudicaverunt, quibus non fuit satis consules spondere, sed legatos, quaestores, tribunos militum spondere coegerunt.
9.9. “let no man now demand of me why I gave this guarantee, seeing that a consul has no right so to do and that I could not pledge them a peace which was not ” “mine to grant, nor in your behalf, who had given me no mandate.”
9.9. a me nunc quisquam quaesiverit quid ita spoponderim, cum id nec consulis ius esset nec illis spondere pacem quae mei non erat arbitrii, nec pro vobis qui nihil mandaveratis possem. ad Caudium, patres conscripti, humanis consiliis gestum est: di immortales et vestris et hostium imperatoribus mentem ademerunt.
9.11. “was nothing done at Caudium, Conscript Fathers, by man's wisdom: the immortal gods deprived of understanding both your commanders and the enemy's. We, on our part, took no sufficient precautions in the war: while, as for them, they threw away their ill —got victory by their ill —guided conduct, for they hardly trusted the very ground that had given them their conquest, in their haste to deprive of arms, on any terms, men born to the use of arms.”
9.11. nos in bello satis cavimus, et illi male partam victoriam male perdiderunt, dum vix locis quibus vicerant credunt, dum quacumque condicione arma viris in arma natis auferre festinant.
9.12. “, had they had their wits about them, would it have been hard, while summoning old men from home for consultation, to dispatch envoys to Rome?”
9.12. An, si sana mens fuisset, difficile illis fuit, dum senes ab domo ad consultandum accersunt, mittere Romam legatos? cum senatu, cum populo de pace ac foedere agere?
9.13. “to treat with senate and with people for a peace and covenant? was only three days' journey to those who travel light; meantime hostilities would have been suspended, until their envoys should return from Rome with either certain victory or a peace.”
9.13. iter expeditis erat; interea in indutiis res fuisset, donec ab Roma legati aut victoriam illis certam aut pacem adferrent. demum sponsio esset quam populi iussu spopondissemus.
9.14. “, and then only, would there have been a guarantee in which our pledge was backed by the mandate of the people. neither would you have voted one, nor should we have given it;” “nor was it Heaven's will that the affair should have any other ending, but that they should be beguiled with a dream too joyful for their comprehension, and that our army should be extricated by the same fortune which had entrapped it; that their idle victory should evaporate in a yet idler peace, and a guarantee be proffered that should bind none but the guarantor.”
9.14. neque vos tulissetis nec nos spopondissemus; nec fas fuit alium rerum exitum esse quam ut illi velut somnio laetiore quam quod mentes eorum capere possent nequiquam eluderentur et nostrum exercitum eadem quae impedierat fortuna expediret, vanam victoriam vanior inritam faceret pax, sponsio interponeretur quae neminem praeter sponsorem obligaret.
9.16. “what negotiation, Conscript Fathers, has there been with you or with the Roman People? can appeal to you, who can say that he has been deceived by you? the enemy, can a fellow —citizen?”
9.16. enim vobiscum, patres conscripti, quid cum populo Romano actum est? vos appellare potest, quis se a vobis dicere deceptum? an civis? nihil spopondistis, civem neminem spondere pro vobis iussistis.
9.17. “have pledged nothing to the enemy, you have given no authority to make a pledge to any fellow —citizen.”
9.17. ergo vobis nec nobiscum est, quibus nihil mandastis, nec cum Samnitibus, cum quibus nihil egistis.
9.18. “have therefore naught to do with us, to whom you gave no mandate, or with the Samnites, with whom you have had no dealings. The Samnites have in us guarantors who are responsible and quite competent, so far as concerns what belongs to ourselves and what we are able to deliver, namely, our persons and our lives; against these let them storm, against these direct their swords, against these make sharp their anger.”
9.18. Samnitibus sponsores nos sumus rei satis locupletes in id quod nostrum est, in id quod praestare possumus, corpora nostra et animos; in haec saeviant, in haec ferrum, in haec iras acuant.
9.19. “for the tribunes, you must determine whether their surrender can take place at once or had better be deferred; meantime, Titus Veturius, let us, and you others, offer these caitiff heads of ours in satisfaction of our pledge, and by our suffering liberate the Roman arms.”
9.19. ad tribunos attinet, consulite utrum praesens deditio eorum fieri possit an in diem differatur; nos interim, T. Veturi vosque ceteri, vilia haec capita luendae sponsionis feramus et nostro supplicio liberemus Romana arma. patres conscriptos cum causa tum auctor nec ceteros solum sed tribunos etiam plebei, ut se in senatus dicerent fore potestate.
10.2. the cause itself and the speaker greatly stirred the Conscript Fathers and the others present, including even the tribunes of the plebs, who declared that they would obey the senate, and having forthwith resigned their office were delivered over to the fetials to be led with the rest to Caudium. the senate had acted on this motion, it somehow seemed as though day had dawned upon the State.
10.2. inde se extemplo abdicaverunt traditique fetialibus cum ceteris Caudium ducendi. senatus consulto facto lux quaedam adfulsisse civitati visa est.
10.3. Postumius was on all men's lips; they extolled him to the skies, and compared his conduct to the devotion of Publius Decius, the consul, and to other glorious deeds.
10.3. Postumius in ore erat; eum laudibus ad caelum ferebant, devotioni P. Deci consulis, aliis claris facinoribus aequabant:
10.4. The state, they said, had emerged —thanks to his wisdom and his services —from a slavish peace; he was freely giving himself up to the tortures of a resentful foe, that he might make expiation for the Roman People.
10.4. emersisse civitatem ex obnoxia pace illius consilio et opera; ipsum se cruciatibus et hostium irae offerre piaculaque pro populo Romano dare.
10.5. thought of nothing but war and arms. ever the hour come, they asked, when they might encounter the Samnites, sword in hand? a city ablaze with wrath and hate, the levy was almost wholly made up with volunteers. The same soldiers were enrolled into new legions, and the army marched on Caudium.
10.5. cuncti spectant et bellum: en unquam futurum ut congredi armatis cum Samnite liceat? civitate ira odioque ardente dilectus prope omnium voluntariorum fuit. ex eodem milite novae legiones ductusque ad Caudium exercitus.
10.7. them went the fetials, who, when they had come to the gate, bade the guarantors of peace be stripped and their hands be bound behind their backs.
10.7. fetiales ubi ad portam venere, vestem detrahi pacis sponsoribus iubent, manus post tergum vinciri. apparitor verecundia maiestatis Postumi laxe vinciret, tu inquit adduces lorum, ut iusta fiat deditio!