1.1. SUCH was the state of affairs in Spain. In Italy the consul Marcellus, having regained possession of Salapia by betrayal, took Marmoreae and Meles from the Samnites by force. About three thousand of Hannibal's soldiers, who had been left as a garrison, were overpowered there.
1.1. hic status rerum in Hispania erat. in Italia consul Marcellus Salapia per proditionem recepta Marmoreas et Meles de Samnitibus ui cepit.
1.2. The booty —and there was much of it —was turned over to the soldiers. In addition two hundred and forty thousand pecks of wheat and a hundred and ten thousand pecks of barley were found.
1.2. ad tria milia militum ibi Hannibalis, quae praesidii causa relicta erant, oppressa: praeda— et aliquantum eius fuit—militi concessa. tritici quoque ducenta quadraginta milia modium et centum decem milia hordei inuenta.
1.3. But the rejoicing in consequence by no means balanced the great loss suffered within a few days not far from the city of Herdonea. There Gnaeus Fulvius, the proconsul, was encamped, in the hope of regaining Herdonea, which had deserted the Romans after the disaster at Cannae;
1.3. ceterum nequaquam inde tantum gaudium fuit quanta clades intra paucos dies accepta est haud procul Herdonea urbe.
1.4. but his camp was pitched in a position neither quite safe nor strongly held. Carelessness, ingrained in the character of the general, was increased by that hope, inasmuch as he had learned that their loyalty was weakening and turning against the Carthaginian, ever since they had heard that, after the loss of Salapia, Hannibal had withdrawn from that region into the land of the Bruttii.
1.4. castra ibi Cn. Fuluius proconsul habebat spe recipiendae Herdoneae, quae post Cannensem cladem ab Romanis defecerat, nec loco satis tuto posita nec praesidiis firmata. neglegentiam insitam ingenio ducis augebat spes ea quod labare iis aduersus Poenum fidem senserat, postquam Salapia amissa excessisse iis locis in Bruttios Hannibalem auditum est.
1.6. The report of all this to Hannibal from Herdonea by secret messengers made him concerned to retain an allied city and at the same time gave him the hope of attacking the enemy unawares. With an army unencumbered by baggage he hastened by forced marches to Herdonea, so that he almost outstripped reports of his coming; and to strike more alarm into the enemy, he approached the city in battle-array.
1.6. ea omnia ab Herdonea per occultos nuntios delata Hannibali simul curam sociae retinendae urbis et spem fecere incautum hostem adgrediendi. exercitu expedito ita ut famam prope praeueniret magnis itineribus ad Herdoneam contendit et, quo plus terroris hosti obiceret, acie instructa accessit.
1.7. The Roman, who was his equal in boldness but not in strategy and in forces, hastily led out his troops and engaged.
1.7. par audacia Romanus, consilio et uiribus impar, copiis raptim eductis conflixit.
1.8. The fifth legion and the left ala went into battle with spirit. But Hannibal gave the order to his cavalry, that when the infantry lines should have concentrated the eyes and attention of the enemy upon the immediate conflict, they should turn the flanks and attack, some of them the enemy's camp, some the rear of the wavering troops.
1.8. quinta legio et sinistra ala acriter pugnam inierunt; ceterum Hannibal signo equitibus dato ut, cum pedestres acies occupassent praesenti certamine oculos animosque, circumuecti pars castra hostium, pars terga trepidantium inuaderent, ipse Cn.
1.9. And he himself, scornfully alluding to the similarity in the name of Gnaeus Fulvius, since he had defeated a praetor Gnaeus Fulvius two years before in the same region, asserted that the outcome of the battle would be similar.
1.9. Fului similitudinem nominis—quia Cn. Fuluium praetorem biennio ante in iisdem deuicerat locis—increpans, similem euentum pugnae fore adfirmabat. neque ea spes uana fuit.
1.10. Nor was that hope groundless. For when many of the Romans had fallen in the close contact of the lines during the infantry battle, while the ranks and standards nevertheless held their ground, the wild charge of the cavalry was heard in the rear, and at the same time the shouts of the enemy from the camp. This routed first the sixth legion, which was posted in the second line and was the first to be thrown into disorder by the Numidians; and then it routed the fifth legion and the men who were with the front-line standards.
1.10. nam cum comminus acie et peditum certamine multi cecidissent Romanorum, starent tamen ordines signaque, equestris tumultus a tergo, simul a castris clamor hostilis auditus sextam [ante] legionem, quae in secunda acie posita prior ab Numidis turbata est, quintam deinde atque eos qui ad prima signa erant auertit;
1.12. Some scattered in flight, some were slain in the centre of the battle, where Gnaeus Fulvius also fell together with eleven tribunes of the soldiers.
1.12. pars in fugam effusi, pars in medio caesi, ubi et ipse Cn. Fuluius cum undecim tribunis militum cecidit.
1.13. How many thousand Romans and allies were slain in that battle who could state with certainty, inasmuch as in one source I find thirteen thousand, in another not more than seven?
1.13. Romanorum sociorumque quot caesa in eo proelio milia sint, quis pro certo adfirmet, cum tredecim milia alibi, alibi haud plus quam septem inueniam?
1.14. The camp and booty fell to the victor. As for Herdonea, in view of his information that it would have revolted to the Romans and would not remain loyal to him if he should withdraw, he removed the whole population to Metapontum and Thurii and set fire to the city. He put to death the leading men who, he was informed, had had secret conversations with Fulvius.
1.14. castris praedaque uictor potitur. Herdoneam, quia et defecturam fuisse ad Romanos comperit nec mansuram in fide, si inde abscessisset, multitudine omni Metapontum ac Thurios traducta, incendit: occidit principes qui cum Fuluio conloquia occulta habuisse comperti sunt.
1.15. The Romans who had made their escape from so disastrous a battle, by different roads and half-armed sought refuge with the consul Marcellus in Samnium.
1.15. Romani qui ex tanta clade euaserant diuersis itineribus semermes ad Marcellum consulem in Samnium perfugerunt.
2.1. Marcellus, who was not particularly alarmed by so serious a defeat, wrote a letter to the senate at Rome in regard to the loss of general and army at Herdonea.
2.1. Marcellus nihil admodum tanta clade territus litteras Romam ad senatum de duce et exercitu ad Herdoneam amisso scribit:
2.2. He said that nevertheless, being the same man who, after the battle of Cannae, had frustrated Hannibal, elated by that victory, he was marching against him to cut short his joy and exultation.
2.2. ceterum eundem se, qui post Cannensem pugnam ferocem uictoria Hannibalem contuderit, ire aduersus eum, breuem illi laetitiam qua exsultet facturum.
2.3. At Rome, to be sure, there was not only great sorrow owing to what had happened, but also great fear for the future.
2.3. et Romae quidem cum luctus ingens ex praeterito, tum timor in futurum erat:
2.4. The consul, however, crossing over from Samnium into Lucania, pitched camp near Numistro, on level ground in sight of Hannibal, while the Carthaginian held a hill.
2.4. consul ex Samnio in Lucanos transgressus ad Numistronem in conspectu Hannibalis loco plano, cum Poenus collem teneret, posuit castra.
2.5. He added the further appearance of confidence in being the first to lead out into battle-line. And Hannibal did not refuse, when he saw the standards borne out of the gates. Nevertheless they drew up their lines so that the Carthaginian made his right wing reach up the hill, while the Romans rested their left wing on the town.
2.5. addidit et aliam fidentis speciem, quod prior in aciem eduxit; nec detractauit Hannibal, ut signa portis efferri uidit. ita tamen aciem instruxerunt ut Poenus dextrum cornu in collem erigeret, Romani sinistrum ad oppidum adplicarent.
2.6. On the Roman side the first legion and right ala, on Hannibal's side the Spanish soldiers and Balearic slingers were engaged; and the elephants also were driven into battle after the conflict had begun.
2.6. ab Romanis prima legio et dextra ala, ab Hannibale Hispani milites et funditores Baliares, elephanti quoque commisso iam certamine in proelium acti; diu pugna neutro inclinata stetit.
2.7. For a long time the battle hung in the balance, not inclining in either direction. After they had prolonged the battle from the third hour to nightfall and the front lines were exhausted by fighting, the third legion relieved the first, the left ala relieved the right, and among the enemy fresh troops took over the battle from the weary.
2.7. ab hora tertia cum ad noctem pugnam extendissent, fessaeque pugnando primae acies essent, primae legioni tertia, dextrae alae sinistra subit, et apud hostes integri a fessis pugnam accepere.
2.8. A new battle and fierce suddenly flamed out of a conflict now grown spiritless, for the combatants were now fresh in spirit and in body.
2.8. nouum atque atrox proelium ex iam segni repente exarsit, recentibus animis corporibusque; sed nox incerta uictoria diremit pugnantes.
2.9. But night parted them with victory undecided. On the next day the Romans stood in line from sunrise until late in the day. When none of the enemy came out against them, they gathered spoils at their leisure, carried corpses of their men into one place and burned them.
2.9. postero die Romani ab sole orto in multum diei stetere in acie; ubi nemo hostium aduersus prodit, spolia per otium legere et congestos in unum locum cremauere suos.
2.10. On the following night Hannibal broke camp silently and marched away into Apulia. Marcellus, when day disclosed the flight of the enemy, left the wounded at Numistro with a small garrison, placed Lucius Furius Purpurio, a tribune of the soldiers, in command of them, and made haste to follow on Hannibal's heels.
2.10. nocte insequenti Hannibal silentio mouit castra et in Apuliam abiit. Marcellus, ubi lux fugam hostium aperuit, sauciis cum praesidio modico Numistrone relictis praepositoque iis L. Furio Purpurione, tribuno militum, uestigiis institit sequi. ad Uenusiam adeptus eum est.
2.11. Near Venusia he overtook him. There for a number of days, while charges were made by outposts, there were mixed cavalry and infantry engagements, rather skirmishes than important battles, and nearly all of them favourable to the Romans.
2.11. ibi per dies aliquot cum ab stationibus procursaretur, mixta equitum peditumque tumultuosa magis proelia quam magna et ferme omnia Romanis secunda fuere.
2.12. Thence the armies were led through Apulia without any notable conflict, since Hannibal would set his standards in motion by night, seeking positions for ambuscades, while Marcellus did not follow except in broad daylight and after reconnoitring.
2.12. inde per Apuliam ducti exercitus sine ullo memorando certamine, cum Hannibal nocte signa moueret locum insidiis quaerens, Marcellus nisi certa luce et explorato ante non sequeretur.
3.1. At Capua meantime, while Flaccus was spending his time in selling the property of leading men, in leasing lands that had been confiscated — and he leased them all in return for grain —a fresh crime fomented in secret was brought to light by informers, that he might not lack occasion for harsh treatment of the Capuans.
3.1. Capuae interim Flaccus dum bonis principum uendendis, agro qui publicatus erat locando—locauit autem omnem frumento—tempus terit, ne deesset materia in Campanos saeuiendi, nouum in occulto gliscens per indicium protractum est facinus.
3.2. The soldiers had been removed from dwellings, in order that houses in the city might be leased together with the land, and because Flaccus at the same time feared that the great charms of the city might weaken his army also, as they had Hannibal's. Accordingly he had compelled them to build their own shelters soldier-fashion at the gates and along the walls.
3.2. milites aedificiis emotos, simul ut cum agro tecta urbis fruenda locarentur, simul metuens ne suum quoque exercitum sicut Hannibalis nimia urbis amoenitas emolliret, in portis murisque sibimet ipsos tecta militariter coegerat aedificare;
3.3. Furthermore most of these were made of wickerwork and planks, others of reeds interwoven, all of them thatched with straw, as though these materials were deliberately intended to feed the flames.
3.3. erant autem pleraque ex cratibus ac tabulis facta, alia harundine texta, stramento intecta, omne uelut de industria alimentum ignis.
3.4. A hundred and seventy Capuans, under the lead of the brothers Blossii, had conspired to set fire to all of these huts at the same hour of the night.
3.4. haec noctis una hora omnia ut incenderent, centum septuaginta Campani principibus Blossiis fratribus coniurauerunt.
3.5. Information in regard to this was given by slaves of the Blossii, and the gates were suddenly closed by order of the proconsul. The soldiers having rushed to arms at a given signal, all who were involved in the crime were arrested, and after a rigorous inquiry were condemned and put to death.
3.5. indicio eius rei ex familia Blossiorum facto, portis repente iussu proconsulis clausis cum ad arma signo dato milites concurrissent, comprehensi omnes qui in noxa erant, et quaestione acriter habita damnati necatique; indicibus libertas et aeris dena milia data.
3.6. The informers received their freedom and ten thousand asses each. As for the men of Nuceria and Acerrae, who complained that they had no dwelling-place, since Acerrae had been partly burned and Nuceria destroyed, Fulvius sent them to the senate at Rome.
3.6. Nucerinos et Acerranos, querentes ubi habitarent non esse, Acerris ex parte incensis, Nuceria deleta, Romam Fuluius ad senatum misit.
3.7. The Acerrans were permitted to restore what had been burned; the Nucerians, having so elected, were conducted to Atella, while the Atellans were ordered to migrate to Calatia.
3.7. Acerranis permissum, ut aedificarent, quae incensa erant: Nucerini Atellam quia id maluerant, Atellanis Calatiam migrare iussis, traducti.
3.8. Among the many important events which were engaging men's attention, as being now favourable and now unfavourable, the citadel of Tarentum also was not forgotten.
3.8. inter multas magnasque res, quae nunc secundae, nunc aduersae occupabant cogitationes hominum, ne Tarentinae quidem arcis excidit memoria.
3.9. Marcus Ogulnius and Publius Aquilius set out for Etruria as commissioners to buy up grain to be shipped to Tarentum. And a thousand soldiers, equally divided between Romans and allies from the army at the city, were sent with the grain to the same place on garrison duty.
3.9. M. Ogulnius et P. Aquilius in Etruriam legati ad frumentum coemendum quod Tarentum portaretur profecti, et mille milites de exercitu urbano, par numerus Romanorum sociorumque, eodem in praesidium cum frumento missi.
4.1. Already the summer was at an end and the time for the consular election at hand. But a letter from Marcellus, stating that it was against the public interest for him to move a step away from Hannibal, since he was himself pressing him hard as he retired and refused an engagement, had inspired concern, for fear they must call the consul away from the war at the moment when he was actively
4.1. iam aestas in exitu erat comitiorumque consularium instabat tempus; sed litterae Marcelli, negantis e re publica esse uestigium abscedi ab Hannibale cui cedenti certamenque abnuenti grauis ipse instaret, patribus curam iniecerant ne aut consulem tum maxime res agentem a bello auocarent aut in annum consules deessent.
4.3. engaged, or else should be without consuls for the next year. It seemed best instead to recall the consul Valerius from Sicily, even though he was outside of Italy.
4.3. optimum uisum est, quamquam extra Italiam esset, Ualerium potius consulem ex Sicilia reuocari.
4.4. To Valerius under orders from the senate Lucius Manlius, the city praetor, sent a letter, together with the letter of Marcus Marcellus, the consul, that from these letters Valerius might learn what reason the senators had for recalling him rather than his colleague from his province.
4.4. ad eum litterae iussu senatus ab L. Manlio praetore urbano missae cum litteris consulis M. Marcelli, ut ex iis nosceret quae causa patribus eum potius quam collegam reuocandi ex prouincia esset.
4.5. About the same time legates from King Syphax came to Rome, reporting what successes he had had in battle with the Carthaginians.
4.5. eo fere tempore legati ab rege Syphace Romam uenerunt, quae is prospera proelia cum Carthaginiensibus fecisset, memorantes:
4.6. They stated that the king was not more hostile to any people than to the Carthaginian, nor more friendly to any than to the Roman people; that previously he had sent legates to Spain to Gnaeus and Publius Cornelius, the Roman generals; that now he was minded to seek Roman friendship, as it were at the very source.
4.6. regem nec inimiciorem ulli populo quam Carthaginiensi nec amiciorem quam Romano esse adfirmabant; misisse eum antea legatos in Hispaniam ad Cn. et P. Cornelios imperatores Romanos: nunc ab ipso uelut fonte petere Romanam amicitiam uoluisse.
4.7. The senate not only replied graciously to the legates, but also sent its legates, Lucius Genucius, Publius Poetelius, Publius Popillius, to the king with gifts.
4.7. senatus non legatis modo benigne respondit, sed et ipse legatos cum donis ad regem misit, L. Genucium, P. Poetelium, P. Popillium.
4.8. They took with them as gifts a purple toga and tunic, an ivory chair, a golden patera weighing five pounds. They were ordered to go on and visit other princes in Africa.
4.8. dona tulere togam et tunicam purpuream, sellam eburneam, pateram ex quinque pondo auri factam.
4.9. For these also they took with them bordered togas and golden paterae, each of them three pounds in weight, to be presented to them.
4.9. protinus et alios Africae regulos iussi adire; iis quoque quae darentur portata, togae praetextae et terna pondo paterae aureae.
4.10. Also to Alexandria as ambassadors to the monarchs, Ptolemy and Cleopatra, were sent Marcus Atilius and Manius Acilius, to call to mind and revive friendship with them. As gifts they carried for the king a purple toga and tunic, with an ivory chair, for the queen an embroidered palla and a purple cloak.
4.10. et Alexandream ad Ptolomaeum et Cleopatram reges M. Atilius et M'. Acilius, legati ad commemorandam renouandamque amicitiam missi, dona tulere, regi togam et tunicam purpuream cum sella eburnea, reginae pallam pictam cum amiculo purpureo. multa ea aestate qua haec facta sunt ex propinquis urbibus agrisque nuntiata sunt prodigia:
4.11. During the summer in which these events occurred many portents were reported from neighbouring cities and from the country: that at Tusculum a lamb was born with an udder full of milk, and that the ridge of Jupiter's temple was struck by lightning and stripped of almost all its roofing;
4.11. Tusculi agnum cum ubere lactenti natum, Iouis aedis culmen fulmine ictum ac prope omni tecto nudatum;
4.12. that at Anagnia about the same time ground struck by lightning outside the gate burned for a day and a night without any fuel; and that at the crossroads near Anagnia, in the grove of Diana, birds deserted their nests in the trees;
4.12. iisdem ferme diebus Anagniae terram ante portam ictam diem ac noctem sine ullo ignis alimento arsisse, et aues ad compitum Anagninum in luco Dianae nidos in arboribus reliquisse;
4.13. that at Tarracina, in the sea not far from the harbour, serpents of remarkable size leaped about after the manner of fish at play;
4.13. Tarracinae in mari haud procul portu angues magnitudinis mirae lasciuientium piscium modo exsultasse;
4.14. that at Tarquinii a pig was born with a human face; and that in the territory of Capena, at the grove of Feronia, four statues sweated blood profusely for a day and a night. These prodigies were atoned for with full-grown victims by decree of the pontiffs.
4.14. Tarquiniis porcum cum ore humano genitum, et in agro Capenate ad lucum Feroniae quattuor signa sanguine multo diem ac noctem sudasse. haec prodigia hostiis maioribus procurata decreto pontificum;
4.15. And prayers were ordered for one day in Rome at all the pulvinaria, and for a second day at the grove of Feronia, in the territory of Capena.
4.15. et supplicatio diem unum Romae ad omnia puluinaria, alterum in Capenati agro ad Feroniae lucum indicta.
5.1. Marcus Valerius, the consul, on being summoned by the letter, assigned his province and army to Lucius Cincius, a praetor, and sent Marcus Valerius Messalla, admiral of the fleet, with a part of his ships to Africa, to plunder and at the same time to find out what the Carthaginian state was doing and preparing to do. The consul himself set out for Rome with ten ships, and on his safe arrival he at once held a session of the senate, in which he set forth his own achievements:
5.1. M. Ualerius consul litteris excitus, prouincia exercituque mandato L. Cincio praetori, M. Ualerio Messalla praefecto classis cum parte nauium in Africam praedatum simul speculatumque quae populus Carthaginiensis ageret pararetque misso, ipse decem nauibus Romam profectus cum prospere peruenisset, senatum extemplo habuit, ubi de suis rebus gestis commemorauit:
5.3. that for almost sixty years war had been carried on in Sicily by land and sea, often with great losses, but now he had completed the conquest of that province.
5.3. cum annos prope sexaginta in Sicilia terra marique magnis saepe cladibus bellatum esset, se eam prouinciam confecisse.
5.4. He said that there was not a Carthaginian in Sicily; that not a Sicilian was absent; that those who had been absent, banished by their fears, had all been brought back to their cities, to their lands, and were ploughing and sowing;
5.4. neminem Carthaginiensem in Sicilia esse; neminem Siculum non esse; qui fugati metu inde afuerint, omnes in urbes, in agros suos reductos arare, serere; desertam recoli terram, tandem frugiferam ipsis cultoribus populoque Romano pace ac bello fidissimum annonae subsidium.
5.6. that a deserted land was again under cultivation, productive at last for the farmers themselves, and for the Roman people in peace and in war a most dependable source of the grain supply.
5.6. exim Muttine, et si quorum aliorum merita erga populum Romanum erant in senatum introductis honores omnibus ad exsoluendam fidem a consule habiti.
5.7. Then Muttines and any others who had done services to the Roman people were brought into the senate, and honours were bestowed upon them all, in fulfilment of the consul's promise.
5.7. Muttines etiam ciuis Romanus factus, rogatione ab tribunis plebis ex auctoritate patrum ad plebem lata.
5.8. Muttines was even made a Roman citizen, when in accordance with a decree of the senate a bill had been proposed to the plebs by its tribunes.
5.8. dum haec Romae geruntur, M. Ualerius quinquaginta nauibus cum ante lucem ad Africam accessisset, improuiso in agrum Uticensem escensionem fecit;
5.9. While these events were occurring at Rome, Marcus Valerius, having approached the coast of Africa with fifty ships before daybreak, made an unexpected landing on the territory of Utica. And this he ravaged far and wide, captured many persons together with other booty of every description, returned to his ships and crossed over to Sicily, sailing back to Lilybaeum on the 13th day after he had left that port.
5.9. eumque late depopulatus multis mortalibus cum alia omnis generis praeda captis ad naues redit et ad Siciliam tramisit, tertio decimo die quam profectus inde erat Lilybaeum reuectus.
5.10. Upon inquiry made from the captives the following facts were ascertained and written down fully and in order for the consul Laevinus, that he might know what the condition of affairs in Africa was:
5.10. ex captiuis quaestione habita haec comperta consulique Laeuino omnia ordine perscripta ut sciret quo in statu res Africae essent:
5.11. that five thousand Numidians were at Carthage under Masinissa, son of Gala and a most impetuous young man; and that other soldiers were being hired everywhere in Africa, to be sent over to Hasdrubal in Spain, so that he should cross over into Italy with the largest possible army as soon as he could and join Hannibal;
5.11. quinque milia Numidarum cum Masinissa, Galae filio, acerrimo iuuene, Carthagine esse, et alios per totam Africam milites mercede conduci qui in Hispaniam ad Hasdrubalem traicerentur, ut is quam maximo exercitu primo quoque tempore in Italiam transgressus iungeret se Hannibali;
5.12. that upon this the Carthaginians believed that victory depended;
5.12. in eo positam uictoriam credere Carthaginienses;
5.13. furthermore that a very large fleet was being made ready, for the purpose of recovering Sicily; and he believed that fleet would soon make the passage.
5.13. classem praeterea ingentem apparari ad Siciliam repetendam eamque se credere breui traiecturam.
5.14. These statements as read by the consul so swayed the senators that they decided that he must not wait for the elections, but that after appointing a dictator to conduct the elections, the consul must at once return to his province.
5.14. haec recitata a consule ita mouere senatum ut non exspectanda comitia consuli censeret, sed dictatore comitiorum habendorum causa dicto extemplo in prouinciam redeundum.
5.15. Debate continued on one point —namely, the consul kept promising to appoint in Sicily Marcus Valerius Messalla, then in command of the fleet, as dictator, while the fathers maintained that a dictator could not be appointed outside of Roman territory, and that this was confined to Italy.
5.15. illa disceptatio tenebat quod consul in Sicilia se M. Ualerium Messallam qui tum classi praeesset dictatorem dicturum esse aiebat, patres extra Romanum agrum—eum autem Italia terminari—negabant dictatorem dici posse.
5.16. When Marcus Lucretius, tribune of the plebs, sought to know its pleasure in the matter, the senate decreed that, before leaving the city, the consul should ask the people whom they preferred to have named dictator, and should name as dictator the man ordered by the people; that if the consul should refuse, the praetor should ask the people; in case of his refusal also, the tribunes should bring the matter before the commons.
5.16. M. Lucretius tribunus plebis cum de ea re consuleret, ita decreuit senatus ut consul priusquam ab urbe discederet populum rogaret quem dictatorem dici placeret, eumque quem populus iussisset diceret dictatorem; si consul noluisset, praetor populum rogaret; si ne is quidem uellet, tum tribuni ad plebem ferrent.
5.17. When the consul refused to submit to the people a question that belonged to his own authority, and forbade the praetor to do so, the tribunes asked the commons and the commons ordained that Quintus Fulvius, who was then at Capua, should be named dictator.
5.17. cum consul se populum rogaturum negasset quod suae potestatis esset, praetoremque uetuisset rogare, tribuni plebem rogarunt, plebesque sciuit ut Q. Fuluius, qui tum ad Capuam erat, dictator diceretur.
5.18. But on the day on which that plebeian assembly was to be held the consul left for Sicily secretly by night. And the fathers, being deserted, voted to send a letter to Marcus Claudius, that he should come to the aid of the state abandoned by his colleague, and should name as dictator whomsoever the people might command.
5.18. sed quo die id plebis concilium futurum erat, consul clam nocte in Siciliam abiit; destitutique patres litteras ad M. Claudium mittendas censuerunt ut desertae ab collega rei publicae subueniret diceretque quem populus iussisset dictatorem.
5.19. Thus Quintus Fulvius was named dictator by Marcus Claudius, the consul, and in accordance with the same decree of the commons Publius Licinius Crassus, pontifex maximus, was named master of the horse by Quintus Fulvius as dictator.
5.19. ita a M. Claudio consule Q. Fuluius dictator dictus, et ex eodem plebis scito ab Q. Fuluio dictatore P. Licinius Crassus pontifex maximus magister equitum dictus.
6.1. On coming to Rome the dictator sent Gaius Sempronius Blaesus, his lieutenant, whom he had had at Capua, into Etruria as his province, to be with the army, taking the place of the praetor Gaius Calpurnius, whom he had summoned by letter to take command of Capua and his own army. As for himself, he proclaimed the elections for the earliest possible date. But owing to the conflict which arose between the tribunes and the dictator the election could not be completed. The Galeria century of the younger men, which obtained by lot the right to vote first, had voted for Quintus Fulvius and Quintus Fabius as consuls; and the centuries called in the legal order would have inclined in the same direction, if the tribunes of the plebs, Gaius and Lucius Arrenius, had not intervened. They repeated that to prolong a magistracy was not consistent with the common interest, and also that it was a much more dangerous precedent for the man who was conducting the election to be himself elected. Accordingly, they said, if the dictator admitted his own name, they would veto the election; if other men than himself were considered, they would not delay the election. The dictator defended the procedure in the election by the authority of the senate, by the decree of the commons, by precedents. For, he said, in the consulship of Gnaeus Servilius, when Gaius Flaminius, the other consul, had fallen at Trasumennus, by authority of the fathers it was proposed to the commons, and the commons had ordained that, so long as the war remained in Italy, the people should have the right to re-elect as consuls the men they pleased and as often as they pleased from the number of those who had been consuls. He added that he had precedents for so doing: an old instance, that of Lucius Postumius Megellus, who as interrex had been elected consul with Gaius Iunius Bubulcus at an election which he had himself conducted; and a recent case, that of Quintus Fabius, who surely would never have permitted his consulship to be prolonged unless it were done for the public welfare. After a contest long continued by such speeches, final agreement between the dictator and the tribunes was reached: that they would stand by whatever the senate should decide. To the fathers it seemed a time for the state to have its affairs in the hands of generals mature and experienced and skilled in war; and so they said they did not favour any delaying of the election.
6.1. dictator postquam Romam uenit, C. Sempronium Blaesum legatum quem ad Capuam habuerat in Etruriam prouinciam ad exercitum misit in locum C. Calpurni praetoris, quem ut Capuae exercituique suo praeesset litteris exciuit. ipse comitia in quem diem primum potuit edixit; quae certamine inter tribunos dictatoremque iniecto perfici non potuerunt. Galeria iuniorum, quae sorte praerogatiua erat, Q. Fuluium et Q. Fabium consules dixerat, eodemque iure uocatae inclinassent ni se tribuni plebis C. et L. Arrenii interposuissent, qui neque magistratum continuari satis ciuile esse aiebant et multo foedioris exempli eum ipsum creari qui comitia haberet; itaque si suum nomen dictator acciperet, se comitiis intercessuros: si aliorum praeterquam ipsius ratio haberetur, comitiis se moram non facere. dictator causam comitiorum auctoritate senatus, plebis scito, exemplis tutabatur: namque Cn. Seruilio consule cum C. Flaminius alter consul ad Trasumennum cecidisset, ex auctoritate patrum ad plebem latum plebemque sciuisse ut, quoad bellum in Italia esset, ex iis qui consules fuissent quos et quotiens uellet reficiendi consules populo ius esset; exemplaque in eam rem se habere, uetus L. Postumi Megelli, qui interrex iis comitiis quae ipse habuisset consul cum C. Iunio Bubulco creatus esset, recens Q. Fabi, qui sibi continuari consulatum nisi id bono publico fieret profecto nunquam sisset. his orationibus cum diu certatum esset, postremo ita inter dictatorem ac tribunos conuenit ut eo quod censuisset senatus staretur. patribus id tempus rei publicae uisum est ut per ueteres et expertos bellique peritos imperatores res publica gereretur; itaque moram fieri comitiis non placere. concedentibus tribunis, comitia habita; declarati consules Q. Fabius Maximus quintum, Q. Fuluius Flaccus quartum. praetores inde creati L. Ueturius Philo, T. Quinctius Crispinus, C. Hostilius Tubulus, C. Aurunculeius. magistratibus in annum creatis Q. Fuluius dictatura se abdicauit. extremo aestatis huius classis Punica nauium quadraginta cum praefecto Hamilcare in Sardiniam traiecta, Olbiensem primo, dein postquam ibi P. Manlius Uolso praetor cum exercitu apparuit circumacta inde ad alterum insulae latus Caralitanum agrum uastauit, et cum praeda omnis generis in Africam redit. sacerdotes Romani eo anno mortui aliquot suffectique. C. Seruilius pontifex factus in locum T. Otacili Crassi, Ti. Sempronius Ti. filius Longus augur factus in locum T. Otacili Crassi. decemuir item sacris faciundis in locum Ti. Semproni C. filii Longi Ti. Sempronius Ti. filius Longus suffectus. M. Marcius rex sacrorum mortuus est et M. Aemilius Papus maximus curio; neque in eorum locum sacerdotes eo anno suffecti. et censores hic annus habuit L. Ueturium Philonem et P. Licinium Crassum, maximum pontificem. Crassus Licinius nec consul nec praetor ante fuerat quam censor est factus: ex aedilitate gradum ad censuram fecit. sed hi censores neque senatum legerunt neque quicquam publicae rei egerunt: mors diremit L. Ueturi; inde et Licinius censura se abdicauit. aediles curules L. Ueturius et P. Licinius Uarus ludos Romanos diem unum instaurarunt: aediles plebei Q. Catius et L. Porcius Licinus ex multaticio argento signa aenea ad Cereris dedere et ludos pro temporis eius copia magnifici apparatus fecerunt. exitu anni huius C. Laelius legatus Scipionis die quarto et tricensimo quam a Tarracone profectus erat Romam uenit; isque cum agmine captiuorum ingressus urbem magnum concursum hominum fecit. postero die in senatum introductus captam Carthaginem caput Hispaniae uno die, receptasque aliquot urbes quae defecissent nouasque in societatem adscitas exposuit;
7.3. Since the tribunes gave way, the election was held. Quintus Fabius Maximus was declared consul for the fifth time, Quintus Fulvius Flaccus for the fourth. Then as praetors the following were elected: Lucius Veturius Philo, Titus Quinctius Crispinus, Gaius Hostilius Tubulus, Gaius Aurunculeius. The magistrates having been elected for the year, Quintus Fulvius abdicated his dictatorship. At the end of this summer a Carthaginian fleet of forty ships under command of the prefect Hamilcar crossed over to Sardinia and first laid waste the region of Olbia. Then after Publius Manlius Volso, the praetor, showed himself there with an army, the fleet coasted around from Olbia to the other side of the island, ravaged the territory of Carales and returned with booty of every kind to Africa. Of the Roman priests a number died that year and successors were appointed. Gaius Servilius was made pontifex in place of Titus Otacilius Crassus; Tiberius Sempronius Longus, son of Tiberius, was made augur in place of Titus Otacilius Crassus.
7.3. ex captiuis comperta iis fere congruentia quae in litteris fuerant M. Ualeri Messallae. maxime mouit patres Hasdrubalis transitus in Italiam, uix Hannibali atque eius armis obsistentem. productus et in contionem Laelius eadem edisseruit. senatus ob res feliciter a P. Scipione gestas supplicationem in unum diem decreuit; C. Laelium primo quoque tempore cum quibus uenerat nauibus redire in Hispaniam iussit.
7.5. In like manner Tiberius Sempronius Longus, son of Tiberius, was appointed decemvir for the performance of rites in place of Tiberius Sempronius Longus, son of Gaius. Marcus Marcius, rex sacrorum, and Marcus Aemilius Papus, the chief curio, died; and no priests were appointed that year in their places. And this year had as censors Lucius Veturius Philo and Publius Licinius Crassus, pontifex maximus. Crassus Licinius had been neither consul nor praetor before he became censor; he made but one step from aedileship to censorship.
7.5. —Carthaginis expugnationem in hunc annum contuli multis auctoribus, haud nescius quosdam esse qui anno insequenti captam tradiderint, quod mihi minus simile ueri uisum est annum integrum Scipionem nihil gerendo in Hispania consumpsisse.
7.7. But these censors neither revised the senate list nor did any public business. The death of Veturius dissolved their censorship, consequently Licinius abdicated his office. The curule aediles, Lucius Veturius and Publius Licinius Varus, renewed the Roman Games for one day. The plebeian aediles, Quintus Catius and Lucius Porcius Licinus, out of money paid in fines set up bronze statues at the Temple of Ceres, and they celebrated the games with splendid appointments, considering the resources of the time. VII. At the end of this year Gaius Laelius, Scipio's lieutenant, came to Rome on the thirty-fourth day after leaving Tarraco.
7.7. Q. Fabio Maximo quintum Q. Fuluio Flacco quartum consulibus, idibus Martiis, quo die magistratum inierunt, Italia ambobus prouincia decreta, regionibus tamen partitum imperium: Fabius ad Tarentum, Fuluius in Lucanis ac Bruttiis rem gereret.
7.8. And on entering the city with a train of captives he occasioned a great concourse of people. Introduced into the senate the next day, he set forth the capture of (New) Carthage, chief city of Spain, in a single day, and the recovery of a number of cities that had revolted, and the admission of new cities into alliance. From the captives they ascertained facts which in general agreed with statements previously made in the letter of Marcus Valerius Messalla.
7.8. M. Claudio prorogatum in annum imperium. praetores sortiti prouincias, C. Hostilius Tubulus urbanam, L. Ueturius Philo peregrinam cum Gallia, T. Quinctius Crispinus Capuam, C. Aurunculeius Sardiniam. exercitus ita per prouincias diuisi:
7.9. What especially stirred the fathers was Hasdrubal's proposed crossing into Italy, which was with difficulty withstanding Hannibal and his arms. On being brought before an assembly also, Laelius discoursed on the same subject. The senate decreed a thanksgiving for one day on account of Publius Scipio's successes. It ordered Gaius Laelius to return as soon as possible to Spain on the ships with which he had come. —The storming of (New) Carthage I have set in this year on the authority of many writers, though not unaware that there are some who have related its capture in the following year. I have done so because it has seemed to me less probable that Scipio spent a whole year in Spain doing nothing.
7.9. Fuluio duae legiones quas in Sicilia M. Ualerius Laeuinus haberet, Fabio, quibus in Etruria C. Calpurnius praefuisset: urbanus exercitus ut in Etruriam succederet: C. Calpurnius eidem praeesset prouinciae exercituique: Capuam exercitumque quem Q. Fuluius habuisset T. Quinctius obtineret:
7.11. Quintus Fabius Maximus being now consul for the fifth and Quintus Fulvius Flaccus for the fourth time, on the Ides of March, the day of their entry upon office, Italy was assigned to the two as their province; their military authority, however, was geographically divided. Fabius was to command around Tarentum, Fulvius in Lucania and the land of the Bruttii.
7.11. C. Hostilius ab C. Laetorio propraetore prouinciam exercitumque qui tum Arimini erat acciperet. M. Marcello quibus consul rem gesserat legiones decretae;
7.12. For Marcus Claudius his command was prolonged for one year. The praetors received their assignments by lot, Gaius Hostilius Tubulus the city praetorship, Lucius Veturius Philo the jurisdiction over foreigners, together with Gaul; Titus Quinctius Crispinus received Capua, Gaius Aurunculeius Sardinia.
7.12. M. Ualerio cum L. Cincio —iis quoque enim prorogatum in Sicilia imperium—Cannensis exercitus datus, eumque supplere ex militibus qui ex legionibus Cn. Fului superessent iussi.
7.13. The armies were distributed among the assignments as follows: to Fulvius the two legions which Marcus Valerius Laevinus had in Sicily, to Quintus Fabius those which Gaius Calpurnius had commanded in Etruria; the army at the city was to take the place of that in Etruria; Gaius Calpurnius was to be in command of that province and its army; Titus Quinctius was to be in charge of Capua and the army which Quintus Fulvius had held. Gaius Hostilius was to take over from Gaius Laetorius, the propraetor, his province and the army which was then at Ariminum.
7.13. conquisitos eos consules in Siciliam miserunt; additaque eadem militiae ignominia sub qua Cannenses militabant quique ex praetoris Cn. Fului exercitu ob similis iram fugae missi eo ab senatu fuerant.
7.14. To Marcus Marcellus were assigned the legions with which he had carried on operations as consul. To Marcus Valerius and Lucius Cincius —for their command in Sicily was also prolonged —was assigned the army from Cannae, and they were ordered to recruit it from the soldiers who survived from the legions of Gnaeus Fulvius. These were sought out and sent by the consuls into Sicily. And there was added the same humiliation in the service as that under which the men from Cannae were serving, and those from the army of the praetor Gnaeus Fulvius, who had been sent thither by the senate out of anger on account of their similar flight.
7.14. C. Aurunculeio eaedem in Sardinia legiones quibus P. Manlius Uolso eam prouinciam obtinuerat decretae. P. Sulpicio eadem legione eademque classe Macedoniam obtinere iusso prorogatum in annum imperium. triginta quinqueremes ex Sicilia Tarentum ad Q. Fabium consulem mitti iussae:
7.16. To Gaius Aurunculeius in Sardinia were assigned the same legions with which Publius Manlius Volso had held that province. Publius Sulpicius was ordered to hold Macedonia with the same legion and the same fleet, and his command was prolonged for one year. Thirty quinqueremes were ordered to be sent from Sicily to Quintus Fabius, the consul, at Tarentum.
7.16. cetera classe placere praedatum in Africam aut ipsum M. Ualerium Laeuinum traicere aut mittere seu L. Cincium seu M. Ualerium Messallam uellet.
7.17. With the rest of his fleet it was the will of the senate, he was informed, that Marcus Valerius Laevinus should either cross over into Africa himself to plunder the country, or should send at his discretion Lucius Cincius or Marcus Valerius Messalla. And in regard to Spain no change was made, except that the commands of Scipio and Silanus were prolonged, not for one year, but until they should be recalled by the senate. Thus were the assignments and army commands apportioned for that year.
7.17. nec de Hispania quicquam mutatum nisi quod non in annum Scipioni Silanoque, sed donec reuocati ab senatu forent prorogatum imperium est. ita prouinciae exercituumque in eum annum partita imperia.
8.1. In the midst of their attention to more important matters the election of a maximus curio, when they were choosing a priest to succeed Marcus Aemilius, stirred up an old contest.
8.1. inter maiorum rerum curas comitia maximi curionis, cum in locum M. Aemili sacerdos crearetur, uetus excitauerunt certamen, patriciis negantibus C.
8.2. The patricians declared that no regard should be paid to C. Mamilius Atellus, the one plebeian who was a candidate, since no one not a patrician had previously held that priesthood.
8.2. Mamili Atelli, qui unus ex plebe petebat, habendam rationem esse quia nemo ante eum nisi ex patribus id sacerdotium habuisset.
8.3. The tribunes were appealed to, and referred the case back to the senate; the senate gave the people power to decide. Thus as the first plebeian Gaius Mamilius Atellus was elected maximus curio.
8.3. tribuni appellati ad senatum <rem> reiecerunt: senatus populi potestatem fecit: ita primus ex plebe creatus maximus curio C. Mamilius Atellus.
8.4. And Publius Licinius, the pontifex maximus, compelled Gaius Valerius Flaccus to be installed as flamen of Jupiter, although unwilling. Gaius Laetorius was named one of the decemviri for the performance of rites in place of Quintus Mucius Scaevola deceased.
8.4. et flaminem Dialem inuitum inaugurari coegit P. Licinius pontifex maximus C. Ualerium Flaccum; decemuirum sacris faciundis creatus in locum Q. Muci Scaeuolae demortui C. Laetorius.
8.5. The reason for installing a flamen perforce I should gladly have passed over in silence, had not his reputation changed from bad to good. Because of his irresponsible and dissipated youth Gaius Flaccus, who was odious to his own brother, Lucius Flaccus, and other relatives on account of the same vices, had been seized upon as flamen by Publius Licinius, pontifex maximus.
8.5. causam inaugurari coacti flaminis libens reticuissem, ni ex mala fama in bonam uertisset. ob adulescentiam neglegentem luxuriosamque C. Flaccus flamen captus a P. Licinio pontifice maximo erat, L. Flacco fratri germano cognatisque aliis ob eadem uitia inuisus.
8.6. As soon as the charge of rites and ceremonies took possession of his mind, Gaius so suddenly put off his old character that no one among all the young men stood higher in the estimation and approval of the leading senators, both of his own family and of strangers alike.
8.6. is ut animum eius cura sacrorum et caerimoniarum cepit, ita repente exuit antiquos mores ut nemo tota iuuentute haberetur prior nec probatior primoribus patrum, suis pariter alienisque, esset.
8.7. By the unanimity of this good report he was raised to a well-founded self-confidence, and claimed what had been in abeyance for many years owing to the unworthiness of former flamens, namely, that he should be admitted to the senate.
8.7. huius famae consensu elatus ad iustam fiduciam sui rem intermissam per multos annos ob indignitatem flaminum priorum repetiuit, ut in senatum introiret.
8.8. When he had entered the Senate House, and the praetor, Publius Licinius, had escorted him out of it, he appealed to the tribunes of the plebs. The flamen insistently claimed an ancient right of his priesthood, saying it had been granted to that office of flamen along with the toga praetexta and the sella curulis.
8.8. ingressum eum curiam cum P. Licinius praetor inde eduxisset, tribunos plebis appellauit. flamen uetustum ius sacerdotii repetebat: datum id cum toga praetexta et sella curuli ei flamonio esse.
8.9. The praetor maintained that a right was based, not upon outmoded instances from the annals, but in each case upon very recent practice; and that within the memory neither of their fathers nor grandfathers had any flamen of Jupiter exercised that right.
8.9. praetor non exoletis uetustate annalium exemplis stare ius, sed recentissimae cuiusque consuetudinis usu uolebat: nec patrum nec auorum memoria Dialem quemquam id ius usurpasse.
8.10. The tribunes expressed the opinion that obsolescence due to the indolence of flamens was justly accounted their own loss, not a loss to the priestly office. Whereupon, without opposition even from the praetor himself, and with the general approval of the senators and of the commons, the tribunes led the flamen into the senate, for it was the opinion of everyone that the flamen had carried his point rather by the uprightness of his life than by virtue of priestly privilege.
8.10. tribuni rem inertia flaminum oblitteratam ipsis, non sacerdotio damno fuisse cum aequum censuissent, ne ipso quidem contra tendente praetore, magno adsensu patrum plebisque flaminem in senatum introduxerunt, omnibus ita existimantibus magis sanctitate uitae quam sacerdotii iure eam rem flaminem obtinuisse.
8.11. The consuls, before leaving for their provinces, enrolled two city legions to supplement the other armies so far as was necessary.
8.11. consules priusquam in prouincias irent, duas urbanas legiones in supplementum quantum opus erat ceteris exercitibus militum scripserunt.
8.12. The duty of leading the former city army into Etruria the consul Fulvius assigned to Gaius Fulvius Flaccus, his lieutenant —this was the consul's brother —also that of bringing the legions that were in Etruria away to Rome.
8.12. urbanum ueterem exercitum Fuluius consul C. Fuluio Flacco legato—frater hic consulis erat—in Etruriam dedit ducendum et legiones quae in Etruria erant Romam deducendas.
8.13. And Fabius, the consul, ordered his son Quintus Maximus to search out the remains of the Fulvian. army —and they amounted to four thousand three hundred and forty-four —and to conduct them to Sicily to Marcus Valerius, the proconsul; also to receive from him two legions and thirty quinqueremes.
8.13. et Fabius consul reliquias exercitus Fuluiani conquisitas—fuere autem ad quattuor milia trecenti quadraginta quattuor— Q. Maximum filium ducere in Siciliam ad M. Ualerium proconsulem iussit, atque ab eo duas legiones et triginta quinqueremes accipere.