- Source
- Titi Livi ab urbe condita libri editionem priman, Pars I-IV, Libri I-XL. Editio Stereotypica. Weissenborn, Wilhelm; Mueller, Moritz, editors. Leipzig: Teubner, 1884-1911.
- Translation
- AI-generated (gemini-3.5-flash) — machine translation; may contain errors
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- CTS URN
- urn:cts:latinLit:phi0914.phi001.humanitext-lat2:3.5.1-3.5.15
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-02
The Aequi use their numbers to besiege the Roman camp and plunder their territory, but suffer a major defeat after a counterattack by Quinctius and Postumius, returning peace to Rome.
multi per eos dies motus multique impetus hinc atque illinc facti, quia superante multitudine hostes carpere multifariam viris Romanas, ut non suffecturas1 ad omnia, adgressi sunt;
During those days, many movements and many attacks were made on both sides, because the enemy, prevailing in numbers, attempted to wear down the Roman forces in many places, as if they would not suffice for everything.
simul castra oppugnabantur, simul pars exercitus ad populandum agrum Romanum missa urbemque ipsam, si qua fortuna daret, temptandam.
At the same time, the camp was being attacked, and at the same time, a part of the army was sent to plunder the Roman territory and to test the city itself, if any fortune should offer.
L. Valerius ad praesidium urbis relictus, consul Postumius ad arcendas populationes finium missus. nihil remissum ab ulla parte curae aut laboris;
Lucius Valerius was left for the protection of the city, and the consul Postumius was sent to ward off the plundering of the borders. Nothing of care or labor was relaxed on any part.
vigiliae in urbe, stationes ante portas praesidiaque in muris disposita et, quod necesse erat in tanto tumultu, iustitium per aliquot dies servatum.
Watches were disposed in the city, outposts before the gates, and guards on the walls; and, as was necessary in so great a tumult, a suspension of public business was observed for several days.
interim in castris Furius consul cum primo quietus obsidionem passus esset, in incautum hostem decumana porta erupit et, cum persequi posset, metu substitit, ne qua ex parte altera in castra vis fieret. Furium legatum —
Meanwhile, in the camp, the consul Furius, although at first he had quietly endured the siege, broke out through the decuman gate upon the unsuspecting enemy; and, though he was able to pursue them, he stopped through fear lest an attack should be made on the camp from some other part. The legate Furius—
frater idem consulis erat — longius extulit cursus; nec suos ille redeuntes persequendi studio neque hostium ab tergo incursum vidit. ita exclusus multis saepe frustra conatibus captis, ut viam sibi ad castra faceret, acriter dimicans cecidit, et consul nuntio circumventi fratris conversus ad pugnam, dum se temere magis quam satis caute in mediam dimicationem infert, vulnere accepto aegre ab circumstantibus ereptus et suorum animos turbavit et ferociores hostes fecit;
who was also the brother of the consul—was carried too far by his charge; in his eagerness to pursue, he saw neither his own men returning nor the enemy’s attack from behind. Thus cut off, after making many attempts in vain to force a way for himself to the camp, fighting fiercely, he fell. And the consul, turning to the fight upon the news of his brother being surrounded, while he threw himself into the midst of the conflict more rashly than with sufficient caution, received a wound, and being with difficulty rescued by those around him, both demoralized his own men and made the enemy more fierce.
qui caede legati et consulis vulnere accensi nulla deinde vi sustineri potuere, cum conpulsi in castra Romani rursus obsiderentur nec spe nec viribus pares, venissetque in periculum summa rerum, ni T. Quinctius peregrinis copiis, Latino Hernicoque exercitu, subvenisset.2
The enemy, inflamed by the slaughter of the legate and the wound of the consul, could not thenceforth be sustained by any force, while the Romans, driven back into their camp, were besieged again, unequal both in hope and in strength; and the state of affairs would have come into extreme danger, had not Titus Quinctius come to the rescue with foreign forces, the Latin and Hernician army.
is intentos in castra Romana Aequos legatique caput ferociter ostentantes ab tergo adortus, simul ad signum a se procul editum ex castris eruptione facta, magnam vim hostium circumvenit. minor caedis, fuga effusior Aequorum in agro fuit Romano; in quos palatos praedam agentes Postumius aliquot locis, quibus opportuna inposuerat praesidia, impetum dedit. hi vagi dissipato agmine fugientes in Quinctium victorem cum saucio consule revertentem incidere.
He attacked from behind the Aequi, who were intent upon the Roman camp and fiercely displaying the head of the legate, and at the same time, an eruption being made from the camp at a signal given by him from afar, he surrounded a great force of the enemy. The slaughter was smaller, but the flight of the Aequi in the Roman territory was more scattered; upon whom, as they straggled carrying their plunder, Postumius made an attack in several places where he had stationed opportune guards. These vagrant fugitives, fleeing with their line of march broken, fell in with the victorious Quinctius returning with the wounded consul.
tum consularis exercitus egregia pugna consulis vulnus, legati et cohortium ultus est caedem. magnae clades ultro citroque illis diebus et inlatae et acceptae.
Then the consular army, in an outstanding battle, avenged the wound of the consul and the slaughter of the legate and the cohorts. Great disasters were both inflicted and received on both sides during those days.
difficile ad fidem est in tam antiqua re, quot pugnaverint ceciderintve, exacto adfirmare numero; audet tamen Antias Valerius concipere summas:
In a matter so ancient, it is difficult to affirm with credit the exact number of those who fought or fell; yet Valerius Antias dares to formulate the totals:
Romanorum cecidisse in Hernico agro quinque milia octingentos, ex praedatoribus Aequorum, qui populabundi in finibus Romanis vagabantur, ab A. Postumio consule duo milia et quadringentos caesos; ceteram multitudinem praedam agentem, quae inciderit in Quinctium, nequaquam pari defunctam esse caede;3 interfecta inde quattuor milia et exequendo subtiliter numerum ducentos ait et triginta. ut Romam reditum est, iustitium remissum est.
that five thousand eight hundred of the Romans fell in the Hernician territory; that of the plunderers of the Aequi, who were wandering and pillaging in the Roman borders, two thousand four hundred were slain by the consul Aulus Postumius; and that the rest of the multitude carrying plunder, which fell in with Quinctius, by no means got off with an equal slaughter; he says that four thousand two hundred and thirty were killed there, executing the number with precision. When they returned to Rome, the suspension of public business was ended.
caelum visum est ardere plurimo igni, portentaque alia aut obversata oculis aut vanas exterritis ostentavere species. his avertendis terroribus in triduum feriae indictae, per quas omnia delubra pacem deum exposcentium virorum mulierumque turba inplebantur.
The sky was seen to burn with much fire, and other portents either appeared before men’s eyes or presented empty phantoms to the terrified. To avert these terrors, a festival of three days was declared, during which all the shrines were filled with a crowd of men and women imploring the peace of the gods.
cohortes inde Latinae Hernicaeque ab senatu gratiis ob inpigram militiam actis remissae domos. Antiates mille milites, quia serum auxilium post proelium venerant, prope cum ignominia dimissi.
Then the Latin and Hernician cohorts, after thanks were given by the senate for their active service, were sent home. A thousand soldiers of Antium, because they had come as a late aid after the battle, were dismissed almost with ignominy.
- 3.5.1ut non suffecturas
The conjunction ut followed by the future participle suffecturas (accusative feminine plural, agreeing with viris Romanas, in an infinitive construction with esse omitted) expresses a subjective expectation or judgment on the part of the subject of the main clause ("on the assumption that they would not suffice"), analogous to the Greek use of ὡς with a participle.
- 3.5.8venissetque in periculum summa rerum, ni T. Quinctius... subvenisset
A contrary-to-fact conditional sentence. Against the pluperfect subjunctive condition ni... subvenisset, the conclusion also uses the pluperfect subjunctive venisset, representing an assumption contrary to past fact ("if he had not come to the rescue, the state of affairs would have come into danger").
- 3.5.13nequaquam pari defunctam esse caede
The verb defungor (to get off, discharge) governs the ablative, hence pari caede is in the ablative case. Working as a double negative, the phrase means "by no means got off with an equal (light) slaughter," implying they suffered an even more devastating blow.