§5.59.1τῷ δʼ ἑξῆς ἐνιαυτῷ Ῥωμαῖοι καθιστᾶσιν ὑπάτους Τῖτον Λάρκιον Φλάβον καὶ Κόιντον Κλοίλιον Σικελόν.
For the following year the Romans appointed Titus Larchius Flavus and Quintus Cloelius Siculus as consuls.
τούτων ὁ μὲν Κλοίλιος τὰ πολιτικὰ πράττειν ἐτάχθη ὑπὸ τῆς βουλῆς τὴν ἡμίσειαν τῆς στρατιᾶς ἔχων φυλακῆς ἕνεκα τῶν νεωτεριζόντων, ἐπιεικὴς τὴν φύσιν εἶναι δοκῶν καὶ δημοτικός.
Of these, Cloelius was assigned by the senate to domestic affairs, having half of the army for a guard against those attempting revolution, as he was thought to be gentle in nature and democratic.
ὁ δὲ Λάρκιος ἐπὶ τὸν κατὰ Φιδηναίων πόλεμον ἐξηρτυμένην στρατιὰν ἄγων καὶ τὰ εἰς πολιορκίαν ἐπιτήδεια παρασκευασάμενος ᾤχετο.
But Larchius, leading a well-equipped army against the war with the Fidenaeans and having prepared the provisions necessary for a siege, departed.
§5.59.2πονουμένοις τε τῷ μήκει τοῦ πολέμου καὶ πάντων σπανίζουσι τῶν ἀναγκαίων χαλεπὸς ἦν ὑπορύττων τε τοὺς θεμελίους τῶν τειχῶν καὶ χώματα ἐγείρων καὶ μηχανὰς προσφέρων καὶ οὔθʼ ἡμέρας οὔτε νυκτὸς τῆς πολιορκίας ἀφιστάμενος ὀλίγου τε χρόνου κατὰ κράτος αἱρήσειν τὴν πόλιν ὑπολαμβάνων. οὐδὲ γὰρ αἱ Λατίνων πόλεις, αἷς οἱ Φιδηναῖοι μόναις πιστεύοντες ἀνείλοντο τὸν πόλεμον, ἱκαναὶ σώζειν αὐτοὺς ἔτι τότʼ ἦσαν.
To those who were distressed by the length of the war and lacking all necessaries, he was harsh, undermining the foundations of the walls, raising mounds, bringing up engines, and desisting from the siege neither by day nor by night, assuming that he would capture the city by storm in a short time. For indeed, the cities of the Latins, in which alone the Fidenaeans trusted when they undertook the war, were no longer at that time sufficient to save them.
§5.59.3μία μὲν γὰρ οὐδεμία πόλις ἀξιόχρεως ἦν ἀπαλλάξαι τῆς πολιορκίας αὐτούς, κοινῇ δʼ ἐξ ὅλου τοῦ ἔθνους οὔπω συνειστήκει δύναμις, ἀλλὰ πολλάκις πρεσβευομένοις αὐτοῖς τὰς αὐτὰς ἐδίδοσαν οἱ προεστηκότες τῶν πόλεων ἀποκρίσεις, ὡς ἀφιξομένης σφίσιν ἐπικουρίας ἐν τάχει· ἔργον δʼ οὐδὲν ἐγίνετο ταῖς ὑποσχέσεσιν ὅμοιον, ἀλλὰ μέχρι λόγων αἱ περὶ τῆς συμμαχίας ἐλπίδες ἐχώρουν.
For no single city was adequate to free them from the siege, and on the other hand, a joint force from the whole nation had not yet been assembled; but though they often sent embassies, the leaders of the cities gave them the same answers, to the effect that assistance would soon arrive for them; but no action arose matching the promises, and the hopes concerning the alliance went no further than words.
§5.59.4οὐ μὴν παντάπασί γε τὰ παρὰ τῶν Λατίνων ἀπεγνώκεσαν οἱ Φιδηναῖοι, ἀλλὰ διεκαρτέρουν ἐπὶ ταῖς ἐκεῖθεν ἐλπίσι πάντα τὰ δεινὰ ὑπομένοντες.
Yet the Fidenaeans did not entirely despair of the aid from the Latins, but continued to hold out, enduring all hardships on the basis of those hopes.
ἦν δʼ ὑπὲρ πάντα ὁ λιμὸς ἄμαχον πρᾶγμα καὶ πολὺν οὗτος ἐποίησεν ἀνθρώπων φθόρον.
But above all things, hunger was an irresistible matter, and this caused a great destruction of men.
ὡς δʼ ἀπειρήκεσαν ἤδη τοῖς κακοῖς, πρεσβευτὰς ἀπέστειλαν ὡς τὸν ὕπατον ἀνοχὰς αἰτοῦντες εἰς τεταγμένον τινὰ ἡμερῶν ἀριθμὸν ὡς ἐν τούτῳ βουλευσόμενοι τῷ χρόνῳ περὶ τῆς πρὸς Ῥωμαίους φιλίας, ἐφʼ οἷς αὐτὴν ποιήσονται δικαίοις.
When they were already exhausted by the evils, they sent ambassadors to the consul asking for a truce for a certain fixed number of days, as if to deliberate during this time concerning a friendship with the Romans, upon what terms they should make it.
§5.59.5ἦν δʼ οὐ βουλῆς χάριν αἰτούμενος ὑπʼ αὐτῶν ὁ χρόνος, ἀλλὰ παρασκευῆς τῶν συμμάχων, ὡς ἐδήλωσαν τῶν αὐτομόλων τινὲς ἔναγχος ἀφιγμένοι.
But the time asked for by them was not for the sake of deliberation, but for the preparation of the allies, as some of the deserters who had recently arrived made clear.
τῇ γὰρ ἔμπροσθεν νυκτὶ τοὺς ἐπιφανεστάτους τῶν πολιτῶν καὶ πλεῖστον ἐν ταῖς Λατίνων πόλεσι δυναμένους ἀπεστάλκεσαν πρέσβεις πρὸς τὸ κοινὸν ἱκετηρίας φέροντας.
For on the preceding night they had sent the most illustrious of the citizens and those of the greatest influence in the Latin cities as ambassadors to the common assembly, bearing olive branches of suppliants.