§10.16.1comitiis perfectis veteres consules iussi bellum in Samnio gerere prorogato in sex menses imperio.
When the elections were completed, the former consuls were ordered to wage war in Samnium, their command having been prolonged for six months.
§10.16.2itaque insequenti quoque anno, L. Volumnio Ap. Claudio consulibus, P. Decius, qui consul in Samnio relictus a collega fuerat, proconsul idem populari non destitit agros, donec Samnitium exercitum nusquam se proelio committentem postremo expulit finibus.
And so in the following year also, when Lucius Volumnius and Appius Claudius were consuls, Publius Decius, who as consul had been left in Samnium by his colleague, likewise as proconsul did not cease to ravage the fields, until he finally drove the army of the Samnites, which would nowhere commit itself to battle, out of their territory.
§10.16.3Etruriam pulsi petierunt et, quod legationibus nequiquam saepe temptaverant, id se tanto agmine armatorum mixtis terrore precibus acturos efficacius rati, postulaverunt principum Etruriae concilium.
Having been driven out, they made for Etruria, and, thinking that they would more effectively accomplish by so great a force of armed men, with prayers mingled with dread, that which they had often attempted in vain through embassies, they demanded a council of the chiefs of Etruria.
§10.16.4quo coacto, per quot annos pro libertate dimicent cum Reomanis, exponunt: §10.16.5omnia expertos esse, si suismet ipsorum viribus tolerare tantam molem belli possent; temptasse etiam haud magni momenti finitimarum gentium auxilia.
When this had been assembled, they explained for how many years they had been fighting for liberty with the Romans: they had tried everything, to see if they could support so great a weight of war by their own strength; they had also tried the auxiliary forces of neighboring nations, which were of no great importance.
petisse pacem a populo Romano, cum bellum tolerare non possent; rebellasse, quod pax servientibus gravior quam liberis bellum esset.
They had sought peace from the Roman people when they could not endure the war, and had renewed the war because peace was more grievous to those in servitude than war to the free.
§10.16.6unam sibi spem reliquam in Etruscis restare; scire gentem Italiae opulentissimam armis, viris, pecunia esse; habere accolas Gallos, inter ferrum et arma natos, feroces cum suopte ingenio tum adversus Romanum populun, quem captum a se auroque redemptum, haud vana iactantes, memorent; §10.16.7nihil abesse, si sit animus Etruscis, qui Porsinnae quondam maioribusque eorum fuerit, quin Romanos omni agro cis Tiberim pulsos dimicare pro salute sua, non de intolerando Italiae regno cogant.
Only one hope remained to them in the Etruscans; they knew that they were the wealthiest nation in Italy in arms, men, and money; and that they had as neighbors the Gauls, born amidst iron and arms, fierce not only by their own nature but also against the Roman people, whom they recalled—making no empty boast—as having been captured by themselves and ransomed with gold; there was nothing to prevent them, if the Etruscans had the spirit which once belonged to Porsina and their ancestors, from forcing the Romans, driven from all the land on this side of the Tiber, to fight for their own safety, and not to think of an intolerable dominion over Italy.
Samnitem illis exercitum paratum, §10.16.8instructum armis stipendio venisse; confestim secuturos, vel si ad ipsam Romanam urbem oppugnandam ducant.
The Samnite army was ready for them, equipped with arms and pay, and had come; they would immediately follow, even if they should lead them to attack the city of Rome itself.