§10.31.1his ita rebus gestis nec in Samnitibus adhuc nec in Etruria pax erat; nam et Perusinis auctoribus post deductum ab consule exercitum rebellatum fuerat §10.31.2et Samnites praedatum in agrum Vescinum Formianumque et parte alia in Aeserninum quaeque Vulturno adiacent flumini descendere.
With these things having been thus conducted, there was still no peace either among the Samnites or in Etruria; for, with the Perusines as the instigators, a rebellion had been started after the army was withdrawn by the consul, and the Samnites went down to plunder, on one side into the Vescinian and Formian territory, and on another side into the Aeserninian territory and the regions adjacent to the Volturnus river.
§10.31.3adversus eos Ap. Claudius praetor cum exercitu Deciano missus.
Against them, the praetor Appius Claudius was sent with Decius's army.
Fabius in Etruria rebellante denuo quattuor milia et quingentos Perusinorum occidit, cepit ad mille septingentos quadraginta, §10.31.4qui redempti singuli aeris trecentis decem; §10.31.5praeda alia omnis militibus concessa.
Fabius, in Etruria which was rebelling anew, slew four thousand five hundred of the Perusines and captured about one thousand seven hundred and forty, who were ransomed at three hundred and ten asses of bronze each; all the other booty was granted to the soldiers.
Samnitium legiones, cum partem Ap. Claudius praetor, partem L. Volumnius pro consule sequeretur, in agrum Stellatem convenerunt.
The Samnite legions, while the praetor Appius Claudius pursued one part and the proconsul Lucius Volumnius another, assembled in the Stellatian territory.
ibi et Samnitium legiones considunt et Appius Volumniusque castra coniungunt.
There both the Samnite legions established themselves and Appius and Volumnius joined their camps.
pugnatum infestissimis animis, §10.31.6hinc ira stimulante adversus rebellantes totiens, illinc ad ultimam iam dimicantibus spem.
The battle was fought with the most hostile spirits, with anger stimulating them on this side against those who rebelled so many times, and on that side as they fought now for their ultimate hope.
§10.31.7caesa ergo Samnitium sedecim milia trecenti, capta duo milia septingenti; ex Romano exercitu cecidere duo milia septingenti.
Therefore, sixteen thousand three hundred of the Samnites were slain, and two thousand seven hundred captured; from the Roman army, two thousand seven hundred fell.
felix annus bellicis rebus, §10.31.8pestilentia gravis prodigiisque sollicitus; nam et terra multifariam pluvisse et in exercitu Ap. Claudi plerosque fulminibus ictos nuntiatum est, librique ob haec aditi.
It was a successful year in military affairs, but heavy with pestilence and anxious with prodigies; for it was reported both that it had rained earth in many places and that most in the army of Appius Claudius had been struck by lightning, and because of these things the books were consulted.
§10.31.9eo anno Q. Fabius Gurges, consulis filius, aliquot matronas ad populum stupri damnatas pecunia multavit, ex quo multaticio aere Veneris aedem, quae prope Circum est, faciendam curavit.
In that year, Quintus Fabius Gurges, the son of the consul, fined several matrons who had been condemned before the people for adultery, from which fine money he took care to build the temple of Venus, which is near the Circus.
supersunt etiam nunc Samnitium bella, §10.31.10quae continua per quartum iam volumen annumque sextum et quadragesimum a M. Valerio A. Cornelio consulibus, qui primi Samnio arma intulerunt, agimus.
The Samnite wars still remain, which we have been dealing with continuously now through a fourth volume and a forty-sixth year, from the consuls Marcus Valerius and Aulus Cornelius, who first brought arms into Samnium.
§10.31.11et ne tot annorum clades utriusque gentis laboresque actos nunc referam, quibus nequiverint tamen dura illa pectora vinci, §10.31.12proximo anno Samnites in Sentinati agro, Paelignis, ad Tifernum, Stellatibus campis, suis ipsi legionibus, mixti alienis, ab quattuor exercitibus, quattuor ducibus Romanis caesi fuerant; §10.31.13imperatorem clarissimum gentis suae amiserant; socios belli, Etruscos, Vmbros, Gallos, in eadem fortuna videbant, qua ipsi erant; §10.31.14nec suis nec externis viribus iam stare poterant; tamen bello non abstinebant: adeo ne infeliciter quidem defensae libertatis taedebat et vinci quam non temptare victoriam malebant.
And not to mention now the disasters of so many years and the labors undergone by both nations, by which nevertheless those hard hearts could not be conquered, in the previous year the Samnites had been slain in the Sentinate territory, among the Paelignians, at Tifernum, and in the Stellatian plains, by their own legions and mixed with foreign ones, by four armies and four Roman leaders; they had lost the most illustrious commander of their nation; they saw their allies in war, the Etruscans, Umbrians, and Gauls, in the same fortune in which they themselves were; they could no longer stand by either their own or foreign forces; yet they did not abstain from war: so much did they not regret a freedom defended even unsuccessfully, and they preferred to be conquered than not to try for victory.
§10.31.15quinam sit iIle, quem pigeat longinquitatis bellorum scribendo legendoque, quae gerentes non fatigaverunt?
Who indeed would be the one to be weary of the length of the wars in writing and reading them, which did not tire those who were waging them?