§10.36.1in medium sarcinas coniciunt; armati suis quisque ordinibus instruunt aciem.
They threw their baggage into the center; those who were armed drew up the battle line, each in his own rank.
§10.36.2iam exiguum inter duas acies erat spatium, et stabant expectantes, dum ab hostibus prius impetus, prius clamor inciperet.
Already there was a tiny space between the two battle lines, and they stood waiting for the charge, for the shout to begin first from the enemy.
neutris animus est ad pugnandum, §10.36.3diversique integri atque intacti abissent, ni cedenti instaturum alterum timuissent.
Neither side had the heart to fight, and they would have departed in opposite directions, unharmed and untouched, had they not feared that the one would press upon the other if they yielded.
sua sponte inter invitos tergiversantisque segnis pugna clamore incerto atque inpari coepit; nec vestigio quisquam movebatur.
Spontaneously, among the unwilling and hesitating, a sluggish fight began with an uncertain and unequal shout; nor did anyone budge from his spot.
§10.36.4tum consul Romanus, ut rem excitaret, equitum paucas turmas extra ordinem inmisit; quorum cum plerique delapsi ex equis essent et alii turbati, et a Samnitium acie ad opprimendos eos, qui ceciderant, et ad suos tuendos ab Romanis procursum est.
Then the Roman consul, to stir up the action, sent in a few squadrons of cavalry out of order; when most of them had fallen from their horses and others were thrown into confusion, a charge was made both from the Samnite line to overwhelm those who had fallen and from the Romans to protect their own.
§10.36.5inde paulum inritata pugna est; sed aliquanto et inpigre magis et plures procurrerant Samnites, et turbatus eques sua ipse subsidia territis equis proculcavit.
From this, the fight was slightly provoked; but the Samnites had run forward in somewhat greater numbers and with more vigor, and the disordered cavalry, with their terrified horses, trampled their own reserves.
§10.36.6hinc fuga coepta totam avertit aciem Romanam; iamque in terga fugientium Samnites pugnabant, cum consul equo praevectus ad portam castrorum ac statione equitum ibi opposita edictoque, §10.36.7ut, quicumque ad vallum tenderet, sive ille Romanus sive Samnis esset, pro hoste haberetur, haec ipse minitans obstitit effuse tendentibus suis in castra.
From here, a flight began which turned back the whole Roman line; and now the Samnites were fighting against the backs of the fugitives, when the consul, riding ahead to the gate of the camp and posting a guard of cavalry there, decreed that whoever should head for the rampart, whether Roman or Samnite, should be treated as an enemy; making these threats himself, he blocked his own men who were heading in disorder toward the camp.
§10.36.8“quo pergis” inquit, “miles? et hic arma et viros invenies nec vivo consule tuo nisi victor castra intrabis; proinde elige, cum cive an hoste pugnare malis. ” §10.36.9haec dicente consule equites infestis cuspidibus circumfunduntur ac peditem in pugnam redire iubent.
"Whither are you going, soldier?" he said. "Here too you will find arms and men, nor while your consul lives shall you enter the camp unless as a victor; therefore choose whether you prefer to fight with a fellow citizen or an enemy." As the consul was saying this, the cavalry surrounded them with lowered spears and ordered the infantry to return to the battle.
non virtus solum consulem sed fors etiam adiuvit, quod non institerunt Samnites spatiumque circumagendi signa vertendique aciem a castris in hostem fuit.
Not only courage but also fortune aided the consul, because the Samnites did not press on, and there was room to wheel the standards and turn the line from the camp against the enemy.
§10.36.10tum alii alios hortari, ut repeterent pugnam; centuriones ab signiferis rapta signa inferre et ostendere suis paucos et ordinibus inconpositis effuse venire hostes.
Then they encouraged one another to renew the battle; the centurions, seizing the standards from the standard-bearers, carried them forward and showed their men that the enemy was few and coming on in disorder and scattered.
§10.36.11inter haec consul manus ad caelum attollens voce clara, ita ut exaudiretur, templum Iovi Statori vovet, si constitisset a fuga Romana acies redintegratoque proelio cecidisset vicissetque legiones Samnitium.
Meanwhile, the consul, lifting his hands to heaven, vowed with a clear voice, so that he might be heard, a temple to Jupiter Stator, if the Roman line should stand firm from flight, and, the battle being renewed, should slay and conquer the legions of the Samnites.
§10.36.12omnes undique adnisi ad restituendam pugnam, duces milites, peditum equitumque vis.
Everyone on all sides strove to restore the battle—leaders, soldiers, the force of infantry and cavalry.
numen etiam deorum respexisse nomen Romanum visum; adeo facile inclinata res repulsique a castris hostes, mox etiam redacti ad eum locum, in quo commissa pugna erat.
Even the power of the gods seemed to have looked back upon the Roman name; so easily was the situation turned and the enemy repulsed from the camp, and soon even driven back to that place where the battle had been joined.
§10.36.13ibi obiacente sarcinarum cumulo, quas coniecerant in medium, haesere inpediti; deinde, ne diriperentur res, orbem armatorum sarcinis circumdant.
There, because the pile of baggage which they had thrown into the center lay in the way, they were entangled and stuck; then, lest their property be plundered, they surrounded the baggage with a circle of armed men.
§10.36.14tum vero eos a fronte urgere pedites, ab tergo circumvecti equites; ita in medio caesi captique.
Then indeed the infantry pressed them from the front, and the cavalry, riding around, from the rear; thus they were slain and captured in the middle.
captivorum numerus fuit septem milium octingentorum, qui omnes nudi sub iugum missi; §10.36.15caesos rettulere ad quattuor milia octingentos.
The number of captives was seven thousand eight hundred, all of whom were sent under the yoke naked; they reported the slain to be up to four thousand eight hundred.
ne Romanis quidem laeta victoria fuit; recensente consule biduo acceptam cladem amissorum militum numerus relatus septem milium octingentorum.
Not even to the Romans was the victory joyful; when the consul surveyed the disaster suffered over the two days, the number of lost soldiers was reported as seven thousand eight hundred.
dum haec in Apulia gerebantur, §10.36.16altero exercitu Samnites Interamnam, coloniam Romanam, quae ad viam Latinam est, occupare conati urbem non tenuerunt; §10.36.17agros depopulati, cum praedam aliam inde mixtam hominum atque pecudum colonosque captos agerent, in victorem incidunt consulem ab Luceria redeuntem; nec praedam solum amittunt, sed ipsi longo atque inpedito agmine inconpositi caeduntur.
While these things were being done in Apulia, the Samnites, with their other army, attempted to seize Interamna, a Roman colony which is on the Via Latina, but did not hold the city; having ravaged the lands, while they were driving away other mixed booty of men and beasts from there and the captured colonists, they fell in with the victorious consul returning from Luceria; and they not only lost their booty, but they themselves, in a long and encumbered column, were cut down in disorder.
§10.36.18consul Interamnam edicto dominis ad res suas noscendas recipiendasque evocatis et exercitu ibi relicto comitiorum causa Romam est profectus.
The consul, having summoned the owners to Interamna by an edict to identify and receive their property, and having left the army there, set out for Rome for the sake of the elections.
§10.36.19cui de triumpho agenti negatus honos et ob amissa tot milia militum et quod captivos sine pactione sub iugum misisset.
To him, when he was negotiating for a triumph, the honor was denied, both on account of so many thousands of lost soldiers, and because he had sent the captives send under the yoke without a treaty.