§22.7.1haec est nobilis ad Trasumennum pugna atque inter paucas memorata populi Romani clades.
This is the famous battle at Trasumennus, and recorded among the few defeats of the Roman people.
quindecim milia Romanorum in acie caesa; §22.7.2decem. milia sparsa fuga per omnem Etruriam diversis itineribus urbem petiere; §22.7.3duo milia quingenti hostium in acie, multi postea ex vulneribus periere.
Fifteen thousand Romans were slain in the line of battle; ten thousand, scattered in flight through all Etruria by various routes, made for the City; two thousand five hundred of the enemy perished in the battle, and many afterwards of their wounds.
multiplex caedes utrimque facta traditur ab aliis; §22.7.4ego, praeterquam quod nihil auctum ex vano velim, quo nimis inclinant ferme scribentium animi, Fabium, aequalem temporibus huiusce belli, potissimum auctorem habui.
A manifold slaughter on both sides is reported by others; for my part, besides that I would wish nothing to be exaggerated from falsehood, to which the minds of writers generally incline too much, I have held Fabius, a contemporary with the times of this very war, as my chief authority.
§22.7.5Hannibal captivorum qui Latii nominis essent sine pretio dimissis, Romanis in vincula datis, segregata ex hostium coacervatorum cumulis corpora suorum cum sepeliri iussisset, Flamini quoque corpus funeris causa magna cum cura inquisitum non invenit.
Hannibal, having dismissed without ransom those of the captives who were of the Latin name, and having put the Romans into chains, when he had ordered the bodies of his own men to be separated from the heaps of the piled-up enemy and to be buried, also sought for the body of Flaminius with great care for the purpose of burial, but did not find it.
§22.7.6Romae ad primum nuntium cladis eius cum ingenti terrore ac tumultu concursus in forum populi est factus.
At Rome, upon the first news of this defeat, a rush of the people into the forum was made with immense terror and tumult.
§22.7.7matronae vagae per vias quae repens clades adlata quaeve fortuna exercitus esset, obvios percunctantur.
Matrons, wandering through the streets, inquired of those they met what sudden calamity had been reported, or what was the fortune of the army.
et cum frequentis contionis modo turba in comitium et curiam versa magistratus vocaret, tandem haud multo ante solis occasum M. Pomponius praetor §22.7.8“pugna” inquit “magna victi sumus. ” et quamquam nihil certius ex eo auditum est, tamen alius ab alio impleti rumoribus domos referunt consulem cum magna parte copiarum caesum, §22.7.9superesse paucos aut fuga passim per Etruriam sparsos aut captos ab hoste.
And when the crowd, turned toward the comitium and the senate-house in the manner of a crowded assembly, was calling for the magistrates, at length, not much before sunset, Marcus Pomponius, the praetor, said: "We have been defeated in a great battle." And although nothing more certain was heard from him, yet, filled with rumors one from another, they carried home the news that the consul had been slain with a great part of his forces; that a few survived, either scattered in flight everywhere through Etruria or captured by the enemy.
§22.7.10quot casus exercitus uicti ruerant, tot in curas abstracti animi eorum erant, quorum propinqui sub C. Flaminio consule neruerant, ignorantium, quae cuiusque suorum fortuna esset; nec quisquam satis certum habet, quid aut speret aut timeat.
As many as were the disasters that had fallen upon the defeated army, into so many anxieties were distracted the minds of those whose relatives had served under Gaius Flaminius the consul, ignorant of what was the fortune of each of their own; nor did anyone hold with sufficient certainty what either to hope or to fear.
§22.7.11postero ac deinceps aliquot diebus ad portas maior prope mulierum quam virorum multitudo stetit aut suorum aliquem aut nuntios de iis opperiens, circumfundebanturque obviis sciscitantes neque avelli, utique ab notis, priusquam ordine omnia inquisissent, poterant.
On the next day and for several days thereafter, a crowd, almost larger of women than of men, stood at the gates, waiting either for some of their relatives or for news of them; and they surrounded those they met, questioning them, nor could they be torn away, especially from acquaintances, until they had inquired into everything in order.
§22.7.12inde varios vultus digredientium ab nuntiis cerneres, ut cuique laeta aut tristia nuntiabantur, gratulantisque aut consolantis redeuntibus domos circumfusos.
Then you might have seen the varying countenances of those departing from the messengers, according as joyful or sad news was announced to each, and those surrounding them either congratulating or comforting them as they returned home.
feminarum praecipue et gaudia insignia erant et luctus.
The joys and griefs of the women especially were conspicuous.
§22.7.13unam in ipsa porta sospiti filio repente oblatam in complexu eius expirasse ferunt; alteram, cui mors fili falso nuntiata erat, maestam sedentem domi ad primum conspectum redeuntis gaudio nimio exanimatam.
They say that one, suddenly meeting her safe son at the very gate, expired in his embrace; another, to whom the death of her son had been falsely reported, sitting sorrowful at home, at the first sight of him returning was deprived of life by excessive joy.
§22.7.14senatum praetores per dies aliquot ab orto usque ad occidentem solem in curia retinent consultantes, quonam duce aut quibus copiis resisti victoribus Poenis posset.
The praetors kept the senate in the senate-house for several days, from sunrise to sunset, deliberating under what leader or with what forces they could resist the victorious Carthaginians.