§25.20.1Capua a consulibus iterum summa vi obsideri coepta est, quaeque in eam rem opus erant comportabantur parabanturque.
Capua began to be besieged again by the consuls with the greatest force, and those things which were necessary for that purpose were being gathered and prepared.
§25.20.2Casilinum frumentum convectum; ad Volturni ostium, ubi nunc urbs est, castellum communitum in eoque et Puteolis — triennio ante Fabius Maximus munierat — praesidium impositum, ut mare proximum §25.20.3et flumen in potestate essent.
Grain was conveyed to Casilinum; at the mouth of the Volturnus, where there is now a city, a fort was constructed, and a garrison was placed in it and at Puteoli — Fabius Maximus had fortified Puteoli three years before — so that the neighboring sea and the river might be under their control.
in ea duo maritima castella frumentum, quod ex Sardinia nuper missum erat quodque M. Iunius praetor ex Etruria eoemerat, ab Ostia convectum est, ut exercitui per hiemem copia esset.
Into those two maritime forts, grain which had recently been sent from Sardinia and which the praetor Marcus Junius had purchased from Etruria was conveyed from Ostia, so that there might be an abundance for the army through the winter.
§25.20.4ceterum super eam cladem, quae in Lucanis accepta erat, volonum quoque exercitus, qui vivo Graccho summa fide stipendia fecerat, velut exauctoratus morte ducis ab signis discessit.
But besides that disaster which had been sustained among the Lucanians, the army of the volunteer slaves also, which had served with the greatest loyalty while Gracchus was alive, departed from the standards as if discharged by the death of their leader.
§25.20.5Hannibal non Capuam neglectam neque in tanto discrimine desertos volebat socios; sed prospero ex temeritate unius Romani ducis successu in alterius ducis exercitusque opprimendi occasionem imminebat.
Hannibal did not want Capua to be neglected, nor his allies to be abandoned in so great a crisis; but, encouraged by the successful issue arising from the rashness of one Roman general, he was intent upon an opportunity to crush another general and his army.
§25.20.6Cn. Fulvium praetorem Apuli legati nuntiabant primo, dum urbes quasdam Apulorum, quae ad Hannibalem descivissent, oppugnaret, intentius rem egisse; postea nimio successu et ipsum et milites praeda impletos in tantam licentiam socordiamque effusos, ut nulla disciplina militiae esset.
Envoys from Apulia reported that the praetor Gnaeus Fulvius at first, while he was besieging certain cities of the Apulians which had revolted to Hannibal, had conducted his operations with considerable diligence; but afterwards, enriched with booty due to excessive success, both he himself and his soldiers had lapsed into such licentiousness and indolence that there was no military discipline.
§25.20.7cum saepe alias, tum paucis diebus ante expertus, qualis sub inscio duce exercitus esset, in Apuliam castra movit.
Having experienced what kind of army it was under an inexperienced leader, as on many other occasions, so especially a few days before, he moved his camp into Apulia.