§27.11.1prodigia quoque, priusquam ab urbe consules proficiscerentur, procurari placuit.
It was also resolved that the prodigies, before the consuls set out from the city, should be expiated.
§27.11.2in Albano monte tacta de caelo erant signum Iovis arborque templo propinqua et ostium lacus, et Capuae murus Fortunaeque aedis, et Sinuessae murus portaque: haec de caelo tacta.
On the Alban Mount, a statue of Jupiter, a tree near the temple, and the mouth of the lake were struck by lightning; and at Capua, the wall and the temple of Fortuna; and at Sinuessa, the wall and the gate: these were struck by lightning.
§27.11.3cruentam etiam fluxisse aquam Albanam quidam auctores erant; et Romae intus in cella Fortis Fortunae de capite signum, quod in corona erat, manum sponte sua prolapsum; §27.11.4et Priverni satis constabat bovem locutum, volturiumque frequenti foro in tabernam devolasse, et Sinuessae natum ambiguo inter marem ac feminam sexu infantem, quos androgynos volgus, §27.11.5ut pleraque, faciliore ad duplicanda verba Graeco sermone, appellat, et lacte pluvisse, et cum elephanti capite puerum natum.
Some writers also stated that the Alban water flowed with blood; and at Rome, inside the inner shrine of Fors Fortuna, a hand slipped of its own accord from the head of a statue which was in a crown; and at Privernum, it was well established that an ox had spoken, and that a vulture had flown down into a shop in a crowded forum, and at Sinuessa, an infant of ambiguous sex between male and female was born, whom the common people call “androgyni”, as they do most things, the Greek language being more easy for compounding words, and that it had rained milk, and that a boy with an elephant’s head had been born.
§27.11.6ea prodigia hostiis maioribus procurata, et supplicatio circa omnia pulvinaria et obsecratio in unum diem indicta; et decretum, ut C. Hostilius praetor ludos Apollini, sicut iis annis voti factique erant, voveret faceretque.
These prodigies were expiated with full-grown victims, and a supplication around all the couches of the gods and a prayer were appointed for one day; and it was decreed that Gaius Hostilius the praetor should vow and celebrate the games to Apollo, just as they had been vowed and celebrated in those years.
per eos dies §27.11.7et censoribus creandis Q. Fulvius consul comitia habuit.
During those days the consul Quintus Fulvius also held the assembly for electing censors.
creati censores, ambo qui nondum consules fuerant, M. Cornelius Cethegus, P. Sempronius Tuditanus.
The censors elected were Marcus Cornelius Cethegus and Publius Sempronius Tuditanus, both of whom had not yet been consuls.
§27.11.8ii censores ut agrum Campanum fruendum locarent, ex auctoritate patrum latum plebem est, plebesque scivit.
In order that these censors might lease the Campanian land to be cultivated, a bill was proposed to the plebeians on the authority of the senators, and the plebeians approved it.
§27.11.9senatus lectionem contentio inter censores de principe legendo tenuit.
The revision of the senate roll was delayed by a dispute between the censors about choosing the leader of the senate.
Semproni lectio erat; ceterum Cornelius morem traditum a patribus sequendum aiebat, §27.11.10ut qui primus censor ex iis, qui viverent, fuisset, eum principem legerent: is T. Manlius Torquatus erat; §27.11.11Sempronius, cui di sortem legendi dedissent, ei ius liberum eosdem dedisse deos; se id suo arbitrio facturum lecturumque Q. Fabium Maximum, quem tum principem Romanae civitatis esse vel Hannibale iudice victurus esset.
The choice belonged to Sempronius; but Cornelius said that they ought to follow the custom handed down from their ancestors, which was that they should choose as leader him who had been the first censor among those who were living; that was Titus Manlius Torquatus; Sempronius argued that to whom the gods had given the lot of choosing, to him the same gods had given free right; that he would act by his own judgment and would choose Quintus Fabius Maximus, whom he would prove to be the leader of the Roman state even in the judgment of Hannibal.
§27.11.12cum diu certatum verbis esset, concedente conlega lectus a Sempronio princeps in senatu Q. Fabius Maximus consul.
After there had been a long dispute in words, his colleague yielding, Quintus Fabius Maximus, the consul, was chosen leader in the senate by Sempronius.
inde alius lectus senatus octo praeteritis, inter quos M. Caecilius Metellus erat, infamis auctor deserendae Italiae post Cannensem cladem.
Then the rest of the senate was chosen, eight being passed over, among whom was Marcus Caecilius Metellus, the infamous author of the plan to abandon Italy after the disaster of Cannae.
§27.11.13in equestribus quoque notis eadem servata causa; sed erant perpauci, quos ea infamia attingeret.
In the equestrian review also, the same standard was maintained; but there were very few whom that disgrace touched.
§27.11.14illis omnibus — et multi erant — adempti equi, qui Cannensium legionum equites in Sicilia erant.
From all those—and they were many—who had been knights of the Cannae legions in Sicily, their public horses were taken away.
addiderunt acerbitati etiam tempus, ne praeterita stipendia procederent iis, quae equo publico meruerant, sed dena stipendia equis privatis facerent.
They also added severity to the time, so that the past campaigns which they had served with a public horse should not count for them, but they should serve ten campaigns with their own private horses.
§27.11.15magnum praeterea numerum eorum conquisiverunt, qui equo merere deberent; atque ex iis, qui principio eius belli septemdecim annos nati fuerant neque militaverant, omnes aerarios fecerunt.
They also searched out a great number of those who ought to serve on horseback; and all those who, at the beginning of that war, had been seventeen years old and had not served, they made disenfranchised citizens.
§27.11.16locaverunt inde reficienda, quae circa forum incendio consumpta erant, septem tabernas, macellum, atrium regium.
They then leased out for rebuilding those places around the forum which had been consumed by fire, namely seven shops, the provision market, and the Atrium Regium.