§27.25.1de Tarentinis inde magna contentione in senatu actum coram Fabio, defendente ipso quos ceperat armis, aliis infensis et plerisque aequantibus eos Campanorum noxae poenaeque.
After that, there was a great dispute in the senate concerning the Tarentines in the presence of Fabius, who himself defended those whom he had taken by force of arms, while others were hostile, and most equated them with the guilt and punishment of the Campanians.
§27.25.2senatus consultum in sententiam M’. Acili factum est, ut oppidum praesidio custodiretur, Tarentinique omnes intra moenia continerentur, res integra postea referretur, cum tranquillior status Italiae esset.
A decree of the senate was passed in accordance with the opinion of Manius Acilius, that the town should be guarded by a garrison, and all the Tarentines kept within the walls, and that the matter should be referred back untouched at a later time when the state of Italy was more tranquil.
§27.25.3et de M. Livio praefecto arcis Tarentinae haud minore certamine actum est, aliis senatus consulto notantibus praefectum, quod eius socordia Tarentum proditum hosti esset, aliis praemia decernentibus, §27.25.4quod per quinquennium arcem tutatus esset, maximeque unius eius opera receptum Tarentum foret, §27.25.5mediis ad censores, non ad senatum notionem de eo pertinere dicentibus.
And concerning Marcus Livius, the prefect of the Tarentine citadel, there was a no less sharp dispute, some censuring the prefect by a decree of the senate because Tarentum had been betrayed to the enemy through his indolence, while others voted him rewards, because he had defended the citadel for five years, and especially because Tarentum had been recovered chiefly through his sole exertion, while those in the middle said that the inquiry concerning him belonged to the censors, not to the senate.
cuius sententiae et Fabius fuit; adiecit tamen fateri se opera Livi Tarentum receptum, quod amici eius vulgo in senatu iactassent: neque enim recipiundum fuisse, nisi amissum foret. §27.25.6consulum alter T. Quinctius Crispinus ad exercitum, quem Q. Fulvius Flaccus habuerat, cum supplemento in Lucanos est profectus.
Fabius also was of this opinion; however, he added that he confessed Tarentum had been recovered by the exertion of Livius, which his friends commonly boasted in the senate, "for," he said, "it would never have had to be recovered unless it had been lost." One of the consuls, Titus Quinctius Crispinus, set out for Lucania with reinforcements to join the army which Quintus Fulvius Flaccus had commanded.
§27.25.7Marcellum aliae atque aliae obiectae animo religiones tenebant, in quibus quod, cum bello Gallico ad Clastidium aedem Honori et Virtuti vovisset, §27.25.8dedicatio eius a pontificibus impediebatur, quod negabant unam cellam duobus diis recte dedicari, quia, si de caelo tacta aut prodigii aliquid in ea factum esset, difficilis procuratio foret, quod utri deo res divina fieret, sciri non posset: §27.25.9neque enim duobus nisi certis deis rite una hostia fieri.
Marcellus was held back by various religious scruples which presented themselves to his mind, among which was the fact that, having vowed a temple to Honour and Virtue at Clastidium during the Gallic war, its dedication was being prevented by the pontiffs, who denied that one cella could be properly dedicated to two deities, because, if it should be struck by lightning or if any portent should happen in it, the expiation would be difficult, since it could not be known to which god the sacrifice should be made; for they maintained that a single victim could not be properly offered to two deities unless they were certain specific gods.
ita addita Virtutis aedes adproperato opere; neque tamen ab ipso aedes eae dedicatae sunt.
Thus, a temple of Virtue was added, the work being hastened; nevertheless, those temples were not dedicated by him.
§27.25.10tum demum ad exercitum, quem priore anno Venusiae reliquerat, cum supplemento proficiscitur.
Then at last he set out with reinforcements for the army which he had left the year before at Venusia.
Locros in Bruttiis Crispinus oppugnare conatus, §27.25.11quia magnam famam attulisse Fabio Tarentum rebatur, omne genus tormentorum machinarumque ex Sicilia arcessierat; §27.25.12et naves indidem accitae erant, quae vergentem ad mare partem urbis oppugnarent.
Crispinus, attempting to besiege Locri in the land of the Bruttii, because he thought Tarentum had brought great glory to Fabius, had summoned every kind of artillery and engines from Sicily; and ships had been summoned from the same place to attack the part of the city that sloped toward the sea.
ea omissa oppugnatio est, quia Lacinium Hannibal admoverat copias, et conlegar eduxisse iam a Venusia exercitum fama erat, cui coniungi volebat.
That siege was abandoned because Hannibal had moved his forces to Lacinium, and there was a report that his colleague had already led his army from Venusia, whom he wished to join.
§27.25.13itaque in Apuliam ex Bruttiis reditum, et inter Venusiam Bantiamque minus trium milium passuum intervallo consules binis castris consederunt.
Therefore, they returned from the Bruttian territory to Apulia, and the consuls encamped in two separate camps between Venusia and Bantia, at a distance of less than three miles from each other.
§27.25.14in eandem regionem et Hannibal redit averso ab Locris bello.
Hannibal also returned to the same region, having turned his campaign away from Locri.
ibi consules ambo ingenio feroces prope cotidie in aciem exire haud dubia spe si duobus exercitibus consularibus iunctis commisisset sese hostis, debellari posse.
There, both consuls, bold by nature, marched out into line of battle almost daily, with the confident hope that if the enemy should engage with the two consular armies united, the war could be finished.