§27.29.1Crispinus postquam in Bruttios profectum Hannibalem sensit, exercitum, cui conlega praefuerat, M. Marcellum tribunum militum Venusiam abducere iussit;
Crispinus, after he perceived that Hannibal had set out for the territory of the Bruttii, ordered Marcus Marcellus, the military tribune, to lead the army, which his colleague had commanded, to Venusia.
§27.29.2ipse cum legionibus suis Capuam profectus, vix lecticae agitationem prae gravitate vulnerum patiens, Romam litteras de morte conlegae scripsit, quantoque ipse in discrimine esset: §27.29.3se comitiorum causa non posse Romam venire, quia nec viae laborem passurus videretur et de Tarento sollicitus esset, ne ex Bruttiis Hannibal eo converteret agmen; legatos opus esse ad se mitti, viros prudentes, cum quibus quae vellet de re publica loqueretur.
He himself, having set out for Capua with his legions, though scarcely able to endure the motion of the litter on account of the severity of his wounds, wrote a letter to Rome concerning the death of his colleague, and in how great danger he himself was: stating that he could not come to Rome for the elections, because he did not seem likely to endure the fatigue of the journey, and he was anxious about Tarentum, lest Hannibal should turn his army thither from the territory of the Bruttii; and that it was necessary that legates, men of prudence, should be sent to him, with whom he might confer on the affairs of the commonwealth as he wished.
§27.29.4hae litterae recitatae magnum et luctum morte alterius consulis et metum de altero fecerunt.
The reading of this letter caused both great grief for the death of the one consul and fear for the other.
itaque et Q. Fabium filium ad exercitum Venusiam miserunt, et ad consulem tres legati missi, Sex. Iulius Caesar, L. Licinius Pollio, L. Cincius Alimentus, cum paucis ante diebus ex Sicilia redisset.
Therefore they sent Quintus Fabius, the son, to the army at Venusia, and three legates were sent to the consul: Sextus Julius Caesar, Lucius Licinius Pollio, and Lucius Cincius Alimentus, though the latter had returned from Sicily only a few days before.
§27.29.5hi nuntiare consuli iussi, ut, si ad comitia ipse venire Romam non posset, dictatorem in agro Romano diceret comitiorum causa; §27.29.6si consul Tarentum profectus esset, Q. Claudium praetorem placere in eam regionem inde abducere legiones, in qua plurimas sociorum urbes tueri posset.
These were ordered to instruct the consul that, if he could not come to Rome himself for the elections, he should name a dictator for the purpose of the elections within the Roman territory; and that, if the consul had set out for Tarentum, it was resolved that Quintus Claudius, the praetor, should lead his legions from there into that region in which he could protect the greatest number of the cities of the allies.
§27.29.7eadem aestate M. Valerius cum classe centum navium ex Sicilia in Africam tramisit et ad Clupeam urbem escensione facta agrum late nullo ferme obvio armato vastavit.
In the same summer, Marcus Valerius crossed over from Sicily to Africa with a fleet of a hundred ships, and having made a landing near the city of Clupea, he ravaged the territory far and wide, almost without meeting any armed enemy.
inde ad naves raptim praedatores recepti, quia repente fama accidit classem Punicam adventare.
Then the plunderers were hastily recalled to the ships, because a rumor suddenly arrived that the Carthaginian fleet was approaching.
§27.29.8octoginta erant et tres naves.
There were eighty-three ships.
cum his haud procul Clupea prospere pugnat Romanus.
With these, not far from Clupea, the Roman fought successfully.
decem et octo navibus captis, fugatis aliis, cum magna terrestri navalique praeda Lilybaeum rediit.
Having captured eighteen ships and put the rest to flight, he returned to Lilybaeum with great plunder from both land and sea.
eadem aestate §27.29.9et Philippus implorantibus Achaeis auxilium tulit, quos et Machanidas tyrannus Lacedaemoniorum finitimo bello urebat, et Aetoli navibus per fretum, quod Naupactum et Patras interfluit — Rhion incolae vocant —, exercitu traiecto depopulati erant.
In the same summer, Philip also brought aid to the Achaeans, who implored his help, as they were hard pressed both by Machanidas, the tyrant of the Lacedaemonians, in a neighbouring war, and by the Aetolians, who had crossed the strait which flows between Naupactus and Patrae — the inhabitants call it Rhium — with an army in ships, and had laid waste their lands.
§27.29.10Attalum quoque regem Asiae quia Aetoli summum gentis suae magistratum ad eum proximo concilio detulerunt, fama erat in Europam traiecturum.
There was also a rumor that Attalus, the king of Asia, would cross over into Europe, because the Aetolians, at their last council, had conferred upon him the chief magistracy of their nation.