§27.51.1ipsos deinde adpropinquare legatos adlatum est.
Then it was reported that the legates themselves were approaching.
tunc enim vero omnis aetas currere obvii, primus quisque oculis auribusque haurire tantum gaudium cupientes.
Then indeed every age ran to meet them, each foremost desiring to drink in such great joy with eyes and ears.
§27.51.2ad Mulvium usque pontem continens agmen pervenit.
A continuous column of people reached all the way to the Mulvian bridge.
§27.51.3legati — ii erant L. Veturius Philo P. Licinius Varus Q. Caecilius Metellus — circumfusi omnis generis hominum frequentia in forum pervenerunt, cum alii ipsos, alii comites eorum, quae acta essent, percunctarentur.
The legates — they were Lucius Veturius Philo, Publius Licinius Varus, and Quintus Caecilius Metellus — surrounded by a crowd of people of every kind, arrived in the forum, while some questioned them, others their companions, as to what had been done.
§27.51.4et ut quisque audierat exercitum hostium imperatoremque occisum, legiones Romanas incolumes, salvos consules esse, extemplo aliis porro impertiebant gaudium suum.
And as each one had heard that the army of the enemy and their general had been slain, that the Roman legions were safe, and the consuls unharmed, they immediately imparted their joy further to others.
§27.51.5cum aegre in curiam perventum esset, multo aegrius summota turba, ne patribus misceretur, litterae in senatu recitatae sunt.
Although they reached the senate-house with difficulty, and the crowd was cleared away with much greater difficulty so that it might not mix with the senators, the letter was read in the senate.
inde traducti in contionem legati.
From there, the legates were led to the assembly.
§27.51.6L. Veturius litteris recitatis ipse planius omnia, quae acta erant, exposuit cum ingenti adsensu, postremo etiam clamore universae contionis, cum vi gaudium animis caperent.
Lucius Veturius, after the letter was read, himself explained all that had been done more clearly, with immense approval and finally even with shouts from the entire assembly, as they received the joy in their minds with great force.
§27.51.7discursum inde ab aliis circa templa deum, ut grates agerent, ab aliis domos, coniugibus liberisque tam laetum nuntium impertirent senatus,
From there, some dispersed around the temples of the gods to offer thanks, others to their homes to impart such glad news to their wives and children.
§27.51.8quod M. Livius et C. Claudius consules incolumi exercitu ducem hostium legionesque occidissent, supplicationem in triduum decrevit.
The senate, because the consuls Marcus Livius and Gaius Claudius, with their army safe, had slain the leader and the legions of the enemy, decreed a thanksgiving for three days.
eam supplicationem C. Hostilius praetor pro contione edixit, celebrataque a viris feminisque est; §27.51.9omniaque templa per totum triduum aequalem turbam habuere, cum matronae amplissima veste cum liberis, perinde ac si debellatum foret, omni solutae metu deis immortalibus grates agerent.
This thanksgiving the praetor Gaius Hostilius proclaimed before the assembly, and it was celebrated by men and women; and all the temples for the entire three days had an equal crowd, while the matrons in their most splendid attire, with their children, just as if the war had been brought to an end, freed from all fear, offered thanks to the immortal gods.
§27.51.10statum quoque civitatis ea victoria movit, ut iam inde haud secus quam in pace res inter se contrahere vendendo, emendo, mutuum dando argentum creditumque solvendo auderent.
This victory also moved the state of the commonwealth so that from then on, no otherwise than in peace, they dared to contract transactions among themselves by selling, buying, lending, and paying debt.
§27.51.11C. Claudius consul cum in castra redisset caput Hasdrubalis, quod servatum cum cura attulerat, proici ante hostium stationes captivosque Afros vinctos, ut erant, ostendi, duos etiam ex iis solutos ire ad Hannibalem et expromere, quae acta essent, iussit.
When the consul Gaius Claudius had returned to the camp, he ordered the head of Hasdrubal, which he had kept with care and brought with him, to be thrown before the enemy's outposts, and the African captives to be shown bound as they were, and also two of them to be released and go to Hannibal to set forth what had been done.
§27.51.12Hannibal, tanto simul publico familiarique ictus luctu, agnoscere se fortunam Carthaginis fertur dixisse; §27.51.13castrisque inde motis, ut omnia auxilia, quae diffusa latius tueri non poterat, in extremum Italiae angulum Bruttios eontraheret, et Metapontinos, civitatem universam, excitos sedibus suis, et Lucanorum qui suae dicionis erant in Bruttium agrum traduxit.
Hannibal, struck at once by so great a public and private grief, is said to have declared that he recognized the fortune of Carthage; and having moved his camp from there, in order to collect into the furthest corner of Italy, among the Bruttians, all the auxiliaries which, being too widely scattered, he could not protect, he removed the Metapontines, their entire state, summoned from their homes, and those of the Lucanians who were under his dominion, into the Bruttian territory.