§3.4.1consules inde A. Postumius Albus, Sp. Furius Fusus.
Then Aulus Postumius Albus and Spurius Furius Fusus became consuls.
Furios Fusios scripsere quidam; id admoneo, ne quis inmutationem virorum ipsorum esse, quae nominum est, putet.
Some wrote "Furios" as "Fusios"; I point this out so that no one may think it is a change of the men themselves, which is only a change of names.
§3.4.2haud dubium erat, quin cum Aequis alter consulum bellum gereret.
There was no doubt that one of the consuls would wage war with the Aequi.
itaque Aequi ab Ecetranis Volscis praesidium petiere; quo cupide oblato — adeo civitates eae perpetuo in Romanos odio certavere — bellum summa vi parabatur.
Therefore, the Aequi sought aid from the Ecetran Volscians; since this was eagerly offered—so constantly did those states vie with each other in hatred against the Romans—war was prepared with the utmost force.
§3.4.3sentiunt Hernici et praedicunt Romanis Ecetranum ad Aequos descisse.
The Hernici perceived and warned the Romans that the Ecetrans had revolted to the Aequi.
suspecta et colonia Antium fuit, quod magna vis hominum inde, cum oppidum captum esset, confugisset ad Aequos; isque miles per bellum Aequicum vel acerrimus fuit.
The colony of Antium was also suspected because a great number of men had fled from there to the Aequi when the town was captured; and these soldiers were indeed the fiercest throughout the Aequian war.
§3.4.4conpulsis deinde in oppida Aequis ea multitudo dilapsa cum Antium redisset, sua sponte iam infidos colonos Romanis abalienavit.
Afterward, when the Aequi were driven into their towns and that multitude had dispersed and returned to Antium, they spontaneously alienated the colonists, who were already untrustworthy, from the Romans.
§3.4.5necdum matura re cum defectionem parari delatum ad senatum esset, datum negotium est consulibus, ut principibus coloniae Romam excitis quaererent, quid rei esset.
When the matter was not yet ripe, and the preparation for a rebellion was reported to the senate, the consuls were given the task of summoning the leading men of the colony to Rome to inquire what the matter was.
§3.4.6qui cum haud gravate venissent, introducti a consulibus ad senatum ita responderunt ad interrogata, ut magis suspecti quam venerant dimitterentur.
When they had come without reluctance, being introduced to the senate by the consuls, they answered the questions in such a way that they were dismissed more suspected than when they had come.
bellum inde haud dubium haberi.
Thenceforth, war was held as beyond doubt.
§3.4.7Sp. Furius, consulum alter, cui ea provincia evenerat, profectus in Aequos Hernicorum in agro populabundum hostem invenit ignarusque multitudinis, quia nusquam universa conspecta fuerat, inparem copiis exercitum temere pugnae commisit.
Spurius Furius, one of the consuls, to whom that province had fallen, set out against the Aequi and found the enemy plundering in the territory of the Hernici. Unaware of their numbers because they had nowhere been seen all together, he rashly committed his army, unequal in forces, to battle.
§3.4.8primo concursu pulsus se intra castra recepit.
Repulsed at the first onset, he withdrew inside his camp.
neque is finis periculi fuit; namque et proxima nocte et postero die tanta vi castra sunt circumsessa atque oppugnata, ut ne nuntius quidem inde mitti Romam posset.
Nor was that the end of the danger; for both the following night and the next day the camp was surrounded and attacked with such force that not even a messenger could be sent from there to Rome.
§3.4.9Hernici et male pugnatum et consulem exercitumque obsideri nuntiaverunt tantumque terrorem incussere patribus, ut, quae forma senatus consulti ultimae semper necessitatis habita est, Postumio, alteri consulum, negotium daretur, videret, ne quid res publica detrimenti caperet.
The Hernici reported both the defeat and that the consul and his army were besieged, and struck such terror into the senators that, by a decree of the senate in the form which was always held as of the ultimate necessity, the task was given to Postumius, the other consul, to see to it that the republic should receive no harm.
§3.4.10ipsum consulem Romae manere ad conscribendos omnes, qui arma ferre possent, optimum visum est; pro consule T. Quinctium subsidio castris cum sociali exercitu mitti; ad eum explendum Latini Hernicique §3.4.11et colonia Antium dare Quinctio subitarios milites — ita tum repentina auxilia appellabant — iussi.
It seemed best that the consul himself should remain in Rome to enroll all who could bear arms; and that Titus Quinctius should be sent as proconsul with an allied army to relieve the camp; to reinforce him, the Latins, the Hernici, and the colony of Antium were ordered to supply Quinctius with sudden levies—for so they then called emergency reinforcements.