§3.42.1nihilo militiae quam domi melius res publica administrata est. §3.42.2illa modo in ducibus culpa, quod, ut odio essent civibus, fecerant; alia omnis penes milites noxia erat, qui, ne quid ductu atque auspicio decemvirorum prospere usquam gereretur, vinci se per suum atque illorum dedecus patiebantur. §3.42.3fusi et ab Sabinis ad Eretum et in Algido ab Aequis exercitus erant.
The republic was administered no better in war than at home. In the leaders there was only this fault, that they had acted so as to be hated by the citizens; all other guilt lay with the soldiers, who, lest anything should be conducted successfully anywhere under the leadership and auspices of the decemvirs, allowed themselves to be defeated to their own and their leaders' disgrace. The armies were routed both by the Sabines at Eretum and by the Aequi in Algidus.
ab Ereto per silentium noctis profugi propius urbem inter Fidenas Crustumeriamque loco edito castra communierant; §3.42.4persecutis hostibus nusquam se aequo certamine committentes natura loci ac vallo, non virtute aut armis tutabantur. §3.42.5maius flagitium in Algido, maior etiam clades accepta; castra quoque amissa erant, exutusque omnibus utensilibus miles Tusculum se, fide misericordiaque victurus hospitum, quae tamen non fefellerunt, contulerat. §3.42.6Romam tanti erant terrores allati, ut posito iam decemvirali odio patres vigilias in urbe habendas censerent, omnes, qui per aetatem arma ferre possent, custodire moenia ac pro portis stationes agere iuberent, §3.42.7arma Tusculum ac supplementum decernerent decemvirosque ab arce Tusculi degressos in castris militem habere; castra alia a Fidenis in Sabinum agrum transferri belloque ultro inferendo deterreri hostes a consilio urbis oppugnandae.
Having fled from Eretum in the silence of the night, they fortified a camp nearer the city, on an elevated spot between Fidenae and Crustumeria; and as the enemy pursued, never committing themselves to a fair fight, they protected themselves by the nature of the place and a rampart, not by valor or arms. A greater disgrace in Algidus, and an even greater defeat was sustained; the camp also was lost, and the soldiers, stripped of all their equipment, had betaken themselves to Tusculum, intending to live on the good faith and compassion of their hosts, which, however, did not fail them. Such great terrors were brought to Rome that the senators, now laying aside their hatred of the decemvirs, voted that watches should be kept in the city, and ordered all who were of an age to bear arms to guard the walls and keep watch before the gates, and decreed that arms and reinforcements should be sent to Tusculum, and that the decemvirs, descending from the citadel of Tusculum, should keep their soldiers in camp; that the other camp should be transferred from Fidenae into the Sabine territory, and that the enemy should be deterred from their plan of attacking the city by actively carrying the war to them.