§3.60.1consules rebus urbanis conpositis fundatoque plebis statu in provincias diversi abiere.
The consuls, having settled affairs in the city and established the status of the plebs, departed in different directions to their provinces.
Valerius adversus coniunctos iam in Algido exercitus Aequorum Volscorumque sustinuit consilio bellum; §3.60.2quod si extemplo rem fortunae commisisset, haud scio an, qui tum animi ab decemvirorum infelicibus auspiciis Romanis hostibusque erant, magno detrimento certamen staturum fuerit.
Valerius, against the forces of the Aequi and Volsci already united on Mount Algidus, sustained the war with caution; for if he had immediately committed the issue to fortune, I do not know whether, given the spirits which then possessed both the Romans and their enemies from the unlucky auspices of the decemvirs, the contest would have ended with great detriment.
castris mille passuum ab hoste positis copias continebat.
Having pitched his camp a mile from the enemy, he kept his troops within it.
§3.60.3hostes medium inter bina castra spatium acie instructa conplebant, provocantibusque ad proelium responsum Romanus nemo reddebat.
The enemy filled the space between the two camps with their line of battle drawn up, and to those who provoked them to battle, not a single Roman returned an answer.
§3.60.4tandem fatigati stando ac nequiquam expectando certamen Aequi Volscique, postquam concessum propemodum de victoria credebant, pars in Hernicos, pars in Latinos praedatum abeunt; relinquitur magis castris praesidium quam satis virium ad certamen.
At length, weary of standing and waiting in vain for a contest, the Aequi and Volsci, after they believed that victory was almost conceded to them, departed, some into the territory of the Hernici, others into that of the Latins, to plunder; there was left in the camp rather a guard than a force sufficient for a contest.
§3.60.5quod ubi consul sensit, reddit inlatum antea terrorem instructaque acie ultro hostem lacessit.
When the consul perceived this, he returned the terror previously inflicted, and having drawn up his line of battle, voluntarily provoked the enemy.
ubi illi conscientia, §3.60.6quid abesset virium, detractavere pugnam, crevit extemplo Romanis animus, et pro victis habebant paventes intra vallum.
When they, from a consciousness of what force was wanting, declined the battle, the spirit of the Romans immediately rose, and they regarded those trembling within their rampart as already conquered.
§3.60.7cum per totum diem stetissent intenti ad certamen, nocti cessere.
Having stood all day intent on the contest, they retired for the night.
et Romani quidem pleni spei corpora curabant; haudquaquam pari hostes animo nuntios passim trepidi ad revocandos praedatores dimittunt.
And the Romans indeed, full of hope, took refreshment; the enemy, by no means in a similar state of mind, anxiously dispatched messengers in all directions to recall the plunderers.
recurritur ex proximis locis; ulteriores non inventi.
Those from the nearest places ran back; the more distant were not found.
§3.60.8ubi inluxit, egreditur castris Romanus vallum invasurus, ni copia pugnae fieret.
At dawn, the Roman marched out of the camp, intending to attack the rampart unless an opportunity for battle was offered.
et postquam multa iam dies erat neque movebatur quicquam ab hoste, iubet signa inferri consul; motaque acie indignatio Aequos et Volscos incessit, si victores exercitus vallum potius quam virtus et arma tegerent.
And after it was now late in the day and nothing was moved by the enemy, the consul ordered the standards to advance; and when the line of battle was moved, indignation seized the Aequi and Volsci, to think that a victorious army should be protected by a rampart rather than by courage and arms.
igitur et ipsi efflagitatum ab ducibus signum pugnae accepere.
Therefore, they too received the signal for battle, which they had eagerly demanded from their leaders.
§3.60.9iamque pars egressa portis erat, deincepsque alii servabant ordinem in suum quisque locum descendentes, cum consul Romanus, priusquam totis viribus fulta constaret hostium acies, intulit signa; §3.60.10adortusque nec omnes dum eductos nec, qui erant, satis explicatis ordinibus, prope fluctuantem turbam trepidantium huc atque illuc circumspectantiumque se ac suos addito turbatis mentibus clamore atque impetu invadit.
And now a part had gone out of the gates, and others in succession were keeping their order, descending each to his own place, when the Roman consul, before the enemy's line of battle could stand supported by their whole strength, advanced his standards; and having attacked them when not all were yet led out, and those who were had not sufficiently deployed their ranks, he invaded what was almost a fluctuating crowd of men trembling hither and thither and looking around at themselves and their comrades, adding a shout and a charge to their troubled minds.
§3.60.11rettulere primo pedem hostes; deinde, cum animos collegissent et undique duces, victisne cessuri essent, increparent, restituitur pugna.
At first, the enemy retreated; then, when they had collected their courage, and their leaders on all sides reproached them, asking if they were going to yield to the vanquished, the battle was restored.