§3.61.1consul ex altera parte Romanos meminisse iubebat illo die primum liberos pro libera urbe Romana pugnare: sibimet ipsis victuros, non ut decemvirorum victores praemium essent. §3.61.2non Appio duce rem geri, sed consule Valerio ab liberatoribus populi Romani orto, liberatore ipso.
On the other side, the consul ordered the Romans to remember that on that day they were fighting for the first time as free men for a free Roman state: that they would conquer for themselves, not that they, as victors, should be a prize for the decemvirs. Things were not being conducted under the leadership of Appius, but under the consul Valerius, descended from the liberators of the Roman people, himself a liberator.
ostenderent prioribus proeliis per duces, non per milites stetisse, ne vincerent; §3.61.3turpe esse contra cives plus animi habuisse quam contra hostes et domi quam foris servitutem magis timuisse. §3.61.4unam Verginiam fuisse, cuius pudicitiae in pace periculum esset, unum Appium civem periculosae libidinis; at, si fortuna belli inclinet, omnium liberis ab tot milibus hostium periculum fore; §3.61.5nolle ominari, quae nec Iuppiter nec Mars pater passuri sint iis auspiciis conditae urbi accidere.
Let them show that in previous battles it had been owing to the leaders, not the soldiers, that they had not conquered; that it was shameful to have had more courage against citizens than against enemies, and to have feared slavery more at home than abroad. that there had been but one Verginia, whose chastity was in danger in time of peace, and but one citizen of dangerous lust, Appius; but, if the fortune of war should decline, danger would threaten the children of all from so many thousands of enemies; he was unwilling to forebode things which neither Jupiter nor father Mars would suffer to happen to a city founded under such auspices.
Aventini Sacrique montis admonebat, ut, ubi libertas parta esset paucis ante mensibus, eo imperium inlibatum referrent §3.61.6ostenderentque eandem indolem militibus Romanis post exactos decemviros esse, quae ante creatos fuerit, nec aequatis legibus inminutam virtutem populi Romani esse. §3.61.7haec ubi inter signa peditum dicta dedit, advolat deinde ad equites: “agite, iuvenes,” inquit, “praestate virtute peditem, ut honore atque ordine praestatis. §3.61.8primo concursu pedes movit hostem, pulsum vos inmissis equis exigite e campo.
He reminded them of the Aventine and the Sacred Mount, so that where liberty had been acquired a few months before, thither they might bring back their military power unimpaired, and show that the Roman soldiers possessed the same character after the expulsion of the decemvirs as they had before they were appointed, and that the courage of the Roman people had not been diminished by the equalization of the laws. When he had delivered these words among the standards of the infantry, he then galloped to the cavalry: "Come, young men," he said, "surpass the infantry in courage, as you surpass them in honor and rank. At the first onset, the infantry has shaken the enemy; do you, letting loose your horses, drive them, when beaten, from the field.
non sustinebunt impetum et nunc cunctantur magis quam resistunt. ” §3.61.9concitant equos permittuntque in hostem pedestri iam turbatum pugna et perruptis ordinibus elati ad novissimam aciem, pars libero spatio circumvecti iam fugam undique capessentes plerosque a castris avertunt praeterequitantesque absterrent. §3.61.10peditum acies et consul ipse visque omnis belli fertur in castra captisque cum ingenti caede maiore praeda potitur.
They will not withstand your charge, and even now they are hesitating rather than resisting." They spurred their horses and charged against the enemy, who were already thrown into confusion by the infantry fight; and having broken through their ranks, they advanced to the very rear line, while some, riding around through the open space, diverted the majority of those who were now fleeing in all directions from their camp, and riding past, terrified them. The line of infantry, the consul himself, and the whole force of the war rushed into the camp, and having captured it with immense slaughter, they gained an even greater booty.
huius pugnae fama, §3.61.11perlata non in urbem modo, sed in Sabinos ad alterum exercitum, in urbe laetitia celebrata est, in castris animos militum ad aemulandum decus accendit. §3.61.12iam Horatius eos excursionibus proeliisque levibus experiundo adsuefecerat sibi potius fidere quam meminisse ignominiae decemvirorum ductu acceptae; §3.61.13parvaque certamina in summam totius profecerant spei.
The fame of this battle, being carried not only into the city, but also to the other army among the Sabines, was celebrated with joy in the city, and in the camp it inflamed the minds of the soldiers to emulate the glory. Already Horatius, by trying them in skirmishes and light battles, had accustomed them to trust in themselves rather than to remember the ignominy received under the leadership of the decemvirs; and these small contests had contributed to the sum of their entire hope.
nec cessabant Sabini, feroces ab re priore anno bene gesta, lacessere atque instare rogitantes, quid latrocinii modo procursantes pauci recurrentesque tererent tempus et in multa proelia parvaque carperent summam unius belli? §3.61.14quin illi congrederentur acie inclinandamque semel fortunae rem darent?
Nor did the Sabines, fierce from their success in the previous year, cease to provoke and press them, repeatedly asking why they wasted time like bandits, a few rushing forward and running back, and why they frittered away the whole of a single war into many small battles? Why did they not engage in a regular battle and commit the issue once and for all to fortune?