§34.46.1in Gallia L. Valerius Flaccus proconsul circa Mediolanium cum Gallis Insubribus et Bois, qui Dorulato duce ad concitandos Insubres Padum transgressi erant, signis collatis depugnavit.
In Gaul, the proconsul Lucius Valerius Flaccus fought a pitched battle near Mediolanum with the Insubrian and Boian Gauls, who, under the leadership of Dorulatus, had crossed the Po to incite the Insubrians.
decem milia, §34.46.2hostium sunt caesa.
Ten thousand of the enemy were slain.
per eos dies collega eius M. Porcius Cato ex Hispania triumphavit.
During those days, his colleague Marcus Porcius Cato celebrated a triumph from Hispania.
tulit in eo triumpho argenti infecti viginti quinque milia pondo, bigati centum viginti tria milia, Oscensis quingenta quadraginta, auri pondo mille quadringenta.
In that triumph he carried twenty-five thousand pounds of bullion silver, one hundred and twenty-three thousand bigati, five hundred and forty thousand Oscenses, and fourteen hundred pounds of gold.
§34.46.3militibus ex praeda divisit in singulos ducenos septuagenos aeris, triplex equiti.
From the booty, he distributed to each soldier two hundred and seventy asses, and three times that amount to each cavalryman.
§34.46.4Ti. Sempronius consul in provinciam profectus in Boiorum primum agrum legiones duxit.
The consul Tiberius Sempronius, having set out for his province, led his legions first into the territory of the Boii.
Boiorix tum regulus eorum cum duobus fratribus tota gente concitata ad rebellandum castra locis apertis posuit, ut appareret dimicaturos, si hostis finis intrasset.
Boiorix, then their regulus, with his two brothers, having incited the whole nation to rebel, pitched camp in an open area, so that it might be clear they would fight if the enemy entered their territory.
§34.46.5consul ubi, quantae copiae, quanta fiducia esset hosti, sensit, nuntium ad collegam mittit, ut, si videretur ei, maturaret venire: se tergiversando in adventum eius rem extracturum.
When the consul perceived how great the enemy's forces and confidence were, he sent a messenger to his colleague, asking him, if it seemed good to him, to hasten his arrival; he himself, by playing for time, would spin out the affair until his arrival.
§34.46.6quae causa consuli cunctandi, eadem Gallis, praeterquam quod cunctatio hostium animos faciebat, rei maturandae erat, ut, priusquam coniungerentur consulum copiae, rem transigerent.
What was a reason for the consul to delay was the very same reason for the Gauls to hasten the business—especially as the enemy's delay gave them courage—so that they might settle the matter before the forces of the consuls should unite.
§34.46.7per biduum tamen nihil aliud quam steterunt parati ad pugnandum, si quis contra egrederetur; tertio subiere ad vallum castraque simul ab omni parte adgressi sunt.
For two days, however, they did nothing but stand ready to fight if anyone should come out against them; on the third day, they advanced to the rampart and attacked the camp on all sides at once.
§34.46.8consul arma extemplo capere milites iussit; armatos inde paulisper continuit, ut et stolidam fiduciam hosti augeret et disponeret copias, quibus quaeque portis erumperent.
The consul immediately ordered his soldiers to take up arms; he then held them back, though armed, for a short time, both to increase the foolish confidence of the enemy and to arrange his forces as to which gates each should sally from.
§34.46.9duae legiones duabus principalibus portis signa efferre iussae.
Two legions were ordered to advance their standards through the two principal gates.
§34.46.10sed in ipso exitu ita conferti obstitere Galli, ut clauderent viam.
But at the very exit, the Gauls blocked the way in such dense masses that they closed the passage.
diu in angustiis pugnatum est; nec dextris magis gladiisque gerebatur res, quam scutis corporibusque ipsis obnixi urgebant, §34.46.11Romani, ut signa foras efferrent, Galli, ut aut in castra ipsi penetrarent aut exire Romanos prohiberent.
For a long time, the battle raged in the narrow space; the conflict was carried on not so much with right hands and swords as they pressed and pushed with their shields and their very bodies— the Romans struggling to carry their standards outside, the Gauls to penetrate into the camp themselves or to prevent the Romans from coming out.
§34.46.12nec ante in hanc aut illam partem moveri acies potuerunt, quam Q. Victorius primi pili centurio et C. Atinius tribunus militum, quartae hic, ille secundae legionis, rem in asperis proeliis saepe temptatam, signa adempta signiferis in hostis iniecerunt.
Nor could the lines be moved to one side or the other, until Quintus Victorius, a centurion of the first rank, and Gaius Atinius, a military tribune—the latter of the fourth, the former of the second legion—did a thing often tried in difficult battles, and snatching the standards from the standard-bearers, threw them into the midst of the enemy.
§34.46.13dum repetunt enixe signum, priores secundani se porta eiecerunt.
While they struggled vigorously to recover the standard, the men of the second legion, being foremost, flung themselves out of the gate.