§4.27.1haec omnia celeritate ingenti acta; relictoque Cn. Iulio consule ad praesidium urbis et L. Iulio magistro equitum ad subita belli ministeria, ne qua res, qua eguissent in castris, moraretur, dictator praeeunte A. Cornelio pontifice maximo ludos magnos tumultus causa vovit §4.27.2profectusque ab urbe diviso cum Quinctio consule exercitu ad hostes pervenit. §4.27.3sicut bina castra hostium parvo inter se spatio distantia viderunt, ipsi quoque mille ferme passus ab hoste dictator Tusculo, consul Lanuvio propiorem locum castris ceperunt. §4.27.4ita quattuor exercitus totidem munimenta planitiem in medio, non parvis modo excursionibus ad proelia, sed vel ad explicandas utrimque acies satis patentem, habebant. §4.27.5nec, ex quo castris castra collata sunt, cessatum a levibus proeliis est facile patiente dictatore conferendo vires spem universae victoriae, temptato paulatim eventu certaminum, suos praecipere. §4.27.6itaque hostes nulla in proelio iusto relicta spe noctu adorti castra consulis rem in casum ancipitis eventus committunt.
All these things were done with immense speed; and the consul Gnaeus Julius having been left for the protection of the city, and Lucius Julius, the master of the horse, for the sudden duties of war, so that no resource which they might need in the camp should be delayed, the dictator, with the pontifex maximus Aulus Cornelius leading the formula, vowed the Great Games on account of the outbreak of war, and having set out from the city, after dividing the army with the consul Quinctius, he reached the enemy. As soon as they saw the two camps of the enemy standing at a short distance from one another, they themselves also took up positions for their camps about a mile from the enemy, the dictator in a place closer to Tusculum, the consul closer to Lanuvium. Thus four armies and as many fortifications had a plain in the middle, which was sufficiently open not only for small skirmishes in battle, but even for deploying the lines of battle on both sides. Nor, from the time when camp was pitched opposite camp, was there any cessation from light skirmishes, since the dictator easily allowed his own men, by gradually testing the outcome of the contests, to measure their strength and to conceive hope for an ultimate victory. Therefore the enemy, leaving no hope in a regular battle, attacked the consul's camp by night, committing their cause to the hazard of a doubtful outcome.
clamor subito ortus non consulis modo vigiles, exercitum deinde omnem, sed dictatorem quoque ex somno excivit. §4.27.7ubi praesenti ope res egebat, consul nec animo defecit nec consilio: pars militum portarum stationes firmant, pars corona vallum cingunt. §4.27.8in alteris apud dictatorem castris quo minus tumultus est, eo plus animadvertitur, quid opus facto sit.
The shout that suddenly arose woke from sleep not only the consul's sentries, and then the entire army, but the dictator as well. Since the situation required immediate assistance, the consul did not fail in either courage or counsel: part of the soldiers secured the posts at the gates, part surrounded the rampart in a ring. In the other camp, with the dictator, the less tumult there was, the more attention was paid to what was necessary to be done.
missum extemplo ad castra subsidium, cui Sp. Postumius Albus legatus praeficitur; ipse parte copiarum parvo circuitu locum maxime secretum ab tumultu petit, unde ex necopinato aversum hostem invadat. §4.27.9Q. Sulpicium legatum praeficit castris; M. Fabio legato adsignat equites nec ante lucem movere iubet manum inter nocturnos tumultus moderatu difficilem.
A reinforcement was sent immediately to the consul's camp, over which the legate Spurius Postumius Albus was placed; he himself, with part of the forces, by a short circuit sought a place most removed from the noise, from which he might attack the enemy unexpectedly from behind. He put the legate Quintus Sulpicius in charge of the camp; to the legate Marcus Fabius he assigned the cavalry, and ordered him not to move his force, which would be difficult to manage amid nocturnal tumults, before daylight.
omnia, quae vel alius imperator prudens et inpiger in tali re praeciperet ageretque, praecipit ordine atque agit; §4.27.10illud eximium consilii animique specimen et neutiquam vulgatae laudis, quod ultro ad oppugnanda castra hostium, unde maiore agmine profectos exploratum fuerat, M. Geganium cum cohortibus delectis misit. §4.27.11qui postquam intentos homines in eventum periculi alieni pro se incautos neglectis vigiliis stationibusque est adortus, prius paene cepit castra, quam oppugnari hostes satis scirent. §4.27.12inde fumo, ut convenerat, datum signum ubi conspectum ab dictatore est, exclamat capta hostium castra nuntiarique passim iubet.
Everything that any other prudent and energetic commander would have ordered and done in such a case, he ordered and did in due order; that exceptional proof of his judgment and courage, and of a praise by no means common, was his sending Marcus Geganius with selected cohorts to attack, on his own initiative, the enemy's camp, from which it had been found by scouting that they had set out in a larger force. He, having attacked men who were intent on the outcome of another's danger and careless of themselves, neglecting sentries and outposts, took the camp almost before the enemy fully knew that they were being attacked. Thence, when the signal given by smoke, as had been agreed, was seen by the dictator, he cried out that the enemy's camp was captured, and ordered it to be announced everywhere.