§5.37.1cum tanta moles mali instaret — adeo obcaecat animos fortuna, ubi vim suam ingruentem refringi non vult —, civitas, quae adversus Fidenatem ac Veientem hostem aliosque finitimos populos ultima experiens auxilia dictatorem multis tempestatibus dixisset, §5.37.2ea tunc invisitato atque inaudito hoste ab Oceano terrarumque ultimis oris bellum ciente nihil extraordinarii imperii aut auxilii quaesivit.
When so great a mass of ruin was pressing — so much does fortune blind men's minds when she does not wish her oncoming force to be broken —, the state, which against the Fidenate and Veientine enemy and other neighboring peoples, trying her ultimate resources, had in many crises appointed a dictator, did then, when an unseen and unheard-of enemy was stirring up war from the Ocean and the remotest shores of the earth, seek no extraordinary command or assistance.
§5.37.3tribuni, quorum temeritate bellum contractum erat, summae rerum praeerant dilectumque nihilo accuratiorem, quam ad media bella haberi solitus erat, extenuantes etiam famam belli habebant.
The tribunes, by whose rashness the war had been brought about, were in supreme command, and they conducted a levy in no way more careful than was usual for ordinary wars, even playing down the report of the war.
§5.37.4interim Galli, postquam accepere ultro honorem habitum violatoribus iuris humani elusamque legationem suam esse, flagrantes ira, cuius inpotens est gens, confestim signis convulsis citato agmine iter ingrediuntur.
Meanwhile the Gauls, when they learned that honor had actually been paid to the violators of human law and that their embassy had been mocked, burning with the wrath of which their race is incapable of self-control, immediately plucked up their standards and marched with a rapid army.
§5.37.5ad quorum praetereuntium raptim tumultum cum exterritae urbes ad arma concurrerent fugaque agrestium fieret, Romam se ire magno clamore significabant, quacumque ibant, equis virisque longe ac late fuso agmine inmensum obtinentes loci.
As the terrified cities rushed to arms at the tumult of their rapid passage, and the country people fled, they made known with a great shout wherever they went that they were going to Rome, occupying an immense expanse of ground far and wide with their army of horses and men.
§5.37.6sed antecedente fama nuntiisque Clusinorum, deinceps inde aliorum populorum, plurimum terroris Romam celeritas hostium tulit, §5.37.7quippe quibus velut tumultuario exercitu raptim ducto aegre ad undecimum lapidem occursum est, qua flumen Alia Crustuminis montibus praealto defluens alveo haud multum infra viam Tiberino amni miscetur.
But though rumor and the messages of the Clusini, and then of other peoples in turn, preceded them, it was the speed of the enemy that brought the greatest terror to Rome, for they were met with difficulty at the eleventh milestone by what was virtually a hastily raised army led in haste, where the river Alia, flowing down in a very deep channel from the Crustuminian mountains, mingles with the river Tiber not far below the road.
§5.37.8iam omnia contra circaque hostium plena erant, et nata in vanos tumultus gens truci cantu clamoribusque variis horrendo cuncta conpleverant sono.
Now all in front and around was full of the enemy, and a nation born for vain tumults had filled everything with a horrible sound by their savage song and various clamors.