§5.38.1ibi tribuni militum non loco castris ante capto, non praemunito vallo, quo receptus esset, non deorum saltem, si non hominum, memores nec auspicato nec litato instruunt aciem diductam in cornua, ne circumveniri multitudine hostium possent; §5.38.2nec tamen aequari frontes poterant, cum extenuando infirmam et vix cohaerentem mediam aciem haberent.
There the military tribunes, without having previously chosen a site for a camp, without having fortified a rampart for a retreat, and mindful of neither the gods, at least, if not of men, without taking the auspices or offering an acceptable sacrifice, drew up their battle line, which was extended into wings, so that they could not be surrounded by the multitude of the enemy; and yet their fronts could not be made equal to the enemy's, since by thinning it out they had a weak and barely coherent center.
paulum erat ab dextera editi loci, quem subsidiariis repleri placuit; eaque res ut initium pavoris ac fugae, sic una salus fugientibus fuit.
There was a little elevated ground on the right, which they decided to fill with reserves; and that measure, as it was the beginning of panic and flight, so proved to be the sole safety for those who fled.
§5.38.3nam Brennus, regulus Gallorum, in paucitate hostium artem maxime timens, ratus ad id captum superiorem locum, ut, ubi Galli cum acie legionum recta fronte concurrissent, subsidia in aversos transversosque impetum darent, ad subsidiarios signa convertit, §5.38.4si eos loco depulisset, haud dubius facilem in aequo campi tantum superanti multitudine victoriam fore; adeo non fortuna modo, sed ratio etiam cum barbaris stabat.
For Brennus, the chieftain of the Gauls, fearing especially some artifice because of the small number of the enemy, and thinking that the higher ground had been taken for this purpose, so that when the Gauls charged the battle line of the legions in a frontal attack, the reserves might assault them on their rear and flank, turned his standards against the reserves, confident that if he dislodged them from their position, victory would be easy on the level plain with his so greatly superior numbers; so completely did not only fortune, but also strategy, stand with the barbarians.
§5.38.5in altera acie nihil simile Romanis, non apud duces, non apud milites erat.
In the other army there was nothing like Romans, neither among the leaders nor among the soldiers.
pavor fugaque occupaverat animos et tanta omnium oblivio, ut multo maior pars Veios, in hostium urbem, cum Tiberis arceret, quam recto itinere Romam ad coniuges ac liberos fugerent.
Panic and flight had seized their minds, and so great a forgetfulness of everything, that a far larger part fled to Veii, a city of their enemies, though the Tiber barred their way, rather than by the direct route to Rome to their wives and children.
§5.38.6parumper subsidiarios tutatus est locus; in reliqua acie simul est clamor proximis ab latere, ultimis ab tergo auditus, ignotum hostem prius paene quam viderent, non modo non temptato certamine, sed ne clamore quidem reddito integri intactique fugerunt; §5.38.7nec ulla caedes pugnantium fuit; terga caesa suomet ipsorum certamine in turba inpedientium fugam.
For a short time the position protected the reserves; in the rest of the battle line, as soon as the shout was heard by the nearest on their flank and by the hindmost on their rear, almost before they could see their unfamiliar enemy, they fled whole and untouched, not only without attempting battle, but without even returning the shout; nor was there any slaughter of men fighting; they were cut down from behind in their own struggle with one another in the crowd of those impeding flight.
§5.38.8circa ripam Tiberis, quo armis abiectis totum sinistrum cornu refugit, magna strages facta est, multosque inperitos nandi aut invalidos, graves loricis aliisque tegminibus, hausere gurgites.
Around the bank of the Tiber, where the whole left wing fled after throwing down their arms, a great slaughter was made, and the swift waters swallowed many who were unskilled in swimming or weak, weighed down by their cuirasses and other armor.
§5.38.9maxima tamen pars incolumis Veios perfugit, unde non modo praesidii quicquam, sed ne nuntius quidem cladis Romam est missus.
Yet the greatest part escaped unharmed to Veii, whence not only no help of any kind, but not even a message of the disaster was sent to Rome.
ab dextro cornu, §5.38.10quod procul a flumine et magis sub monte steterat, Romam omnes petiere et ne clausis quidem portis urbis in arcem confugerunt.
From the right wing, which had stood far from the river and closer under the mountain, they all made for Rome, and without even closing the gates of the city, fled into the citadel.