§5.48.1sed ante omnia obsidionis bellique mala fames utrumque exercitum urgebat,
But above all the evils of siege and war, famine oppressed both armies.
§5.48.2Gallos pestilentia etiam, cum loco iacente inter tumulos castra habentes tum ab incendiis torrido et vaporis pleno cineremque, non pulverem modo ferente, cum quid venti motum esset.
The Gauls were also afflicted by pestilence, since they had their camp in low-lying ground between the hills, which was parched by the fires and full of heat, and carried ash, not just dust, whenever there was any movement of the wind.
§5.48.3quorum intolerantissima gens umorique ac frigori adsueta, cum aestu et angore vexata vulgatis velut in pecua morbis morerentur, iam pigritia singulos sepeliendi promiscue acervatos cumulos hominum urebant; bustorumque inde Gallicorum nomine insignem locum fecere. indutiae deinde cum Romanis factae §5.48.4et conloquia permissu imperatorum habita; in quibus cum identidem Galli famem obicerent eaque necessitate ad deditionem vocarent, dicitur avertendae eius opinionis causa multis locis panis de Capitolio iactatus esse in hostium stationes.
A people most unable to endure this, being accustomed to moisture and cold, when, vexed by the heat and suffocation, they died from diseases spreading as if among cattle, they soon, from a weariness of burying individuals, burned heaps of men piled up indiscriminately; and from this they made the place famous under the name of the "Gallic Pyres." Then a truce was made with the Romans, and conferences were held with the permission of the commanders; in which, when the Gauls repeatedly cast their famine in their teeth and on that account urged them to surrender, it is said that, for the purpose of removing this belief, bread was thrown from the Capitol in many places into the outposts of the enemy.
§5.48.5sed iam neque dissimulari neque ferri ultra fames poterat.
But now the famine could neither be concealed nor endured any longer.
itaque dum dictator dilectum per se Ardeae habet, magistrum equitum L. Valerium a Veis adducere exercitum iubet, parat instruitque, quibus haud inpar adoriatur hostes, §5.48.6interim Capitolinus exercitus stationibus vigiliisque fessus superatis tamen humanis omnibus malis, cum famem unam natura vinci non sineret, §5.48.7diem de die prospectans, ecquod auxilium ab dictatore appareret, postremo spe quoque iam, non solum cibo deficiente et, cum stationes procederent, prope obruentibus infirmum corpus armis vel dedi vel redimi se, quacumque pactione possent, iussit iactantibus non obscure Gallis haud magna mercede se ad duci posse, ut obsidionem relinquant.
Therefore, while the dictator was holding a levy in person at Ardea, he ordered Lucius Valerius, the master of the horse, to bring up the army from Veii, and prepared and equipped his forces so that he might attack the enemy on no unequal terms; meanwhile the army on the Capitol, exhausted by outposts and watches, having nevertheless overcome all human evils, since nature would not suffer famine alone to be conquered, looking out day after day to see if any aid from the dictator would appear, at last, when not only food but even hope was failing, and as they proceeded to their outposts, their weapons almost crushed their weakened bodies, they demanded that they should either surrender or ransom themselves on whatever terms they could, the Gauls making no secret of the fact that they could be induced for no great price to abandon the siege.
§5.48.8tum senatus habitus tribunisque militum negotium datum, ut paciscerentur, inde inter Q. Sulpicium tribunum militum et Brennum, regulum Gallorum, conloquio transacta res, et mille pondo auri pretium populi gentibus mox imperaturi factum.
Then the senate was held, and the business was given to the military tribunes to make a compact; next, the matter was transacted in a conference between Quintus Sulpicius, the military tribune, and Brennus, the chieftain of the Gauls, and the price of a people soon to rule over nations was fixed at a thousand pounds of gold.
§5.48.9rei foedissimae per se adiecta indignitas est: pondera ab Gallis adlata iniqua, et tribuno recusante additus ab insolente Gallo ponderi gladius auditaque intoleranda Romanis vox: vae victis.
To a transaction in itself most shameful, a further indignity was added: unfair weights were brought by the Gauls, and when the tribune refused them, his sword was added to the weight by the insolent Gaul, and a saying intolerable to Romans was heard: "Woe to the vanquished!"