§7.32.1hac legatione Romam relata positis omnium aliarum rerum curis patres fetialibus ad res repetendas missis belloque, quia non redderentur, sollemni more indicto decreverunt, ut primo quoque tempore de ea re ad populum ferretur; §7.32.2iussuque populi consules ambo cum duobus exercitibus ab urbe profecti, Valerius in Campaniam, Cornelius in Samnium, ille ad montem Gaurum, hic ad Saticulam castra ponunt.
When this embassy was reported to Rome, the Fathers, putting aside all other concerns, sent the fetials to demand redress, and when it was not given, having declared war in the solemn manner, decreed that the matter should be brought before the people at the earliest opportunity. By order of the people, both consuls set out from the city with two armies, Valerius into Campania and Cornelius into Samnium; the former pitched camp near Mount Gaurus, the latter near Saticula.
priori Valerio Samnitium legiones — §7.32.3eo namque omnem belli molem inclinaturam censebant — occurrunt; simul in Campanos stimulabat ira, tam promptos nunc ad ferenda nunc ad accersenda adversus se auxilia.
The Samnite legions advanced to meet the former, Valerius— for they believed that the whole weight of the war would incline thither; at the same time, they were spurred on by anger against the Campanians, who were so ready now to receive and now to summon aid against them.
ut vero castra Romana viderunt, §7.32.4ferociter pro se quisque signum duces poscere; adfirmare eadem fortuna Romanum Campano laturum opem, quo Campanus Sidicino tulerit. §7.32.5Valerius levibus certaminibus temptandi hostis causa haud ita multos moratus dies signum pugnae proposuit paucis suos adhortatus: ne novum bellum eos novusque hostis terreret; §7.32.6quidquid ab urbe longius proferrent arma, magis magisque in inbelles gentes eos prodire. §7.32.7ne Sidicinorum Campanorumque cladibus Samnitium aestimarent virtutem; qualescumque inter se certaverint, necesse fuisse alteram partem vinci.
But as soon as they saw the Roman camp, each man fiercely demanded the signal from his commanders, asserting that the Roman would bring help to the Campanian with the same fortune with which the Campanian had brought it to the Sidicinian. Valerius, having delayed not so many days for the sake of testing the enemy in light skirmishes, displayed the signal for battle, exhorting his men with a few words: let not a new war and a new enemy terrify them; the further they advanced their arms from the city, the more they entered among unwarlike peoples. Let them not estimate the courage of the Samnites by the defeats of the Sidicines and Campanians; whoever they were that fought among themselves, it was necessary that one side be conquered.
Campanos quidem haud dubie magis nimio luxu fluentibus rebus mollitiaque sua quam vi hostium victos esse. §7.32.8quid autem esse duo prospera in tot saeculis bella Samnitium adversus tot decora populi Romani, qui triumphos paene plures quam annos ab urbe condita numeret, qui omnia circa se — §7.32.9Sabinos, Etruriam, Latinos, Hernicos, Aequos, Volscos, Auruncos — domita armis habeat, qui Gallos tot proeliis caesos postremo in mare ac naves fuga conpulerit? §7.32.10cum gloria belli ac virtute sua quemque fretos ire in aciem debere, tum intueri, cuius ductu auspicioque ineunda pugna sit, utrum, §7.32.11qui, audiendus dumtaxat, magnificus adhortator sit, verbis tantum ferox, operum, militarium expers, an qui et ipse tela tractare, procedere ante signa, versari media in mole pugnae sciat.
Indeed, the Campanians had undoubtedly been conquered more by their own luxury in overflowing prosperity and by their softness than by the force of the enemy. What, moreover, were two successful wars of the Samnites in so many centuries against so many glories of the Roman people, who numbered almost more triumphs than years since the founding of the city, who held all things around them—the Sabines, Etruria, the Latins, the Hernicans, the Aequians, the Volscians, the Auruncans—subdued by arms, who had finally driven the Gauls, slaughtered in so many battles, in flight into the sea and onto their ships? While everyone ought to go into battle relying on the glory of war and his own courage, they should also look to see under whose leadership and auspices the battle was to be entered, whether he was a splendid encourager, merely to be listened to, fierce in words alone but inexperienced in military works, or one who himself knew how to handle weapons, to advance before the standards, and to move in the very midst of the turmoil of battle.
“facta mea, §7.32.12non dicta vos, milites,” inquit “sequi volo nec disciplinam modo, sed exemplum etiam a me petere.
"I wish you, soldiers," he said, "to follow my deeds, not my words, and to seek from me not only discipline but also an example.
non factionibus nec per coitiones usitatas nobilibus, sed hac dextra mihi tres consulatus summamque laudem peperi. §7.32.13fuit, cum hoc dici poterat “patricius enim eras et a liberatoribus patriae ortus, et eodem anno familia ista consulatum, quo urbs haec consulem habuit; ” §7.32.14nunc iam nobis patribus vobisque plebei promiscuus consulatus patet, nec generis, ut ante, sed virtutis est praemium. §7.32.15proinde summum quodque spectate, milites, decus.
Not by factions nor through coalitions usual among nobles, but by this right hand have I won for myself three consulships and the highest praise. There was a time when this could be said: 'For you were a patrician and descended from the liberators of your country, and that family of yours held the consulship in the same year in which this city first had a consul'; now indeed the consulship lies open indiscriminately to us patricians and to you plebeians, and it is not, as before, a reward of birth, but of virtue. Therefore, soldiers, look to each highest honor.
non, si mihi novum hoc Corvini cognomen dis auctoribus homines dedistis, Publicolarum vetustum familiae nostrae cognomen memoria excessit; §7.32.16semper ego plebem Romanam militiae domique, privatus, in magistratibus parvis magnisque, aeque tribunus ac consul, eodem tenore per omnes deinceps consulatus colo atque colui. §7.32.17nunc, quod instat, dis bene iuvantibus novum atque integrum de Samnitibus triumphum mecum petite. ”
If, by the guidance of the gods, you men have given me this new cognomen of Corvinus, the ancient cognomen of Publicola in our family has not escaped my memory; I always cherish and have cherished the Roman plebs at home and in the field, as a private citizen and in small and great magistracies, equally as a tribune and as a consul, with the same tenor throughout all subsequent consulships. Now, as to what is at hand, with the gods' good help, seek with me a new and complete triumph over the Samnites."