§7.39.1consul educto in aestiva milite, dum quietos Samnites habebat, exercitum purgare missionibus turbulentorum hominum instituit, aliis emerita dicendo stipendia esse, alios graves iam aetate aut viribus parum validos.
Having led the soldiers out into summer quarters, while he had the Samnites quiet, the consul resolved to purge the army by discharging the turbulent men, saying to some that their campaigns were completed, and that others were already heavy with age or insufficiently strong in physical power.
§7.39.2quidam in commeatus mittebantur, singuli primo, deinde et cohortes quaedam, quia procul ab domo ac rebus suis hibernassent; per speciem etiam militarium usuum, cum alii alio mitterentur, magna pars ablegati.
Some were sent on leave, at first individually, and then also certain cohorts, because they had wintered far from home and their private affairs; under the pretext also of military needs, while some were sent to one place and others to another, a great part was sent away.
§7.39.3quam multitudinem consul alter Romae praetorque alias ex aliis fingendo moras retinebat.
This multitude the other consul at Rome and the praetor detained by fabricating one delay after another.
§7.39.4et primo quidem ignari ludificationis minime inviti domos revisebant; postquam neque reverti ad signa primos nec ferme alium, quam qui in Campania hibernassent, praecipueque ex his seditionis auctores mitti viderunt, primum admiratio, deinde haud dubius timor incessit animos consilia sua emanasse: §7.39.5iam quaestiones, iam indicia, iam occulta singulorum supplicia inpotensque et crudele consulum ac patrum in se regnum passuros.
And at first indeed, ignorant of the deception, they revisited their homes not at all unwillingly; but after they saw that the first ones did not return to the standards, and indeed scarcely anyone was sent except those who had wintered in Campania, and especially among these the authors of the mutiny, first wonder, and then an indubitable fear entered their minds that their plans had leaked out: now they would suffer interrogations, now denunciations, now secret executions of individuals, and the impotent and cruel dominion of the consuls and patricians over themselves.
§7.39.6haec qui in castris erant occultis sermonibus serunt, nervos coniurationis exsectos arte consulis cernentes.
Those who were in the camp spread these rumors in secret conversations, seeing that the sinews of the conspiracy had been cut by the art of the consul.
§7.39.7cohors una, cum haud procul Anxure esset, ad Lautulas saltu angusto inter mare ac montis consedit ad excipiendos, quos consul aliis atque aliis, ut ante dictum est, causis mittebat.
One cohort, when it was not far from Anxur, halted at Lautulae in a narrow pass between the sea and the mountains, to intercept those whom the consul, for various reasons as has been said before, was sending away.
§7.39.8iam valida admodum numero manus erat, nec quicquam ad iusti exercitus formam praeter ducem deerat.
Already the band was quite strong in number, nor did anything lack for the form of a regular army except a leader.
inconpositi itaque praedantes in agrum Albanum perveniunt et sub iugo Albae Longae castra vallo cingunt.
Therefore, in disorder and plundering, they arrived in the Alban territory and surrounded their camp with a rampart under the ridge of Alba Longa.
§7.39.9perfecto inde opere reliquum diei de imperatore sumendo sententiis decertant, nulli ex praesentibus satis fidentes:
After the work was finished, they spent the rest of the day disputing in opinions about choosing a commander, trusting none of those present sufficiently: but who could be summoned from Rome?
§7.39.10quem autem ab Roma posse exciri? quem patrum aut plebis esse, qui aut se tanto periculo sciens offerat, aut cui ex iniuria insanientis exercitus causa recte committatur?
Who was there among the patricians or the plebeians who would knowingly expose himself to such great danger, or to whom the cause of an army driven mad by injustice could rightly be committed?
§7.39.11postero die cum eadem deliberatio teneret, ex praedatoribus vagis quidam conpertum attulerunt T. Quinctium in Tusculano agrum colere, urbis honorumque inmemorem.
On the following day, while the same deliberation continued, some of the wandering plunderers brought word that Titus Quinctius was cultivating his land in the Tusculan territory, unmindful of the city and of honors.
§7.39.12patriciae hic vir gentis erat, cui cum militiae magna cum gloria actae finem pes alter ex vulnere claudus fecisset, ruri agere vitam procul ambitione ac foro constituit.
This man was of a patrician family, and since a wound had made him lame in one foot, putting an end to a military career spent with great glory, he had decided to spend his life in the country, far from ambition and the forum.
§7.39.13nomine audito extemplo agnovere virum et, quod bene verteret, acciri iusserunt.
Upon hearing his name, they immediately recognized the man, and praying that it might turn out well, ordered him to be summoned.
sed parum spei erat voluntate quicquam facturum; §7.39.14vim adhiberi ac metum placuit.
But there was little hope that he would do anything of his own free will; it was decided that force and fear should be applied.
itaque silentio noctis cum tectum villae qui ad id missi erant intrassent, somno gravem Quinctium oppressum, nihil medium, aut imperium atque honorem aut, ubi restitaret, mortem, ni sequeretur, denuntiantes, in castra pertraxerunt.
Therefore, in the silence of the night, when those sent for this purpose had entered the villa, they fell upon Quinctius, who was heavy with sleep, and offering no middle course, but denouncing either command and honor or death if he should resist and not follow, they dragged him back to the camp.
§7.39.15imperator extemplo adveniens appellatus, insigniaque honoris exterrito subitae rei miraculo deferunt et ad urbem ducere iubent.
Upon his arrival, he was immediately saluted as commander, and they presented the insignia of honor to him, terrified by the suddenness of the miracle, and ordered him to lead them to the city.
§7.39.16suo magis inde impetu quam consilio ducis convulsis signis infesto agmine ad lapidem octavum viae, quae nunc Appia est, perveniunt; §7.39.17issentque confestim ad urbem, ni venire contra exercitum dictatoremque adversus se M. Valerium Corvum dictum audissent et magistrum equitum L. Aemilium Mamercinum.
Then, moving their standards more by their own impulse than by the counsel of their leader, they arrived in an aggressive column at the eighth milestone of the road which is now the Appian Way; and they would have gone immediately to the city, had they not heard that an army was coming against them, and that Marcus Valerius Corvus had been appointed dictator against them, and Lucius Aemilius Mamercinus master of the horse.