§8.30.1in Samnium incertis itum auspiciis est; cuius rei vitium non in belli eventum, quod prospere gestum est, sed in rabiem atque iras imperatorum vertit.
Into Samnium they marched under doubtful auspices; the defect of which matter turned out not to the issue of the war, which was conducted successfully, but to the madness and rage of the commanders.
§8.30.2namque Papirius dictator a pullario monitus cum ad auspicium repetendum Romam proficisceretur, magistro equitum denuntiavit, ut sese loco teneret neu absente se cum hoste manum consereret.
For the dictator Papirius, having been warned by the keeper of the sacred chickens when he was setting out for Rome to repeat the auspices, charged the master of the horse to keep himself in his position and not to engage in battle with the enemy during his absence.
§8.30.3Q. Fabius cum post profectionem dictatoris per exploratores conperisset perinde omnia soluta apud hostes esse, ac si nemo Romanus in Samnio esset, §8.30.4seu ferox adulescens indignitate accensus, quod omnia in dictatore viderentur reposita esse, seu occasione bene gerendae rei inductus, exercitu instructo paratoque profectus ad Imbrinium — ita vocant locum — acie cum Samnitibus conflixit.
Q. Fabius, having learned through scouts after the departure of the dictator that everything among the enemy was just as relaxed as if there were no Roman in Samnium, whether as a high-spirited young man fired with resentment because everything seemed to be centered in the dictator, or induced by the opportunity of conducting the affair well, set out with his army drawn up and prepared for Imbrinium — so they call the place — and engaged in battle with the Samnites.
ea fortuna pugnae fuit, §8.30.5ut nihil relictum sit, quo, si adfuisset dictator, res melius geri potuerit; non dux militi, non miles duci defuit;
Such was the fortune of the fight that nothing was left by which, if the dictator had been present, the business could have been conducted better; neither did the leader fail the soldier, nor the soldier the leader.
§8.30.6eques etiam auctore L. Cominio tribuno militum, qui aliquotiens impetu capto perrumpere non poterat hostium agmen, detraxit frenos equis atque ita concitatos calcaribus permisit, ut sustinere eos nulla vis posset; per arma, per viros late stragem dedere;
The cavalry also, on the suggestion of the military tribune L. Cominius, who, though he had several times made a charge, could not break through the enemy's line, took the bridles off their horses, and spurred them on so furiously that no force could withstand them; they made a great slaughter far and wide, through arms and men.
§8.30.7secutus pedes impetum equitum turbatis hostibus intulit signa.
The infantry, following the charge of the cavalry, bore down upon the disordered enemy.
viginti milia hostium caesa eo die traduntur.
Twenty thousand of the enemy are said to have been slain on that day.
auctores habeo bis cum hoste signa conlata dictatore absente, bis rem egregie gestam; apud antiquissimos scriptores una haec pugna invenitur; in quibusdam annalibus tota res praetermissa, est.
I have authorities who say that battle was joined twice with the enemy in the absence of the dictator, and twice a brilliant success was achieved; among the oldest writers, only this one battle is found; in some annals, the whole transaction is omitted.
magister equitum, §8.30.8ut ex tanta caede, multis potitus spoliis congesta in ingentem acervum hostilia arma subdito igne concremavit, seu votum id deorum cuipiam fuit, §8.30.9seu credere libet Fabio auctori eo facturn, ne suae gloriae fructum dictator caperet nomenque ibi scriberet aut spolia in triumpho ferret.
The master of the horse, after so great a slaughter, having obtained much booty, burned the enemy's arms, gathered into a huge heap, after setting fire to them, whether that was a vow to some one of the gods, or if one prefers to believe the authority of Fabius that it was done so that the dictator might not reap the fruit of his glory and write his name there, or carry the spoils in triumph.
§8.30.10litterae quoque de re prospere gesta ad senatum, non ad dictatorem missae argumentum fuere minime cum eo communicantis laudes.
The letters also concerning the successful transaction, sent to the senate and not to the dictator, were a proof of his not sharing the praise with him in the least.
ita certe dictator id factum accepit, ut laetis aliis victoria parta prae se ferret iram tristitiamque. misso itaque repente senatu se ex curia proripuit,
Certainly the dictator received the deed in such a manner that, while others were joyful at the victory won, he showed anger and sadness.
§8.30.11tum vero non Samnitium magis legiones quam maiestatem dictatoriam et disciplinam militarem a magistro equitum victam et eversam dictitans, si illi inpune spretum imperium fuisset.
And so, having suddenly dismissed the senate, he rushed out of the curia, then indeed declaring repeatedly that not so much the legions of the Samnites as the dictatorial majesty and military discipline had been conquered and overthrown by the master of the horse, if that contempt of his authority should go unpunished.
§8.30.12itaque plenus minarum iraeque profectus in castra cum maximis itineribus isset, non tamen praevenire famamaduentus sui potuit; §8.30.13praecurrerant enim ab urbe, qui nuntiarent dictatorem avidum poenae venire, alternis paene verbis T. Manli factum laudantem.
And so, full of threats and wrath, having set out for the camp and gone with the greatest speed, he was nevertheless unable to outstrip the report of his arrival; for messengers had run ahead from the city to report that the dictator was coming, eager for punishment, praising the deed of T. Manlius in almost every other word.