§9.16.1Convenit iam inde per consules reliqua belli perfecta.
It is agreed from that point on that the remainder of the war was finished by the consuls.
Aulius cum Frentanis uno secundo proelio debellavit urbemque ipsam, quo se fusa contulerat acies, obsidibus imperatis in deditionem accepit.
Aulius finished the war with the Frentani in a single successful battle, and received into surrender the city itself, to which the routed army had fled, after demanding hostages.
§9.16.2pari fortuna consul alter cum Satricanis, qui cives Romani post Caudinam cladem ad Samnites defecerant praesidiumque eorum in urbem acceperant, rem gessit.
With equal fortune, the other consul conducted operations against the Satricans, who, although Roman citizens, had defected to the Samnites after the Caudine disaster and had received their garrison into the city.
§9.16.3nam cum ad moenia Satrici admotus esset exercitus legatisque missis ad pacem cum precibus petendam triste responsum ab consule redditum esset, nisi praesidio Samnitium interfecto aut tradito ne ad se remearent, plus ea voce quam armis inlatis terroris colonis iniectum.
For when the army had been brought up to the walls of Satricum, and, after ambassadors had been sent to beg for peace with entreaties, a grim response was returned by the consul—that they should not return to him unless the Samnite garrison were slain or delivered up—more terror was struck into the colonists by that speech than by the threat of arms.
§9.16.4itaque subinde exsequentes quaerendo a consule legati, quonam se pacto paucos et infirmos crederet praesidio tam valido et armato vim adlaturos.
Therefore, the ambassadors continuously asked the consul, by what means he believed that they, being few and weak, could bring force against so strong and armed a garrison.
ab iisdem consilium petere iussi, quibus auctoribus praesidium in urbem accepissent, discedunt aegreque impetrato, §9.16.5ut de ea re consuli senatum responsaque ad se referri sineret, ad suos redeunt.
Having been ordered to seek counsel from those very men by whose advice they had received the garrison into the city, they departed, and having with difficulty obtained permission for the senate to be consulted on the matter and the responses reported back to them, returned to their people.
§9.16.6duae factiones senatum distinebant, una, cuius principes erant defectionis a populo Romano auctores, altera fidelium civium.
Two factions divided the senate: one, whose leaders were the authors of the defection from the Roman people; the other, of loyal citizens.
certatum ab utrisque tamen est, ut ad reconciliandam pacem consuli opera navaretur.
Nevertheless, there was a rivalry between both sides to exert themselves for the consul in order to reconcile peace.
§9.16.7pars altera, cum praesidium Samnitium, quia nihil satis praeparati erat ad obsidionem tolerandam, excessurum proxima nocte esset, enuntiare consuli satis habuit, qua noctis hora quaque porta et quam in viam egressurus hostis foret; §9.16.8altera, quibus invitis descitum ad Samnites erat, eadem nocte portam etiam consuli aperuerunt armatosque clam nocte in urbem acceperunt.
The former party, since the Samnite garrison was to depart on the following night because nothing had been sufficiently prepared to endure a siege, deemed it sufficient to inform the consul at what hour of the night, through which gate, and onto which road the enemy would march out; the other party, against whose will the defection to the Samnites had taken place, on the same night even opened a gate to the consul and secretly admitted armed men into the city by night.
§9.16.9ita duplici proditione et praesidium Samnitium insessis circa viam silvestribus locis necopinato oppressum est et ab urbe plena hostium clamor sublatus; momentoque unius horae caesus Samnis, Satricanus captus, et omnia in potestate consulis erant.
Thus, by a double betrayal, both the Samnite garrison was unexpectedly crushed, the wooded places around the road having been occupied, and a shout was raised from the city now full of enemies; and in the space of a single hour, the Samnites were slaughtered, the Satricans captured, and everything was in the power of the consul.
§9.16.10qui quaestione habita, quorum opera defectio esset facta, quos sontes conperit virgis caesos securi percussit praesidioque valido inposito arma Satricanis ademit.
Having held an inquiry as to by whose agency the defection had been made, the consul scourged with rods and beheaded with an axe those whom he found guilty, and, having placed a strong garrison over them, deprived the Satricans of their arms.
§9.16.11inde ad triumphum decessisse Romam Papirium Cursorem scribunt, qui eo duce Luceriam receptam Samnitesque sub iugum missos auctores sunt.
Those who record that Luceria was recovered and the Samnites sent under the yoke under his leadership write that Papirius Cursor departed thence to Rome for a triumph.
§9.16.12et fuit vir haud dubie dignus omni bellica laude, non animi solum vigore sed etiam corporis viribus excellens.
And he was a man undoubtedly worthy of all military praise, excelling not only in vigor of mind but also in bodily strength.
praecipua pedum pernicitas inerat, §9.16.13quae cognomen etiam dedit; victoremque cursu omnium aetatis suae fuisse ferunt, seu crurum vi seu exercitatione multa, cibi vinique eundem capacissimum; §9.16.14nec cum ullo asperiorem, quia ipse invicti ad laborem corporis esset, fuisse militiam pediti pariter equitique; §9.16.15equites etiam aliquando ausos ab eo petere, ut sibi pro re bene gesta laxaret aliquid laboris; §9.16.16quibus ille: “ne nihil remissum dicatis, remitto,” inquit “ne utique dorsum demulceatis, cum ex equis descendetis. ” et vis erat in eo viro imperii ingens pariter in socios civesque.
He possessed an extraordinary swiftness of foot, which also gave him his cognomen; and they say that he was the conqueror in running of all of his own age, whether by the strength of his legs or by much exercise, and that he was likewise most capable of containing food and wine; and that under no other leader was military service harsher for both infantry and cavalry alike, since he himself possessed a body unconquered by toil; that even the cavalry once dared to ask of him that he would remit some of their labor for them on account of their successful conduct of affairs; to whom he replied: "Lest you should say that nothing was remitted, I remit this: that you need not stroke your backs at all when you dismount from your horses." And there was in that man an immense power of command, equally over allies and citizens.
§9.16.17Praenestinus praetor per timorem segnius ex subsidiis suos duxerat in primam aciem; quem cum inambulans ante tabernaculum vocari iussisset, lictorem expedire securem iussit; §9.16.18ad quam vocem exanimi stante Praenestino: “agedum, lictor, excide radicem hanc” inquit “incommodam ambulantibus” perfusumque ultimi supplicii metu multa dicta dimisit.
A Praenestine praetor had, through fear, led his men rather slowly from the reserves into the front line; when the consul, walking up and down before his tent, had ordered him to be called, he ordered a lictor to ready his axe; at which words, while the Praenestine stood breathless with fear, he said: "Come now, lictor, cut away this root which is inconvenient for those walking," and having thoroughly terrified him with the fear of the extreme penalty, he dismissed him after pronouncing a fine.
§9.16.19haud dubie illa aetate, qua nulla virtutum feracior fuit, nemo unus erat vir, quo magis innixa res Romana staret.
Undoubtedly, in that age, than which none was more fertile in virtues, there was no single man upon whom the Roman state stood more heavily leaned.
quin eum parem destinant animis magno Alexandro ducem, si arma Asia perdomita in Europam vertisset.
Nay, they even design him in their minds as a leader equal to Alexander the Great, if the latter, having thoroughly conquered Asia, had turned his arms to Europe.