§9.6.1primi consules prope seminudi sub iugum missi, tum ut quisque gradu proximus erat, ita ignominiae obiectus, tum deinceps singulae legiones. §9.6.2circumstabant armati hostes, exprobantes eludentesque; gladii etiam plerisque intentati, et vulnerati quidam necatique, si vultus eorum indignitate rerum acrior victorem offendisset. §9.6.3ita traducti sub iugum et, quod paene gravius erat, per hostium oculos, cum e saltu evasissent, etsi velut ab inferis extracti tum primum lucem adspicere visi sunt, tamen ipsa lux ita deforme intuentibus agmen omni morte tristior fuit. §9.6.4itaque cum ante noctem Capuam pervenire possent, incerti de fide sociorum et quod pudor praepediebat, circa viam haud procul Capua omnium egena corpora humi prostraverunt. §9.6.5quod ubi est Capuam nuntiatum, evicit miseratio iusta sociorum superbiam ingenitam Campanis. §9.6.6confestim insignia sua consulibus, fasces lictoribus, arma equos, vestimenta commeatus militibus benigne mittunt; §9.6.7et venientibus Capuam cunctus senatus populusque obviam egressus iustis omnibus hospitalibus privatisque et publicis fungitur officiis. §9.6.8neque illis sociorum comitas vultusque benigni et adloquia non modo sermonem elicere, sed ne ut oculos quidem attollerent aut consolantes amicos contra intuerentur efficere poterant: §9.6.9adeo super ^ maerorem pudor quidam fugere conloquia et coetus hominum cogebat. §9.6.10postero die cum iuvenes nobiles, missi a Capua, ut proficiscentes ad finem Campanum prosequerentur, §9.6.11revertissent vocatique in curiam percunctantibus maioribus natu multo sibi maestiores et abiectioris animi visos referrent: adeo silens ac prope mutum agmen incessisse; §9.6.12iacere indolem illam Romanam, ablatosque cum armis animos; non reddere salutem salutantibus, non dare responsum, non hiscere quemquam prae metu potuisse, tamquam ferentibus adhuc cervicibus iugum, sub quod missi essent; §9.6.13habere Samnites victoriam non praeclaram solum sed etiam perpetuam, cepisse enim eos non Romam, sicut ante Gallos, sed, quod multo bellicosius fuerit, Romanam virtutem ferociamque: —
First the consuls, almost half-naked, were sent under the yoke, then, as each was next in rank, so was he exposed to the ignominy, and then in turn the individual legions. Armed enemies stood around, reviling and mocking them; swords were even pointed at most of them, and some were wounded and killed if their countenance, too fierce from the indignity of their situation, had offended the victor. Having been thus led under the yoke and, what was almost more painful, before the eyes of their enemies, when they had escaped from the pass, although they seemed then for the first time to behold the light, as if extracted from the underworld, yet the light itself, to them beholding so deformed a column, was more sorrowful than any death. Therefore, although they could have reached Capua before night, being uncertain of the loyalty of their allies, and because shame impeded them, they prostrated their bodies, destitute of everything, on the ground near the road not far from Capua. When this was announced at Capua, a just compassion for their allies overcame the pride natural to the Campanians. Immediately, they kindly sent their own insignia to the consuls, the fasces to the lictors, and arms, horses, garments, and provisions to the soldiers; and as they came to Capua, the entire senate and people went out to meet them, performing all the proper duties of hospitality, both private and public. Nor could the friendliness of their allies, their kind countenances, and their words of address not only draw forth any speech from them, but not even make them lift their eyes, or look back at their consoling friends: so much, in addition to their grief, did a certain shame compel them to flee from conversation and the gatherings of men. On the following day, when the noble joys, sent from Capua to escort them as they departed to the Campanian border, had returned, and being called into the senate house, reported to the elders inquiring of them that the Romans had seemed to them much more sorrowful and dejected in spirit: that the column had marched along so silent and almost mute; that that Roman spirit lay prostrate, and their courage had been taken away along with their weapons; they did not return greetings to those who greeted them, nor did they give an answer, nor could anyone open his mouth for fear, as if they were still bearing on their necks the yoke under which they had been sent; that the Samnites possessed a victory not only glorious but also perpetual, for they had captured not Rome, as the Gauls had done before, but, what was a much more warlike feat, the Roman valor and fierce spirit.