[65.1] Aquilius, one of the consuls, finding the army of the Hernicans waiting for him in the country of the Praenestines, encamped as near to them as he could, at a distance of a little more than two hundred stades from Rome. The second day after he had pitched his camp the Hernicans came out of their camp into the plain in order of battle and gave the signal for combat; whereupon Aquilius also marched out to meet them with his army duly drawn up and disposed in their several divisions.
[2] ἐπεὶ δ᾽ ἀγχοῦ ἐγένοντο ἀλλήλων ἔθεον ἀλαλάξαντες ὁμόσε, πρῶτον μὲν οἱ ψιλοὶ σαυνίων τε βολαῖς καὶ τοξεύμασι καὶ λίθοις ἀπὸ σφενδόνης μαχόμενοι, καὶ πολλὰ τραύματα ἔδοσαν ἀλλήλοις: ἔπειτα ἱππεῖς ἱππεῦσι συρράττουσι κατ᾽ ἴλας ἐλαύνοντες καὶ τὸ πεζὸν τῷ πεζῷ κατὰ σπείρας μαχόμενον. ἔνθα δὴ καλὸς ἀγὼν ἦν ἐκθύμως ἀμφοτέρων ἀγωνιζομένων, καὶ μέχρι πολλοῦ διέμενον οὐδέτεροι τοῖς ἑτέροις τοῦ χωρίου, ἐν ᾧ ἐτάχθησαν, εἴκοντες. ἔπειτα ἡ Ῥωμαίων ἤρξατο κάμνειν φάλαγξ, οἷα διὰ πολλοῦ τοῦ μεταξὺ χρόνου τότε πρῶτον ἠναγκασμένη ὁμιλεῖν πολέμῳ.
[2] When they drew near to one another, they uttered their war-cries and ran to the encounter; and first to engage were the light-armed men, who, fighting with javelins, arrows, and stones from their slings, gave one another many wounds. Next, horsemen clashed with horsemen, charging in troops, and infantry with infantry, fighting by cohorts. Then there was a glorious struggle as both armies fought stubbornly; and for a long time they stood firm, neither side yielding to the other the ground where they were posted. At length the Romans’ line began to be in distress, this being the first occasion in a long time that they had been forced to engaged in war.
[3] τοῦτο συνιδὼν Ἀκύλλιος ἐκέλευσε τοὺς ἀκμῆτας ἔτι καὶ εἰς αὐτὸ τοῦτο φυλαττομένους [p. 222] ὑπὸ τὰ κάμνοντα τῆς φάλαγγος ὑπελθεῖν μέρη, τοὺς δὲ τραυματίας καὶ τοὺς ἀπειρηκότας ὀπίσω τῆς φάλαγγος ἀπιέναι. οἱ δ᾽ Ἕρνικες ὡς ἔμαθον κινουμένους αὐτῶν τοὺς λόχους φυγῆς τ᾽ ἄρχειν τοὺς Ῥωμαίους ὑπέλαβον, καὶ παρακελευσάμενοι ἀλλήλοις ἐμβάλλουσι πυκνοῖς τοῖς λόχοις εἰς τὰ κινούμενα τῶν πολεμίων μέρη, καὶ οἱ ἀκραιφνεῖς τῶν Ῥωμαίων ἐπιόντας αὐτοὺς δέχονται: καὶ ἦν αὖθις ἐξ ὑπαρχῆς ἀμφοτέρων ἐκθύμως ἀγωνιζομένων μάχη καρτερά: καὶ γὰρ καὶ οἱ τῶν Ἑρνίκων ἐξεπληροῦντο λόχοι τοῖς ἀκμῆσιν ὑποπεμπομένοις εἰς τὰ κάμνοντα ὑπὸ τῶν ἡγεμόνων.
[3] Aquilius, observing this, ordered that the troops which were still fresh and were being reserved for this very purpose should come up to reinforce the parts of the line that were in distress and that the men who were wounded and exhausted should retire to the rear. The Hernicans, learning that their troops were being shifted, imagined that the Romans were beginning flight; and encouraging one another and closing their ranks, they fell upon those parts of the enemy’s army that were in motion, and the fresh troops of the Romans received their onset. Thus once more, as both sides fought stubbornly, there was a strenuous battle all over again; for the ranks of the Hernicans were also continually reinforced with fresh troops sent up by their generals to the parts of the line that were in distress.
[4] ἐπειδὴ δὲ περὶ δείλην ὀψίαν ἦν ἤδη, παρακαλέσας τοὺς ἱππεῖς ὁ ὕπατος νυνὶ δὴ ἄνδρας ἀγαθοὺς γενέσθαι, ἐμβάλλει τοῖς πολεμίοις κατὰ τὸ δεξιὸν κέρας αὐτὸς ἡγούμενος τῆς ἴλης. οἱ δ᾽ ὀλίγον τινὰ δεξάμενοι χρόνον αὐτοὺς ἐγκλίνουσι, καὶ γίνεται φόνος ἐνταῦθα πολύς. τὸ μὲν οὖν δεξιὸν τῶν Ἑρνίκων κέρας ἐπόνει τ᾽ ἤδη καὶ ἐξέλειπε τὴν τάξιν, τὸ δ᾽ εὐώνυμον ἔτι ἀντεῖχε καὶ περιῆν τοῦ Ῥωμαίων δεξιοῦ: μετ᾽ ὀλίγον μέντοι καὶ τοῦτ᾽ ἐνέδωκεν.
[4] At length, late in the afternoon, the consul, encouraging the horsemen now at least to acquit themselves as brave men, led the squadron in a charge at the enemy’s right wing. This, after resisting them for a short time, fell back, and a great slaughter ensued. While the Hernicans’ right wing was now in difficulties and no longer keeping its ranks, their left still held out and was superior to the Romans’ right; but in a short time this too gave way.
[5] ὁ γὰρ Ἀκύλλιος τοὺς ἀρίστους τῶν νέων ἐπαγόμενος παρεβοήθει κἀκεῖ παραθαρρύνων τε καὶ ἐξ ὀνόματος ἀνακαλῶν τοὺς εἰωθότας ἐν ταῖς πρὶν ἀριστεύειν μάχαις, τά τε σημεῖα τῶν λόχων, ὅσοι μὴ ἐρρωμένως ἐδόκουν ἀμύνεσθαι, παρὰ τῶν σημειοφόρων ἁρπάζων εἰς μέσους ἐρρίπτει τοὺς πολεμίους, ἵνα τὸ δέος αὐτοὺς τῆς ἐννόμου τιμωρίας, εἰ μὴ ἀνασώσαιντο τὰς σημαίας, ἄνδρας ἀγαθοὺς εἶναι [p. 223] ἀναγκάσῃ: τῷ τε κάμνοντι αὐτὸς παρεβοήθει μέρει ἀεί, τέως ἐξέωσε τῆς στάσεως καὶ θάτερον κέρας. ψιλωθέντων δὲ τῶν ἄκρων οὐδὲ τὰ μέσα παρέμεινε.
[5] For Aquilius, taking with him the best of the youth, hastened to the rescue there also, and exhorting his men and calling by name upon those who had been wont to distinguish themselves in former battles, and seizing from their bearers the standards of any centuries that did not seem to be fighting resolutely, he hurled them into the midst of the enemy, in order that their fear of the punishment prescribed by the laws in the case of failure to recover the standards might compel them to be brave men; and he himself continually came to the relief of any part that was in distress, till he dislodged the other wing also from its position. Their flanks being now exposed, even the centre did not stand its ground.
[6] φυγὴ δὴ τῶν Ἑρνίκων τὸ μετὰ τοῦτ᾽ ἐγίνετο ἐπὶ τὸν χάρακα τεταραγμένη τε καὶ ἄκοσμος, καὶ οἱ Ῥωμαῖοι αὐτοῖς κτείνοντες ἠκολούθουν. τοσαύτη δ᾽ ἄρα προθυμία παρὰ τὸν τότ᾽ ἀγῶνα τῇ Ῥωμαίων στρατιᾷ ἐνέπεσεν, ὥστε καὶ τοῦ χάρακος τῶν πολεμίων πειρᾶσθαί τινας ἐπιβαίνειν ὡς ἐξ ἐφόδου χειρωσομένους: ὧν οὐκ ἀσφαλῆ τὴν προθυμίαν οὐδ᾽ ἐν τῷ συμφέροντι γιγνομένην ὁρῶν ὁ ὕπατος, σημαίνειν κελεύσας τὸ ἀνακλητικὸν κατεβίβασε τοὺς ὁμόσε χωροῦντας ἄκοντας ἀπὸ τῶν ἐρυμάτων, δείσας, μὴ ἐξ ὑπερδεξιῶν βαλλόμενοι σὺν αἰσχύνῃ τε καὶ μετὰ μεγάλης βλάβης ἀναγκασθῶσιν ὑποχωρεῖν, ἔπειτα καὶ τὴν ἐκ τῆς προτέρας νίκης εὔκλειαν ἀφανίσωσι. τότε μὲν οὖν ἤδη καὶ γὰρ ἦν περὶ δύσιν ἡλίου: χαίροντές τε καὶ παιανίζοντες οἱ Ῥωμαῖοι κατεστρατοπέδευσαν.
[6] It became a flight then for the Hernicans, a flight b
ack to their camp in confusion and disorder; and the Romans pursued, cutting them down. Such ardour, indeed, came upon the Roman army in that struggle that some of the men endeavoured even to mount the ramparts of the enemy’s camp in the hope of taking it by storm. But the consul, perceiving that their ardour was hazardous and detrimental, ordered the signal for a retreat to be sounded and thus brought down from the ramparts against their will those who were coming to blows with the enemy; for he feared that they would be forced by the missiles hurled down upon them from above to retire with shame and great loss and would thus efface the glory of their earlier victory. On that occasion, then, it being now near sunset, the Romans made their camp rejoicing and singing songs of triumph.
[1] τῇ δ᾽ ἐπιούσῃ νυκτὶ ψόφος τ᾽ ἠκούετο πολὺς ἐκ τοῦ χάρακος τῶν Ἑρνίκων καὶ βοή, καὶ πολλὰ ἐφαίνετο σέλα λαμπάδων. ἀπογνόντες γὰρ ἔτι ἀνθέξειν ἑτέρᾳ μάχῃ καταλιπεῖν τὸν χάρακα ἔγνωσαν αὐτοκέλευστοι: καὶ τὸ ποιῆσαν αὐτῶν τὴν ἀταξίαν καὶ βοὴν τοῦτ᾽ ἦν. ὡς γὰρ ἕκαστοι δυνάμεως εἶχον καὶ τάχους, ἔφευγον ἐπιβοῶντές τ᾽ ἀλλήλους καὶ ἐπιβοώμενοι, τῶν δ᾽ ὑπολειπομένων διὰ τραύματα ἢ νόσους [p. 224]
[66.1] The following night there was much noise and shouting heard in the camp of the Hernicans, and the lights of many torches were seen. For the enemy, despairing of being able to hold their own in another engagement, had resolved to leave their camp of their own accord; and this was the cause of the disorder and shouting. For they were fleeing with all the strength and speed which each man was capable of, calling to and being called by one another, without showing the least regard for the lamentations and entreaties of those who were being left behind on account of their wounds and sickness.
[2] οἰμωγὰς καὶ λιτανείας ἐν οὐδενὶ λόγῳ τιθέμενοι. τοῦτ ἀγνοοῦντες οἱ Ῥωμαῖοι, πεπυσμένοι δὲ παρὰ τῶν αἰχμαλώτων πρότερον, ὅτι δύναμις Ἑρνίκων ἑτέρα μέλλοι βοηθὸς ἥξειν τοῖς σφετέροις, καὶ τὴν βοήν τε καὶ ταραχὴν ἐπὶ τῇ ἐκείνων ἀφίξει γεγονέναι νομίζοντες, τά τ᾽ ὅπλα ἀνέλαβον καὶ τὸν χάρακα περιστεφανώσαντες, μή τις ἔφοδος αὐτοῖς γένοιτο νύκτωρ, τοτὲ μὲν ὅπλων κτύπον ἐποίουν ἀθρόοι, τοτὲ δ᾽ ὥσπερ εἰς μάχην ὁρμώμενοι θαμινὰ ἐπηλάλαζον. τοῖς δ᾽ Ἕρνιξι καὶ ταῦτα δέος μέγα παρεῖχε, καὶ ὡς διωκόμενοι πρὸς τῶν πολεμίων σποράδες ἄλλοι κατ᾽ ἄλλας ὁδοὺς ἔθεον.
[2] The Romans, who knew nothing of this but had been informed earlier by the prisoners that another army of Hernicans was intending to come to the aid of their countrymen, imagined that this shouting and tumult had been occasioned by the arrival of those reinforcements, and they accordingly took up their arms once more, and forming a circle about their entrenchments, for fear some attack might be made upon them in the night, they would now make a din by all clashing their weapons together at the same time and now raise their war-cry repeatedly as if they were going into battle. The Hernicans were greatly alarmed at this also, and believing themselves pursued by the enemy, dispersed and fled, some by one road and some by another.
[3] ἡμέρας δὲ γενομένης, ἐπειδὴ ἀπήγγειλαν αὐτοῖς οἱ πεμφθέντες ἐπὶ τὴν κατασκοπὴν ἱππεῖς, ὡς οὔτε δύναμις ἑτέρα παρῄει σύμμαχος τοῖς πολεμίοις, οἵ τε τῇ προτέρᾳ παραταξάμενοι μάχῃ πεφεύγασιν, ἐξαγαγὼν τὴν δύναμιν ὁ Ἀκύλλιος τόν τε χάρακα τῶν πολεμίων αἱρεῖ μεστὸν ὄντα ὑποζυγίων τε καὶ ἀγορᾶς καὶ ὅπλων, καὶ τοὺς τραυματίας αὐτῶν οὐκ ἐλάττους ὄντας τῶν πεφευγότων λαμβάνει, τήν τε ἵππον ἐκπέμψας ἐπὶ τοὺς ἐσκεδασμένους ἀνὰ τὰς ὁδούς τε καὶ τὰς ὕλας πολλῶν γίνεται σωμάτων ἐγκρατής: καὶ τὸ λοιπὸν ἤδη τὴν Ἑρνίκων γῆν ἐπῄει λεηλατῶν ἀδεῶς, οὐδενὸς ἔτι ὑπομένοντος εἰς χεῖρας ἰέναι. ταῦτα μὲν Ἀκύλλιος ἔδρασεν.
[3] When day came and the horse sent out to reconnoitre had reported to the Romans that not only was there no fresh force coming to the enemy’s assistance, but that even those who had been arrayed in battle the day before had fled, Aquilius marched out with his army and seized the enemy’s camp, which was full of beasts of burden, provisions, and arms, and also took captive their wounded, not fewer in number than those who had fled; and sending the horse in pursuit of such as were scattered along the roads and in the woods, he captured many of them. Thereafter he overran the Hernican’s territory and laid it waste with impunity, no one any longer daring to encounter him. These were the exploits of Aquilius.
[1] ὁ δ᾽ ἕτερος τῶν ὑπάτων Τῖτος Σίκκιος, ὁ πεμφθεὶς ἐπὶ Οὐολούσκους, ὅσον ἦν κράτιστον τῆς δυνάμεως μέρος ἀναλαβὼν εἰς τὴν Οὐελιτρανῶν χώραν [p. 225] εἰσέβαλεν. ἐνταῦθα γὰρ ἦν Τύλλος Ἄττιος ὁ τῶν Οὐολούσκων ἡγεμὼν τὴν ἀκμαιοτάτην συσκευασάμενος στρατιάν, γνώμην ἔχων τὰ συμμαχικὰ Ῥωμαίων κακῶσαι πρῶτον, ὥσπερ ὁ Μάρκιος ἔδρασεν, ὅτ᾽ ἤρχετο τοῦ πολέμου, δόξας ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ φόβῳ Ῥωμαίους ἔτι διαμένειν καὶ μηδεμίαν τοῖς ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν κινδυνεύουσι πέμψειν ἐπικουρίαν. ὡς δ᾽ ὤφθησάν τε καὶ εἶδον ἀλλήλας αἱ δυνάμεις, οὐδὲν ἔτι ἀναβαλόμεναι συνῄεσαν εἰς ταὐτόν.
[67.1] The other consul, Titus Siccius, who had been sent against the Volscians, took with him the flower of the army and made an irruption into the territory of Velitrae. For Tullus Attius, the Volscian general, was there with the most vigorous part of the army, which he had assembled with the intention of first harassing the Romans’ allies as Marcius had done when he began the war, thinking that the Romans still continued in the same state of fear and would not send any assistance to those who were incurring danger for their sake. As soon as the two armies were seen by and saw each other, they engaged without delay.
[2] ἦν δ᾽ ὁ χῶρος ὁ μεταξὺ τῶν στρατοπέδων, ἐν ᾧ τὴν μάχην ἔδει γενέσθαι, λόφος πετρώδης πολλαχῇ περικατεαγώς, ἔνθα οὐδετέροις ἡ ἵππος ἔμελλεν ἔσεσθαι χρησίμη. μαθόντες δὲ τοῦθ᾽ οἱ τῶν Ῥωμαίων ἱππεῖς καὶ ἐν αἰσχύνῃ θέμενοι, εἰ παρόντες τῷ ἀγῶνι μηδὲν προσωφελήσουσιν, ἐδέοντο τοῦ ὑπάτου προσελθόντες ἀθρόοι, ἐᾶσαι σφᾶς καταβάντας ἀπὸ τῶν ἵππων μάχεσθαι πεζούς, εἰ τοῦτ᾽ αὐτῷ δοκεῖ κράτιστον εἶναι.
[2] The ground between their camps on which the battle would have to take place was a rocky hill broken away in many parts of its circuit, where the horse could be of no use to either side. The Roman cavalry, observing this, thought it would be a shame for them to be present at the action without assisting in it; and coming to the consul in a body, they begged him to permit them to quit their horses and fight on foot, if t
his seemed best to him.
[3] κἀκεῖνος πολλὰ ἐπαινέσας αὐτοὺς καταβιβάζει τ᾽ ἀπὸ τῶν ἵππων, καὶ σὺν ἑαυτῷ τεταγμένους εἶχεν ἐπισκόπους τε καὶ ἐπανορθωτὰς τοῦ κάμνοντος ἐσομένους: καὶ ἐγένοντο τῆς τότε νίκης λαμπρᾶς σφόδρα γενομένης οὗτοι Ῥωμαίοις αἴτιοι. τὸ μὲν γὰρ πεζὸν ἀμφοτέρων πλήθει τ᾽ ἀνθρώπων ὡς μάλιστα ἦν καὶ ὁπλισμοῖς ὁμοιότροπον, τάξεώς τε κόσμῳ καὶ μάχης ἐμπειρίᾳ κατά τ᾽ ἐπαγωγὰς καὶ ὑποχωρήσεις πληγάς τ᾽ αὖ καὶ φυλακὰς παραπλήσιον.
[3] He commended them heartily, and ordering them to dismount, drew them up and kept them with him to observe any part of the line that might be hard pressed and to go to its relief; and they proved to be the cause of the very brilliant victory which the Romans then gained. For the foot on both sides were remarkably alike both in numbers and in armament, and were very similar in the tactical formation of their lines and in their experience in fighting, whether in attacking or retreating, or again in dealing blows or in warding them off.
[4] μετέμαθον γὰρ οἱ Οὐολοῦσκοι πάντα τὰ πολέμια, ἐξ οὗ Μάρκιον ἔσχον [p. 226] ἡγεμόνα, καὶ εἰς τὰ Ῥωμαίων προσεχώρησαν ἔθη. διέμενον οὖν ἐπὶ πλεῖστον χρόνον τῆς ἡμέρας ἀγχωμάλως αἱ φάλαγγες ἀγωνιζόμεναι, καὶ ἡ τοῦ χωρίου φύσις ἀνώμαλος οὖσα ἑκατέροις πολλὰ εἰς τὸ πλεονεκτεῖν κατ᾽ ἀλλήλων παρείχετο. οἱ δ᾽ ἱππεῖς τῶν Ῥωμαίων διχῇ νείμαντες ἑαυτούς, οἱ μὲν κατὰ τὰ πλάγια τῶν πολεμίων ἀπὸ τοῦ δεξιοῦ κέρως ἐμβάλλουσιν, οἱ δὲ περιελθόντες διὰ τοῦ λόφου τοῖς κατόπιν ἐπιρράττουσιν.
Delphi Complete Works of Dionysius of Halicarnassus (Illustrated) (Delphi Ancient Classics Book 79) Page 623