Primus omnium consul invadit hostem et, c.u.m quo forte contulit gradum, obtruncat. Hoc spectaculo accensi dextra laevaque ante se quisque memorandum proelium ciet; stant obnixi Samnites, quamquam {15} plura accipiunt quam inferunt vulnera. Aliquamdiu iam pugnatum erat, atrox caedes circa signa Samnitium, fuga ab nulladum parte erat; adeo morte sola vinci destinaverant animis. Itaque Romani, c.u.m et fluere iam la.s.situdine vires sentirent et diei {20} haud multum superesse, accensi ira concitant se in hostem. Tum primum referri pedem atque inclinari rem in fugam apparuit; tum capi, occidi Samnis; nec superfuissent multi, ni nox victoriam magis quam proelium diremisset. {25}
LIVY, vii. 33.
[Linenotes: 1. +familiarior+ = _on better terms with_. --Cluer and Matheson.
2. +haud gravate+ = _without reluctance_ (_ungrudgingly_). Compare Sall.u.s.t"s description of Marius and Sulla.
4. +aequales+ = _compet.i.tors_, lit. _well-matched_.
+comiter facilis+ = _he was courteously good-natured_.
6-7. +pro re+ = _to suit the occasion_.
9. +artibus iisdem+ = _in the same spirit_. --Weissenborn.
11. +prosecutus+ = _welcoming_, lit. _attending_.
12-13. +c.u.m ... gradum+ = _with whom he happened to engage_. Cf.
_collato pede_ = _fighting foot to foot_.
15. +stant obnixi+ = _stand their ground firmly_. +obnixus+ (+ob + nitor+, _strive + against_), _resolute_.
23. +Samnis+, nom. sing.
+capi+, +occidi+, Historic Infinitives.
25. +diremisset+ = _had broken off_. _dirimo_ (_dis + emo_) = _take apart_.]
+The Battle of Mt. Gaurus.+ The battle was fought on the volcanic range of mountains between c.u.mae and Neapolis. The Consul in command, M.
Valerius, obtained the surname of Corvus (Raven), because when serving as a military Tribune under Camillus in 349 B.C., he defeated the Gallic champion by the aid of a raven. See next page, A. l. 4. [[line 66]]
D33
THE LATIN WAR, 340-338 B.C. (1)
_Self-Sacrifice of Decius Mus, 340 B.C._
A. _Rome"s Empire safe in the keeping of Augustus._
Curtius expletis statuit monimenta lacunis; At Decius misso proelia rupit equo; 64 Coc.l.i.tis abscissos testatur semita pontes: Est cui cognomen corvus habere dedit.
Haec di condiderunt, haec di quoque moenia servant: Vix timeat, salvo Caesare, Roma Iovem. 68
PROPERTIUS, III. (IV.) xi. (x.) 63-68.
[Linenotes: 63. +Curtius ... lacunis+, in allusion to the spot called _Lacus Curtius_ (marked by a circular pavement) in the Forum which served as a memorial (_monimenta_) of his heroic sacrifice. Livy, vii. 6.
+lacuna+ (cf. _lacus_) = _a hole_, _pool_, _chasm_.
65. +semita+ (_sed + meo_ = _go + aside_) = _a path_, _road_.
Cocles, apparently, gave his name to the street running up from the bridge which he "kept so well." --Ramsay.
66. +cui+, i.e. M. Valerius Corvus, the hero of Mt. Gaurus. See p. 91. [[previous selection]]
67-68. i.e. _with Caesar_ (_Augustus_) _safe_, Rome has none to fear, nay, scarce Jove himself. Flattery can go no further than this!]
B. _The Dream of the Consuls on the Eve of Battle._
Illud etiam somnium et magnae admirationis et clari exitus, quod eadem nocte duo consules P. Decius Mus et T. Manlius Torquatus Latino bello gravi ac periculoso non procul a Vesuvi montis radicibus {10} positis castris viderunt. Utrique enim quaedam per quietem species praedixit ex altera acie imperatorem, ex altera exercitum dis Manibus matrique Terrae deberi; utrius autem dux copias hostium superque eas sese ipsum devovisset, victricem abituram. Id {15} luce proxima consulibus sacrificio vel expiaturis, si posset averti, vel, si certum deorum etiam monitu visum foret, exsecuturis, hostiarum exta somnio congruerunt, convenitque inter eos, cuius cornu prius laborare coep.i.s.set, ut is capite suo fata patriae lueret. {20} Quae neutro reformidante Decium depoposcerunt.
VALERIUS MAXIMUS, i. _De Somniis_.
[Linenotes: 13. +Dis Manibus+ = _the deified souls of the dead_, usually looked upon as beneficent spirits.
15. +victricem+, sc. _aciem_.
17. +deorum etiam monitu+ = _by the warning of the G.o.ds also_, i.e.
by the auspices as well as by the dream.
19-20. +cuius cornu ... coep.i.s.set.+ The left wing led by Decius was repulsed by the Latins, and Decius accordingly devoted himself to death.]
+Parallel Pa.s.sage.+ Livy, viii. 6. 9.
D34
THE LATIN WAR, 340-338 B.C. (2)
_The Battle of Mt. Vesuvius, 340 B.C._
Procedente deinde certamine c.u.m aliis partibus mult.i.tudo superaret Latinorum, Manlius consul audito eventu collegae paulisper addubitavit, an consurgendi iam triariis tempus esset; deinde melius ratus integros eos ad ultimum discrimen servari, {5} Accensos ab novissima acie ante signa procedere iubet. Qui ubi subiere, extemplo Latini, tamquam idem adversarii fecissent, triarios suos excitaverunt; qui aliquamdiu pugna atroci c.u.m et semet ipsi fatiga.s.sent et hastas aut praefregissent aut hebeta.s.sent, {10} pellerent vi tamen hostem, debellatum iam rati perventumque ad extremam aciem, tum consul triariis "Consurgite nunc"
inquit "integri adversus fessos, memores patriae parentumque et coniugum ac liberorum, memores consulis pro vestra victoria {15} morte occubantis." Ubi triarii consurrexerunt, integri, refulgentibus armis, nova ex improviso exorta acies, receptis in intervalla ordinum antepilanis, clamore sublato principia Latinorum perturbant hastisque ora fodientes primo robore virorum caeso per alios manipulos {20} velut inermes prope intacti evasere tantaque caede perrupere cuneos, ut vix quartam partem relinquerent hostium.
LIVY, viii. 10.
[Linenotes: 3-4. +an consurgendi ... esset.+ Livy says "The Triarii were posted crouching by the standards, their left leg extended forwards, holding their shields resting on their shoulders, and their spears fixed in the ground with the points erect, so that their line bristled as if enclosed by a rampart."
6. +Accensos.+ The _Accensi_ (_ad + censeo_), originally supernumeraries to take the place of those who fell in battle, = _levis armatura_.
+ante signa+, i.e. of the Hastati and Principes.
8. +excitaverunt+ = _surgere iusserunt_. --Weissenborn.
10. +hebeta.s.sent+ = _had blunted_.
18. +antepilanis+ = _prop._ both the Hastati and Principes who were drawn up before the Pilani or Triarii who formed the third line.
19. +principia+ = _the front line_, now the Triarii of the Latins.
22. +cuneos+ = _columns_ (lit. _wedges_), i.e. a body of soldiers drawn up in the shape of a wedge. Livy uses it of the phalanx.]
+The Cause of the War.+ The war was almost a civil one. The dispute was chiefly about a right to share in the privileges of the full Roman citizenship (espec. the right to vote and to hold office).
+Result of the War.+ Rome broke up the Latin Confederation by making separate treaties with the Latin towns, and by prohibiting commercial intercourse between them.
D35
SECOND SAMNITE WAR, 326-304 B.C. (1)
_The Dictator and his Master of the Horse._
Ea fortuna pugnae fuit, ut nihil relictum sit, quo, si adfuisset Dictator, res melius geri potuerit; non dux militi, non miles duci defuit. Eques etiam, auctore L. Cominio tribuno militum, qui aliquotiens impetu capto perrumpere non poterat hostium agmen, {5} detraxit frenos equis atque ita concitatos calcaribus permisit, ut sustinere eos nulla vis posset; per arma, per viros late stragem dedere; secutus pedes impetum equitum turbatis hostibus intulit signa. Viginti milia hostium caesa eo die traduntur. Magister equitum, {10} ut ex tanta caede, multis pot.i.tus spoliis congesta in ingentem acervum hostilia arma subdito igne concremavit, seu votum id deorum cuiquam fuit, seu credere libet Fabio auctori eo factum, ne suae gloriae fructum Dictator caperet nomenque ibi scriberet aut {15} spolia in triumpho ferret. Litterae quoque de re prospere gesta ad senatum, non ad Dictatorem missae argumentum fuere minima c.u.m eo communicantis laudes. Ita certe Dictator id factum accepit, ut laetis aliis victoria parta prae se ferret iram trist.i.tiamque. {20}
LIVY, viii, 30.
[Linenotes: 2. +Dictator+ = L. Papirius Cursor, noted for the strictness of his military discipline. At this time he had gone to Rome to take the auspices anew (_ad auspicium repetendum_) and had given strict orders to his Master of the Horse, Q. Fabius Rullia.n.u.s, to avoid all collision with the enemy during his absence.
7. +permisit+ = _gave them their heads_. Cf. _immittere habenas_.
9. +turbatis ... signa+ = _attacked the enemy_ (dative) _when in confusion_.
11. +spoliis+, i.e. the _arms_ taken from the fallen.
13-14. +seu credere ... factum+ = lit. _or whether one prefer to credit the authority of Fabius that it was done on this account_ (+eo+) ... +Fabius Pictor+, the earliest Roman historian, wrote in Greek and served in the 2nd Punic War.
15. +ibi+ (sc. _hostilia arma_) = _on them_. These, set up as a trophy with the victor"s name inscribed, would have been borne in the triumphal procession.
19. +Ita certe ... accepit+ = _so_ (+ita+) _no doubt the Dictator interpreted his_ (Fabius") _action_.]