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33. The consul, aroused by the din, commanded the two allied cohorts which happened to be nearest —those from Lucania and Suessa —to guard headquarters, and put himself at the head of the legionary maniples in the via principalis.1 The men fell in ere they had fairly fitted on their armour, and, knowing the enemy more by their shouting than by the sight of them, were unable to form any estimate of their [3] numbers. at first they gave ground, uncertain how fortune stood with them, and admitted the foe into the middle of the [4] camp; then, on the consul's asking them whether they meant to be driven without the wall and afterwards make an assault on their own camp, they gave a cheer, and, exerting themselves, first made a successful stand, and afterwards pushed forward and forced their enemies back, and, having once repulsed them, left them no time to recover their first dismay, but thrust them out of gate and [5] rampart. not venturing then to go on and pursue them, since the dim light made them fear an ambush, they retired —content to have [p. 485]cleared their camp —within the palisade, having2 slain about three hundred of the [6] enemy. The Roman loss, at the outpost and amongst those who were taken by surprise at the quaestor's tent, was some seven hundred and [7] thirty.

this bold and not unsuccessful venture of the Samnites raised their spirits; and not only would they not permit the Romans to go forward, but they would not even permit them to forage in their fields; the foragers fell back on the peaceful territory about [8] Sora. The rumour of these events —more startling even than the events themselves — being brought to Rome compelled the consul Lucius Postumius, though barely recovered, to take the [9] field. but after issuing a proclamation calling upon his soldiers to assemble at Sora, he himself, before leaving the City, dedicated a shrine to Victory, which he had built,3 as curule aedile, with money received from [10] fines. having then set out to join the army, he led it from Sora to his colleague's camp in Samnium. The Samnites then retreated, having no confidence in their ability to resist two armies, and the consuls separated and marched in different directions to waste their fields and attack their cities.

1 A wide street parallel with the front and rear lines of the camp, at either end of which was a gate [2] —the portaprincipalis dextra and porta principals sinistra respectively.

2 B.C. 294

3 Probably on the Palatine, since Livy mentions a shrine of Victory as being there at xxix. xiv. 13.

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load focus Notes (W. Weissenborn, H. J. Müller, 1898)
load focus Summary (English, Benjamin Oliver Foster, Ph.D., 1926)
load focus Summary (Latin, W. Weissenborn, H. J. Müller, 1898)
load focus Summary (Latin, Benjamin Oliver Foster, Ph.D., 1926)
load focus English (Rev. Canon Roberts, 1912)
load focus Latin (Benjamin Oliver Foster, Ph.D., 1926)
load focus English (D. Spillan, A.M., M.D., Cyrus Evans, 1849)
load focus Latin (Charles Flamstead Walters, Robert Seymour Conway, 1919)
load focus Latin (W. Weissenborn, H. J. Müller, 1898)
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  • Commentary references to this page (5):
    • Titus Livius (Livy), Ab urbe condita libri, erklärt von M. Weissenborn, books 31-32, commentary, 31.34
    • Titus Livius (Livy), Ab urbe condita libri, erklärt von M. Weissenborn, books 31-32, commentary, 31.46
    • Titus Livius (Livy), Ab urbe condita libri, erklärt von M. Weissenborn, books 33-34, commentary, 34.46
    • Titus Livius (Livy), Ab urbe condita libri, erklärt von M. Weissenborn, books 41-42, commentary, 41.26
    • Titus Livius (Livy), Ab urbe condita libri, erklärt von M. Weissenborn, books 43-44, commentary, 44.9
  • Cross-references to this page (12):
  • Cross-references in general dictionaries to this page (8):
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