Liv. 2.46.1Īnstruitur aciēs, nec Vēiēns hostis Etrūscaeque legiōnēs dētractant.The battle line is drawn up, and the Veientine enemy and the Etruscan legions do not decline battle. Liv. 2.46.1Prope certa spēs erat nōn magis sēcum pugnātūrōs, quam pugnāverint cum Aequīs;They had an almost sure hope that the Romans would fight with them no more than they had fought with the Aequi; Liv. 2.46.1maius quoque aliquod in tam inrītātīs animīs et occāsiōne ancipitī haud dēspērandum esse facinus.and that even some greater outrage was not to be despaired of, with tempers so provoked and the occasion so critical. Liv. 2.46.2Rēs aliter longē ēvēnit;The outcome was far otherwise; Liv. 2.46.2nam nōn aliō ante bellō īnfestior Rōmānus — adeō hinc contumēliīs hostēs, hinc cōnsulēs morā exacerbāverant — proelium iniit.for never in any earlier war had the Romans entered battle more fiercely — so greatly had the enemy on one side with their insults, the consuls on the other with their delay, exasperated them. Liv. 2.46.3Vix explicandī ōrdinēs spatium Etrūscīs fuit, cum pīlīs inter prīmam trepidātiōnem abiectīs temerē magis quam ēmissīs pugna iam in manūs, iam ad gladiōs, ubi Mārs est atrōcissimus, vēnerat.The Etruscans scarcely had room to deploy their ranks when, the javelins having been thrown away at random rather than aimed in the first confusion, the fight had already come to close quarters, to swords, where Mars is at his most savage.
Liv. 2.46.4Inter prīmōrēs genus Fabium īnsigne spectāculō exemplōque cīvibus erat.Among the foremost the Fabian clan was conspicuous, a spectacle and an example to their fellow citizens. Liv. 2.46.4Ex hīs Q. Fabium — tertiō hic annō ante cōnsul fuerat — prīncipem in cōnfertōs Veientēs euntem ferōx vīribus et armōrum arte Tuscus, incautum inter multās versantem hostium manūs, gladiō per pectus trānsfīgit;Of these, Quintus Fabius — he had been consul two years before — as he led the way against the massed Veientes, was run through the chest with a sword by a Tuscan proud of his strength and skill in arms, while he moved heedlessly among many bands of the enemy; Liv. 2.46.4tēlō extrāctō praeceps Fabius in vulnus cadit.when the weapon was pulled out, Fabius fell headlong upon his wound. Liv. 2.46.5Sēnsit utraque aciēs ūnīus virī cāsum, cēdēbatque inde Rōmānus, cum M. Fabius cōnsul trānsiluit iacentis corpus obiectāque parmā "hoc iūrāstis" inquit, "mīlitēs, fugientēs vōs in castra reditūrōs?Both lines felt the fall of this one man, and the Romans were beginning to give way, when the consul Marcus Fabius leapt over the body as it lay, held his shield before it and said: 'Is this what you swore, soldiers, that you would return to camp in flight?
Liv. 2.46.6Adeō ignāvissimōs hostīs magis timētis quam Iovem Mārtemque, per quōs iūrāstis?Do you fear the most cowardly of enemies so much more than Jupiter and Mars, by whom you swore? Liv. 2.46.6At ego iniūrātus aut victor revertar aut prope tē hīc, Q. Fabī, dīmicāns cadam."But I, who took no oath, will either return victorious or fall fighting here beside you, Quintus Fabius.' Liv. 2.46.6Cōnsulī tum K. Fabius, priōris annī cōnsul: "verbīsne istīs, frāter, ut pugnent, tē impetrātūrum crēdis?Then Kaeso Fabius, consul of the year before, said to the consul: 'Do you think, brother, that with those words you will get them to fight? Liv. 2.46.6Diī impetrābunt, per quōs iūrāvēre;The gods by whom they swore will get them to; Liv. 2.46.7et nōs, ut decet procerēs, ut Fabiō nōmine est dignum, pugnandō potius quam adhortandō accendāmus mīlitum animōs!"let us too, as befits nobles, as is worthy of the Fabian name, kindle the soldiers' spirits by fighting rather than by exhorting!' Liv. 2.46.7Sīc in prīmum īnfestīs hastīs prōvolant duo Fabiī tōtamque mōvērunt sēcum aciem.So the two Fabii fly forward to the front with levelled spears, and carried the whole line with them.