Liv. 2.53.1Certāmina domī fīnīta;The contests at home were over; Liv. 2.53.1Vēiēns bellum exortum, quibus Sabīnī arma coniūnxerant.a war with Veii arose, and the Sabines had joined their arms with them. Liv. 2.53.1P. Valerius cōnsul accītīs Latīnōrum Hernicōrumque auxiliīs cum exercitū Vēiōs missus castra Sabīna, quae prō moenibus sociōrum locāta erant, cōnfestim adgreditur tantamque trepidātiōnem iniēcit, ut, dum dispersī aliī alia manipulātim excurrunt ad arcendam hostium vim, ea porta, cui signa prīmum intulerat, caperētur.The consul Publius Valerius, having summoned auxiliaries from the Latins and Hernici, was sent with an army to Veii and at once attacked the Sabine camp, which had been placed before the walls of their allies, and caused such panic that, while they ran out in scattered groups, some one way, some another, to ward off the enemy's attack, the gate against which he had first advanced was taken. Liv. 2.53.2Intrā vallum deinde caedēs magis quam proelium esse.Then within the rampart there was slaughter rather than battle. Liv. 2.53.2Tumultus ē castrīs et in urbem penetrat;The uproar from the camp penetrates into the city as well; Liv. 2.53.2tamquam Vēīs captīs, ita pavidī Veientēs ad arma currunt.the Veientes run to arms in as great a panic as if Veii had been captured.
Liv. 2.53.2Pars Sabīnīs eunt subsidiō, pars Rōmānōs tōtō impetū intentōs in castra adoriuntur.Some go to the help of the Sabines, others attack the Romans, intent with all their force on the camp. Liv. 2.53.3Paulisper āversī turbātīque sunt;For a little while the Romans were turned and thrown into confusion; Liv. 2.53.3deinde et ipsī utrōque versīs signīs resistunt, et eques ab cōnsule inmissus Tuscōs fundit fugatque;then they too faced both ways and resisted, and the cavalry sent in by the consul routs and puts the Tuscans to flight; Liv. 2.53.3eādemque hōrā duo exercitūs, duae potentissimae et maximae fīnitimae gentēs superātae sunt.and in the same hour two armies, two of the most powerful and greatest neighbouring peoples, were overcome. Liv. 2.53.4Dum haec ad Vēiōs geruntur, Volscī Aequīque in Latīnō agrō posuerant castra populātīque fīnēs erant.While this was happening at Veii, the Volsci and Aequi had pitched camp in Latin territory and laid waste the country. Liv. 2.53.4Eōs per sē ipsī Latīnī adsūmptīs Hernicīs sine Rōmānō aut duce aut auxiliō castrīs exuērunt;The Latins by themselves, taking the Hernici as allies, without either a Roman general or Roman help, drove them out of their camp; Liv. 2.53.5ingentī praedā praeter suās reciperātās rēs potītī sunt.besides recovering their own property, they gained enormous booty.
Liv. 2.53.5Missus tamen ab Rōmā cōnsul in Volscōs C. Nautius;Nevertheless the consul Gaius Nautius was sent from Rome against the Volsci; Liv. 2.53.5mōs, crēdō, nōn placēbat sine Rōmānō duce exercitūque sociōs propriīs vīribus cōnsiliīsque bella gerere.it was not liked, I suppose, that allies should get into the habit of waging wars with their own forces and strategy, without a Roman general and army. Liv. 2.53.6Nūllum genus calamitātis contumēliaeque nōn ēditum in Volscōs est, nec tamen perpellī potuēre, ut aciē dīmicārent.There was no kind of disaster and humiliation not inflicted upon the Volsci, and yet they could not be driven to fight a pitched battle.