Liv. 2.64.1Extrēmō annō pācis aliquid fuit, sed, ut semper aliās, sollicitae pācis certāmine patrum et plēbis.At the end of the year there was some peace, but, as always at other times, a troubled peace because of the struggle between senators and plebs. Liv. 2.64.1Īrāta plēbs interesse cōnsulāribus comitiīs nōluit;The plebs, angry, refused to take part in the consular elections; Liv. 2.64.2per patrēs clientēsque patrum cōnsulēs creātī T. Quīnctius Q. Servīlius.through the senators and the senators' clients Titus Quinctius and Quintus Servilius were elected consuls. Liv. 2.64.2Similem annum priōrī cōnsulēs habent, sēditiōsa initia, bellō deinde externō tranquilla.The consuls have a year like the previous one, with a seditious beginning and then calm because of foreign war. Liv. 2.64.3Sabīnī Crustumīnōs campōs citātō agmine trānsgressī cum caedēs et incendia circum Aniēnem flūmen fēcissent, ā portā prope Collīnā moenibusque pulsī ingentēs tamen praedās hominum pecorumque ēgēre.The Sabines crossed the Crustumian plains in a hurried column, and after causing slaughter and burning around the river Anio, they were driven back from close to the Colline gate and the walls, but still drove off huge booty in men and cattle.
Liv. 2.64.4Quōs Servīlius cōnsul īnfestō exercitū īnsecūtus ipsum quidem agmen adipīscī aequīs locīs nōn potuit, populātiōnem adeō effūsē fēcit, ut nihil bellō intāctum relinqueret multiplicīque captā praedā redīret.The consul Servilius pursued them with an army ready for battle, and though he could not overtake their column itself on favourable ground, he carried out his raids so widely that he left nothing untouched by war and returned with many times as much booty taken. Liv. 2.64.5Et in Volscīs rēs pūblica ēgregiē gesta cum ducis tum mīlitum operā.Among the Volsci, too, the state's business was excellently conducted, through the efforts both of the general and of the soldiers. Liv. 2.64.5Prīmum aequō campō signīs conlātīs pugnātum ingentī caede utrimque, plūrimō sanguine.First they fought on level ground with standards joined, with huge slaughter on both sides and very great bloodshed. Liv. 2.64.6Et Rōmānī, quia paucitās damnō sentiendō propior erat, gradum rettulissent, nī salūbrī mendāciō cōnsul fugere hostēs ab cornū alterō clāmitāns concitāsset aciem.And the Romans, because their smaller numbers made them quicker to feel their losses, would have given ground, had not the consul roused the line with a timely lie, shouting that the enemy were fleeing on the other wing.
Liv. 2.64.6Impetū factō, dum sē putant vincere, vīcēre.They charged, and while they thought they were winning, they won. Liv. 2.64.7Cōnsul metuēns, nē nimis īnstandō renovāret certāmen, signum receptuī dedit.The consul, fearing that by pressing too hard he might renew the contest, gave the signal for retreat. Liv. 2.64.8Intercessēre paucī diēs, velut tacitīs indūtiīs utrimque quiēte sūmptā, per quōs ingēns vīs hominum ex omnibus Volscīs Aequīsque populīs in castra vēnit, haud dubitāns, sī sēnserint, Rōmānōs nocte abitūrōs.A few days intervened, with quiet kept on both sides as if by a tacit truce, during which a huge number of men from all the peoples of the Volsci and Aequi came into the camp, not doubting that the Romans, if they became aware of it, would leave by night. Liv. 2.64.9Itaque tertiā ferē vigiliā ad castra oppugnanda veniunt.And so at about the third watch they come to attack the camp. Liv. 2.64.10Quīnctius sēdātō tumultū, quem terror subitus excīverat, cum manēre in tentōriīs quiētum mīlitem iussisset, Hernicōrum cohortem in statiōnem ēdūcit, cornicinēs tubicinēsque in equōs inpositōs canere ante vallum iubet sollicitumque hostem ad lūcem tenēre.Quinctius, having calmed the uproar which the sudden alarm had stirred up, ordered the soldiers to stay quiet in their tents, led out a cohort of the Hernici to an outpost, and ordered the horn-blowers and trumpeters, mounted on horses, to sound before the rampart and to keep the enemy anxious until daylight.
Liv. 2.64.11Relicum noctis adeō tranquilla omnia in castrīs fuēre, ut somnī quoque Rōmānīs cōpia esset.For the rest of the night everything in the camp was so peaceful that the Romans even had the chance to sleep. Liv. 2.64.11Volscōs speciēs armātōrum peditum, quōs et plūrēs esse et Rōmānōs putābant, fremitus hinnītusque equōrum, quī et īnsuētō sedente equite et īnsuper aurēs agitante sonitū saeviēbant, intentōs velut ad impetum hostium tenuit.The Volsci were kept on the alert as if for an enemy attack by the sight of armed infantry, whom they believed to be both more numerous than they were and Romans, and by the snorting and neighing of the horses, which were restive both because of the unaccustomed riders sitting on them and because of the noise assailing their ears besides.