Liv. 3.4.1Cōnsulēs inde A. Postumius Albus, Sp. Fūrius Fūsus.Then the consuls were Aulus Postumius Albus and Spurius Furius Fusus. Liv. 3.4.1Fūriōs Fūsiōs scrīpsēre quīdam;Some have written 'Furius' as 'Fusius'; Liv. 3.4.1id admoneō, nē quis inmūtātiōnem virōrum ipsōrum esse, quae nōminum est, putet.I mention this so that no one may think that what is a change of names is a change of the men themselves. Liv. 3.4.2Haud dubium erat, quīn cum Aequīs alter cōnsulum bellum gereret.There was no doubt that one of the consuls would wage war with the Aequi. Liv. 3.4.2Itaque Aequī ab Ecetrānīs Volscīs praesidium petiēre;And so the Aequi asked the Volscians of Ecetra for help; Liv. 3.4.2quō cupidē oblātō — adeō cīvitātēs eae perpetuō in Rōmānōs odiō certāvēre — bellum summā vī parābātur.this was eagerly offered — so constantly did those states vie in hatred of the Romans — and war was prepared with the utmost energy. Liv. 3.4.3Sentiunt Hernicī et praedīcunt Rōmānīs Ecetrānum ad Aequōs dēscīsse.The Hernici perceived it and warned the Romans that Ecetra had gone over to the Aequi. Liv. 3.4.3Suspecta et colōnia Antium fuit, quod magna vīs hominum inde, cum oppidum captum esset, cōnfūgisset ad Aequōs;The colony of Antium too was suspected, because a great number of people had fled from there to the Aequi when the town was captured; Liv. 3.4.3isque mīles per bellum Aequicum vel ācerrimus fuit.and these men were perhaps the fiercest soldiers throughout the Aequian war.
Liv. 3.4.4Conpulsīs deinde in oppida Aequīs ea multitūdō dīlāpsa cum Antium redīsset, suā sponte iam īnfīdōs colōnōs Rōmānīs abaliēnāvit.Later, when the Aequi had been driven into their towns, this multitude slipped away and returned to Antium, and estranged from the Romans colonists already disloyal of their own accord. Liv. 3.4.5Necdum mātūrā rē cum dēfectiōnem parārī dēlātum ad senātum esset, datum negōtium est cōnsulibus, ut prīncipibus colōniae Rōmam excitīs quaererent, quid reī esset.While the matter was not yet ripe, when it was reported to the senate that a revolt was being prepared, the consuls were given the task of summoning the leading men of the colony to Rome and inquiring what was going on. Liv. 3.4.6Quī cum haud gravātē vēnissent, intrōductī ā cōnsulibus ad senātum ita respondērunt ad interrogāta, ut magis suspectī quam vēnerant dīmitterentur.These came without reluctance, and when they had been brought before the senate by the consuls, they answered the questions in such a way that they were sent away more suspected than they had come. Liv. 3.4.6Bellum inde haud dubium habērī.From then on war was regarded as certain.
Liv. 3.4.7Sp. Fūrius, cōnsulum alter, cui ea prōvincia ēvēnerat, profectus in Aequōs Hernicōrum in agrō populābundum hostem invēnit ignārusque multitūdinis, quia nūsquam ūniversa cōnspecta fuerat, inparem cōpiīs exercitum temerē pugnae commīsit.Spurius Furius, one of the consuls, to whom that command had fallen, set out against the Aequi and found the enemy plundering in the territory of the Hernici; and, ignorant of their numbers, because they had nowhere been seen all together, he rashly committed to battle an army unequal to their forces. Liv. 3.4.8Prīmō concursū pulsus sē intrā castra recēpit.Driven back at the first clash, he withdrew within his camp. Liv. 3.4.8Neque is fīnis perīculī fuit;Nor was that the end of the danger; Liv. 3.4.8namque et proximā nocte et posterō diē tantā vī castra sunt circumsessa atque oppugnāta, ut nē nūntius quidem inde mittī Rōmam posset.for both the following night and the next day the camp was surrounded and attacked with such force that not even a messenger could be sent from there to Rome. Liv. 3.4.9Hernicī et male pugnātum et cōnsulem exercitumque obsidērī nūntiāvērunt tantumque terrōrem incussēre patribus, ut, quae fōrma senātūs cōnsultī ultimae semper necessitātis habita est, Postumiō, alterī cōnsulum, negōtium darētur, vidēret, nē quid rēs pūblica dētrīmentī caperet.The Hernici reported both that the battle had gone badly and that the consul and his army were under siege, and they struck such terror into the senators that Postumius, the other consul, was given the charge — the form of decree of the senate that has always been regarded as one of extreme necessity — to see to it that the state should suffer no harm.
Liv. 3.4.10Ipsum cōnsulem Rōmae manēre ad cōnscrībendōs omnēs, quī arma ferre possent, optimum vīsum est;It seemed best that the consul himself should remain at Rome to enrol all who could bear arms; Liv. 3.4.10prō cōnsule T. Quīnctium subsidiō castrīs cum sociālī exercitū mittī;that Titus Quinctius should be sent as proconsul to relieve the camp with an army of allies; Liv. 3.4.10ad eum explendum Latīnī Hernicīque et colōnia Antium dare Quīnctiō subitāriōs mīlitēs — ita tum repentīna auxilia appellābant — iussī.to fill it up, the Latins and Hernici and the colony of Antium were ordered to give Quinctius emergency soldiers — this is what they then called sudden reinforcements.