Liv. 3.5.1Multī per eōs diēs mōtūs multīque impetūs hinc atque illinc factī, quia superante multitūdine hostēs carpere multifāriam vīrīs Rōmānās, ut nōn suffectūrās ad omnia, adgressī sunt;Many movements and many attacks were made on this side and that in those days, because the enemy, superior in numbers, set about wearing down the Roman forces in many places, as though they would not be enough for everything; Liv. 3.5.2simul castra oppugnābantur, simul pars exercitūs ad populandum agrum Rōmānum missa urbemque ipsam, sī qua fortūna daret, temptandam.at the same time the camp was being attacked, and at the same time part of the army was sent to plunder Roman territory and to make an attempt on the city itself, if fortune should give any chance. Liv. 3.5.3L. Valerius ad praesidium urbis relictus, cōnsul Postumius ad arcendās populātiōnēs fīnium missus.Lucius Valerius was left to guard the city; the consul Postumius was sent to keep raids from the borders. Liv. 3.5.3Nihil remissum ab ūllā parte cūrae aut labōris;Nothing was relaxed on any side in vigilance or toil; Liv. 3.5.4vigiliae in urbe, statiōnēs ante portās praesidiaque in mūrīs disposita et, quod necesse erat in tantō tumultū, iūstitium per aliquot diēs servātum.watches were posted in the city, outposts before the gates and garrisons on the walls, and, as was necessary in so great a tumult, a suspension of public business was kept for several days.
Liv. 3.5.5Interim in castrīs Fūrius cōnsul cum prīmō quiētus obsidiōnem passus esset, in incautum hostem decumānā portā ērūpit et, cum persequī posset, metū substitit, nē qua ex parte alterā in castra vīs fieret.Meanwhile in the camp the consul Furius, after at first enduring the siege quietly, burst out from the rear gate on the unwary enemy, and, though he could have pursued them, halted for fear that an assault might be made on the camp from some other side. Liv. 3.5.5Fūrium lēgātum — frāter īdem cōnsulis erat — longius extulit cursus;Furius the legate — he was also the consul's brother — was carried too far by his charge; Liv. 3.5.6nec suōs ille redeuntēs persequendī studiō neque hostium ab tergō incursum vīdit.in his eagerness for pursuit he saw neither his own men returning nor the enemy's attack from behind. Liv. 3.5.6Ita exclūsus multīs saepe frūstrā cōnātibus captīs, ut viam sibi ad castra faceret, ācriter dīmicāns cecidit, et cōnsul nūntiō circumventī frātris conversus ad pugnam, dum sē temerē magis quam satis cautē in mediam dīmicātiōnem īnfert, vulnere acceptō aegrē ab circumstantibus ēreptus et suōrum animōs turbāvit et ferōciōrēs hostēs fēcit;So, cut off, after often making many vain efforts to force a way for himself to the camp, he fell fighting fiercely; and the consul, turning back to the fight at the news that his brother was surrounded, while he threw himself into the thick of the struggle more rashly than cautiously enough, received a wound and was rescued with difficulty by those around him, and he both dismayed the spirits of his own men and made the enemy fiercer; Liv. 3.5.8quī caede lēgātī et cōnsulis vulnere accēnsī nūllā deinde vī sustinērī potuēre, cum conpulsī in castra Rōmānī rūrsus obsidērentur nec spē nec vīribus parēs, vēnissetque in perīculum summa rērum, nī T. Quīnctius peregrīnīs cōpiīs, Latīnō Hernicōque exercitū, subvēnisset.inflamed by the slaughter of the legate and the wounding of the consul, they could no longer be withstood by any force, since the Romans, driven into the camp, were again besieged, a match for the enemy neither in hope nor in strength, and the whole issue would have come into danger, had not Titus Quinctius come to the rescue with foreign forces, the army of the Latins and the Hernici.
Liv. 3.5.9Is intentōs in castra Rōmāna Aequōs lēgātīque caput ferōciter ostentantēs ab tergō adortus, simul ad signum ā sē procul ēditum ex castrīs ēruptiōne factā, magnam vim hostium circumvēnit.He attacked from behind the Aequi, who were intent on the Roman camp and were fiercely displaying the legate's head, and at the same time, as a sally was made from the camp at a signal given by him from afar, he surrounded a great number of the enemy. Liv. 3.5.9Minor caedēs, fuga effūsior Aequōrum in agrō fuit Rōmānō;Less slaughter but a more scattered flight was the lot of the Aequi in Roman territory; Liv. 3.5.10in quōs pālātōs praedam agentēs Postumius aliquot locīs, quibus opportūna inposuerat praesidia, impetum dedit.on these, as they straggled and drove off plunder, Postumius made an attack at several points where he had placed well-chosen detachments. Liv. 3.5.10Hī vagī dissipātō agmine fugientēs in Quīnctium victōrem cum sauciō cōnsule revertentem incidēre.These, fleeing in disorder with their column broken up, ran into Quinctius as he returned victorious with the wounded consul. Liv. 3.5.11Tum cōnsulāris exercitus ēgregiā pugnā cōnsulis vulnus, lēgātī et cohortium ultus est caedem.Then the consular army, by an outstanding fight, avenged the consul's wound and the slaughter of the legate and the cohorts.
Liv. 3.5.11Magnae clādēs ultrō citrōque illīs diēbus et inlātae et acceptae.Great losses were both inflicted and suffered on both sides in those days. Liv. 3.5.12Difficile ad fidem est in tam antīquā rē, quot pugnāverint ceciderintve, exāctō adfirmāre numerō;It is hard, in so ancient a matter, to state as a believable fact with an exact figure how many fought or fell; Liv. 3.5.12audet tamen Antiās Valerius concipere summās: Rōmānōrum cecidisse in Hernicō agrō quīnque mīlia octingentōs, ex praedātōribus Aequōrum, quī populābundī in fīnibus Rōmānīs vagābantur, ab A. Postumiō cōnsule duo mīlia et quadringentōs caesōs;yet Valerius Antias ventures to set down totals: that of the Romans five thousand eight hundred fell in Hernican territory; that of the Aequian plunderers who were roaming through Roman territory laying it waste, two thousand four hundred were killed by the consul Aulus Postumius; Liv. 3.5.13cēteram multitūdinem praedam agentem, quae inciderit in Quīnctium, nēquāquam parī dēfūnctam esse caede;that the rest of the multitude, driving off plunder, which ran into Quinctius, got off with nowhere near equal slaughter; Liv. 3.5.13interfecta inde quattuor mīlia et exequendō subtīliter numerum ducentōs ait et trīgintā.of these, he says, four thousand were killed and, tracing the number out precisely, two hundred and thirty.
Liv. 3.5.13Ut Rōmam reditum est, iūstitium remissum est.When they returned to Rome, the suspension of business was lifted. Liv. 3.5.14Caelum vīsum est ārdēre plūrimō ignī, portentaque alia aut obversāta oculīs aut vānās exterritīs ostentāvēre speciēs.The sky was seen to blaze with a great deal of fire, and other portents either appeared before people's eyes or showed empty apparitions to the terrified. Liv. 3.5.14Hīs āvertendīs terrōribus in trīduum fēriae indictae, per quās omnia dēlūbra pācem deum exposcentium virōrum mulierumque turbā inplēbantur.To avert these terrors a holiday of three days was proclaimed, during which all the shrines were filled with a crowd of men and women begging for the peace of the gods. Liv. 3.5.15Cohortēs inde Latīnae Hernicaeque ab senātū grātiīs ob inpigram mīlitiam āctīs remissae domōs.Then the Latin and Hernican cohorts, after the senate had thanked them for their energetic service, were sent back to their homes. Liv. 3.5.15Antiātēs mīlle mīlitēs, quia sērum auxilium post proelium vēnerant, prope cum ignōminiā dīmissī.The thousand soldiers from Antium, because they had come as a belated help after the battle, were dismissed almost in disgrace.