Liv. 3.6.1Comitia inde habita;Then elections were held; Liv. 3.6.1creātī cōnsulēs L. Aebūtius, P. Servīlius.Lucius Aebutius and Publius Servilius were elected consuls. Liv. 3.6.1Kal.On the Kalends Liv. 3.6.1Sextīlibus, ut tunc prīncipium annī agēbātur, cōnsulātum ineunt.of Sextilis, the day on which the year then began, they entered upon their consulship. Liv. 3.6.2Grave tempus et forte annus pestilēns erat urbī agrīsque nec hominibus magis quam pecorī;It was a grievous time, and as it happened the year was a pestilential one for the city and the countryside, and no less for men than for cattle; Liv. 3.6.2et auxēre vim morbī terrōre populātiōnis pecoribus agrestibusque in urbem acceptīs.and they increased the violence of the disease by taking cattle and country people into the city for fear of raids. Liv. 3.6.3Ea conluuiō = mīxtōrum omnis generis animantium et odōre īnsolitō urbānōs et agrestem cōnfertum in arta tēcta aestū ac vigiliīs angēbat, ministeriaque in vicem ac contāgiō ipsa volgābant morbōs.This medley of all kinds of living creatures mixed together distressed both the city folk, with its unaccustomed stench, and the country people, crowded into cramped dwellings, with heat and sleeplessness; and the tending of one another and contact itself spread the disease.
Liv. 3.6.4Vix īnstantēs sustinentibus clādēs repente lēgātī Hernicī nūntiant in agrō suō Aequōs Volscōsque coniūnctīs cōpiīs castra posuisse;While they could scarcely bear the disasters pressing upon them, envoys of the Hernici suddenly reported that the Aequi and Volscians had joined forces and pitched camp in their territory; Liv. 3.6.4inde exercitū ingentī fīnēs suōs dēpopulārī.and from there, with a huge army, were laying waste their lands. Liv. 3.6.5Praeterquam quod īnfrequēns senātus indiciō erat sociīs adflīctam cīvitātem pestilentiā esse, maestum etiam respōnsum tulēre, ut per sē ipsī Hernicī cum Latīnīs rēs suās tūtārentur: urbem Rōmānam subitā deum īrā morbō populārī;Besides the fact that the thin attendance of the senate was a sign to the allies that the state was stricken by pestilence, they also brought back a gloomy answer: that the Hernici, together with the Latins, should protect their own affairs by themselves: the city of Rome was being ravaged by disease through a sudden anger of the gods; Liv. 3.6.5sī qua eius malī quiēs veniat, ut annō ante, ut semper aliās sociīs opem lātūrōs.if any respite from that evil should come, they would bring help to their allies, as the year before, as always at other times.
Liv. 3.6.6Discessēre sociī prō trīstī nūntiō trīstiōrem domum reportantēs, quippe quibus per sē sustinendum bellum erat, quod vix Rōmānīs fultī vīribus sustinuissent.The allies departed, carrying home, in place of a sad message, a sadder one, since they had to sustain by themselves a war which they could scarcely have sustained even when propped up by Roman strength. Liv. 3.6.7Nōn diūtius sē in Hernicō hostis continuit;The enemy did not confine himself any longer to Hernican territory; Liv. 3.6.7pergit inde īnfestus in agrōs Rōmānōs etiam sine bellī iniūriā vāstātōs.he proceeded from there with hostile intent into Roman lands, which were laid waste even without the injury of war. Liv. 3.6.7Ubi cum obvius nēmō nē inermis quidem fieret perque omnia nōn praesidiīs modo dēserta sed etiam cultū agrestī trānsīrent, pervēnēre ad tertium lapidem Gabīnā viā.There, since no one met them, not even unarmed, and they passed through everything deserted not only by garrisons but even by the tillage of the fields, they came as far as the third milestone on the Gabine road. Liv. 3.6.7Mortuus Aebūtius erat Rōmānus cōnsul;Aebutius, the Roman consul, had died; Liv. 3.6.8collēga eius Servīlius exiguā in spē trahēbat animam;his colleague Servilius was drawing breath with slight hope of life; Liv. 3.6.8adfectī plērīque prīncipum, patrum maior pars, mīlitāris ferē aetās omnis, ut nōn modo ad expedītiōnēs, quās in tantō tumultū rēs poscēbat, sed vix ad quiētās statiōnēs vīribus sufficerent.most of the leading men were stricken, the greater part of the senators, and nearly all of military age, so that their strength was scarcely sufficient, not merely for the expeditions which the situation demanded in so great a tumult, but even for standing quietly on guard.
Liv. 3.6.9Mūnus vigiliārum senātōrēs, quī per aetātem ac valētūdinem poterant, per sē ipsī obībant;The duty of keeping watch was undertaken in person by those senators whose age and health allowed it; Liv. 3.6.9circumitiō ac cūra aedīlium plēbī erat;the rounds and the supervision were the business of the plebeian aediles; Liv. 3.6.9ad eōs summa rērum ac maiestās cōnsulāris imperiī vēnerat.to them the supreme control of affairs and the majesty of consular command had passed.