Liv. 3.61.1Cōnsul ex alterā parte Rōmānōs meminisse iubēbat illō diē prīmum līberōs prō līberā urbe Rōmānā pugnāre: sibimet ipsīs victūrōs, nōn ut Decemvirōrum victōrēs praemium essent.On the other side the consul bade the Romans remember that on that day for the first time they were fighting as free men for a free Roman city: they would conquer for themselves, not so that as conquerors they should be the prize of the decemvirs. Liv. 3.61.2Nōn Appiō duce rem gerī, sed cōnsule Valeriō ab līberātōribus populī Rōmānī ortō, līberātōre ipsō.It was not under Appius' leadership that the battle was being waged, but under the consul Valerius, descended from the liberators of the Roman people, himself a liberator. Liv. 3.61.2Ostenderent priōribus proeliīs per ducēs, nōn per mīlitēs stetisse, nē vincerent;Let them show that in former battles it had been the fault of the leaders, not of the soldiers, that they did not conquer; Liv. 3.61.3turpe esse contrā cīvēs plūs animī habuisse quam contrā hostēs et domī quam forīs servitūtem magis timuisse.it was shameful to have shown more spirit against citizens than against enemies, and to have feared slavery more at home than abroad.
Liv. 3.61.4Ūnam Verginiam fuisse, cuius pudīcitiae in pāce perīculum esset, ūnum Appium cīvem perīculōsae libīdinis;Verginia alone had been in danger for her chastity in peacetime, Appius alone a citizen of dangerous lust; Liv. 3.61.4at, sī fortūna bellī inclīnet, omnium līberīs ab tot mīlibus hostium perīculum fore;but if the fortune of war should turn, everyone's children would be in danger from so many thousands of enemies; Liv. 3.61.5nōlle ōminārī, quae nec Iuppiter nec Mārs pater passūrī sint iīs auspiciīs conditae urbī accidere.he would not speak ill-omened words of things which neither Jupiter nor father Mars would allow to befall a city founded with such auspices. Liv. 3.61.5Aventīnī Sacrīque montis admonēbat, ut, ubi lībertās parta esset paucīs ante mēnsibus, eō imperium inlībātum referrent ostenderentque eandem indolem mīlitibus Rōmānīs post exāctōs decemvirōs esse, quae ante creātōs fuerit, nec aequātīs lēgibus inminūtam virtūtem populī Rōmānī esse.He reminded them of the Aventine and the Sacred Mount, urging them to bring back power undiminished to the place where liberty had been won a few months before, and to show that Roman soldiers had the same nature after the decemvirs were driven out as before they were created, and that the courage of the Roman people had not been diminished by the equalising of the laws.
Liv. 3.61.7Haec ubi inter signa peditum dicta dedit, advolat deinde ad equitēs: "agite, iuvenēs," inquit, "praestāte virtūte peditem, ut honōre atque ōrdine praestātis.Having spoken these words among the infantry standards, he then flew to the cavalry: 'Come, young men,' he said, 'surpass the infantry in courage, as you surpass them in honour and rank. Liv. 3.61.8Prīmō concursū pedes mōvit hostem, pulsum vōs inmissīs equīs exigite ē campō.At the first clash the infantry dislodged the enemy; now that he is driven back, give your horses their head and drive him from the field. Liv. 3.61.8Nōn sustinēbunt impetum et nunc cūnctantur magis quam resistunt."They will not withstand your charge, and even now they are hesitating rather than resisting.' Liv. 3.61.9Concitant equōs permittuntque in hostem pedestrī iam turbātum pugnā et perruptīs ōrdinibus ēlātī ad novissimam aciem, pars līberō spatiō circumvectī iam fugam undique capessentēs plērōsque ā castrīs āvertunt praeterequitantēsque absterrent.They spurred their horses and charged at the enemy, already thrown into confusion by the infantry battle, and, breaking through the ranks, were carried on to the rearmost line; some, riding round through open ground, cut off most of the enemy, who were now taking to flight on every side, from their camp, and riding past them frightened them away.
Liv. 3.61.10Peditum aciēs et cōnsul ipse vīsque omnis bellī fertur in castra captīsque cum ingentī caede maiōre praedā potītur.The infantry line, the consul himself and the whole force of the war swept on to the camp, and, having taken it with great slaughter, he gained still greater plunder. Liv. 3.61.10Huius pugnae fāma, perlāta nōn in urbem modo, sed in Sabīnōs ad alterum exercitum, in urbe laetitia celebrāta est, in castrīs animōs mīlitum ad aemulandum decus accendit.The news of this battle was carried not only to the city but to the other army among the Sabines; in the city it was celebrated with rejoicing, in the camp it fired the soldiers' spirits to emulate the glory. Liv. 3.61.12Iam Horātius eōs excursiōnibus proeliīsque levibus experiundō adsuēfēcerat sibi potius fīdere quam meminisse ignōminiae Decemvirōrum ductū acceptae;Horatius had already, by testing them in sallies and light skirmishes, accustomed them to trust in themselves rather than to remember the disgrace incurred under the decemvirs' command; Liv. 3.61.13parvaque certāmina in summam tōtīus prōfēcerant speī.and these small contests had added up to confidence in the whole.
Liv. 3.61.13Nec cessābant Sabīnī, ferōcēs ab rē priōre annō bene gestā, lacessere atque īnstāre rogitantēs, quid latrōciniī modō prōcursantēs paucī recurrentēsque tererent tempus et in multa proelia parvaque carperent summam ūnīus bellī?Nor did the Sabines, emboldened by their success of the previous year, cease to provoke and press them, asking again and again why they wasted time, sallying out a few at a time and running back like brigands, and frittered away the sum of a single war in many small battles. Liv. 3.61.14Quīn illī congrederentur aciē inclīnandamque semel fortūnae rem darent?Why did they not meet them in pitched battle and hand the issue over to fortune to be decided once for all?