[9,61] Ἐπὶ δὲ τῆς ἐνάτης καὶ ἑβδομηκοστῆς ὀλυμπιάδος, ἣν ἐνίκα Ξενοφῶν Κορίνθιος ἄρχοντος Ἀθήνησιν Ἀρχεδημίδου, παραλαμβάνουσι τὴν ὑπατείαν Τῖτος Κοίντιος Καπιτωλῖνος καὶ Κόιντος Φάβιος Οὐιβουλανός· Κοίντιος μὲν τὸ τρίτον ἐπὶ τὴν ἀρχὴν ἀποδειχθεὶς ὑπὸ τοῦ δήμου, Φάβιος δὲ τὸ δεύτερον. οἷς ἡ βουλὴ ἀμφοτέροις στρατιὰς μεγάλας καὶ εὖ παρεσκευασμένας παραδοῦσα ἐξέπεμψε. Κοίντιος μὲν οὖν ἐτάχθη φυλάττειν τὴν σφετέραν γῆν, ὅση τοῖς πολεμίοις ὅμορος ἦν, Φάβιος δὲ τὴν Αἰκανῶν δῃοῦν· καὶ καταλαμβάνει τοὺς Αἰκανοὺς ἐπὶ τοῖς μεθορίοις ὑπομένοντας αὐτὸν σὺν δυνάμει πολλῇ. καὶ ἐπειδὴ τὰς παρεμβολὰς ἐν τοῖς κρατίστοις ἑκάτεροι χωρίοις κατεστήσαντο, προῄεσαν εἰς τὸ πεδίον Αἰκανῶν προκαλεσαμένων καὶ ἀρξάντων τῆς μάχης, καὶ διέμειναν ἐπὶ πολὺ τῆς ἡμέρας ἐκθύμως καὶ φιλοπόνως ἀγωνιζόμενοι, καὶ τὸ νικᾶν οὐ παρ´ ἄλλον τινὰ ἢ παρ´ ἑαυτὸν ἕκαστος τιθέμενος. ὡς δὲ τὰ ξίφη τοῖς πλείοσιν αὐτῶν διὰ τὰς συνεχεῖς πληγὰς ἄχρηστα ἐγεγόνει, σημηνάντων τὸ ἀνακλητικὸν τῶν ἡγεμόνων ἀπῆλθον ἐπὶ τοὺς χάρακας. καὶ μετὰ τοῦτο τὸ ἔργον ἀγὼν μὲν ἐκ παρατάξεως οὐκέτ´ αὐτῶν ἐγένετο, ἀκροβολισμοὶ δέ τινες καὶ συμπλοκαὶ ψιλῶν περί τε ὕδασι καὶ ἐν ἀγορᾶς παραπομπαῖς συνεχεῖς· κἀν τούτοις μέντοι τὰ πολλὰ ἦσαν ἰσόρροποι. ἐν ᾧ δὲ ταῦτ´ ἐγίνετο χρόνῳ, μοῖρά τις ἀπὸ τῆς Αἰκανῶν στρατιᾶς παρελθοῦσα καθ´ ἑτέρας ὁδοὺς {ἀφυλάκτους} ἐνέβαλεν εἰς τὴν Ῥωμαίων γῆν, ἣ πλεῖστον ἀφειστήκει τῆς ὁμόρου καὶ διὰ τοῦτ´ ἀφύλακτος ἦν· ἐξ ἧς ἀνθρώπους τε πολλοὺς συνήρπασε καὶ χρήματα, λαθοῦσά τε τοὺς σὺν τῷ Κοιντίῳ περιπόλους τῆς σφετέρας γῆς ἀπῆλθεν ἐπὶ τὰ οἰκεῖα. τοῦτο συνεχῶς ἐγίνετο καὶ πολλὴν παρεῖχεν αἰσχύνην τοῖς ὑπάτοις. ἔπειτα μαθὼν διὰ κατασκόπων τε καὶ αἰχμαλώτων ὁ Φάβιος ἐξεληλυθυῖαν ἐκ τοῦ χάρακος τῶν Αἰκανῶν τὴν κρατίστην δύναμιν, ἐν τῇ παρεμβολῇ καταλιπὼν τοὺς πρεσβυτάτους αὐτὸς ἐξῆλθε νύκτωρ ἱππέων ἐπαγόμενος καὶ τοῦ πεζοῦ τὸ ἀκμαιότατον. οἱ μὲν οὖν Αἰκανοὶ διηρπακότες τὰ χωρία, οἷς ἐνέβαλον, ἀπῄεσαν ἐπαγόμενοι πολλὰς ὠφελείας, ὁ δὲ Φάβιος οὐ πολὺ προελθοῦσιν αὐτοῖς ἐπιφαίνεται καὶ τήν τε λείαν ἀφαιρεῖται καὶ μάχῃ τοὺς ὑπομείναντας νικᾷ γενομένους ἄνδρας ἀγαθούς· οἱ δὲ λοιποὶ σποράδες ἐμπειρίᾳ ὁδῶν λαθόντες τοὺς διώκοντας κατέφυγον εἰς τὸν χάρακα. ἐπεὶ δὲ ταύτῃ ἀνεκρούσθησαν οἱ Αἰκανοὶ τῇ συμφορᾷ παρὰ δόξαν σφίσι γενομένῃ, λύσαντες τὴν παρεμβολὴν ὑπὸ νύκτα ᾤχοντο καὶ οὐκέτι τὸ λοιπὸν ἐξῄεσαν ἐκ τῆς πόλεως· ἀλλ´ ἠνείχοντο σῖτόν τε, ὃς ἐν ἀκμῇ τότε ἦν, συγκομιζόμενον ὑπὸ τῶν πολεμίων καὶ ἀγέλας βοσκημάτων ἀπελαυνομένας ὁρῶντες, χρήματά τε διαρπαζόμενα καὶ αὐλὰς πυρὶ διδομένας καὶ αἰχμαλώτους πολλοὺς ἀγομένους. τοῦτο διαπραξάμενος ὁ Φάβιος, ἐπειδὴ παραδοῦναι τὰς ἀρχὰς ἑτέροις ἔδει, τὴν δύναμιν ἀναστήσας ἀπῆγε· τὸ δ´ αὐτὸ καὶ Κοίντιος ἐποίει.

[9,61] In the seventy-ninth Olympiad (the one at which Xenophon of Corinth won the foot-race), (p131) Archedemides being archon at Athens, Titus Quintius Capitolinus and Quintus Fabius Vibulanus succeeded to the consulship, Quintius being elected by the people to that office for the third time and Fabius for the second. Both of them the senate sent into the field, giving them large and well-equipped armies.Quintius was ordered to defend the part of their territory which adjoined that of the enemy, and Fabius to plunder the country of the Aequians. Fabius found the Aequians waiting for him on their own borders with a large force. After both sides had placed their camps in the most advantageous positions, they advanced into the plain, the Aequians being the challengers and beginning the battle; and they continued fighting spiritedly and with perseverance for a great part of the day, each man placing his hopes of victory in no one but himself. But when the swords of the greater part of them had become useless from repeated blows, the generals ordered the retreat to be sounded and the men returned to their camps. After this action no pitched battle was again fought by them, but there were sundry skirmishes and constant clashes of the light-armed troops as they went to fetch water and escorted convoys of provisions; and in these encounters, moreover, they were as a result evenly matched. While this was going on, a detachment of the Aequians' army, marching by other roads, made an irruption into the part of the Roman territory which lay at a very great distance from the common boundary and was for that reason unguarded; and seizing there many persons and goods, they returned to their homes without (p133) being discovered by the patrols under Quintius who were guarding their own territory. This happened continually and brought much disgrace upon the consuls. Later Fabius, learning through scouts and prisoners that the best of the Aequians' forces had gone out of their camp, set out himself in the night with the flower of the horse and foot, leaving the oldest men in the camp. The Aequians, after plundering the regions which they had invaded, were returning home with many spoils. But they had not proceeded far when Fabius suddenly appeared before them, took away their booty, and defeated in battle those who valiantly withstood him; the rest scattered, and being familiar with the roads, escaped their pursuers and fled to their camp for refuge.When the Aequians had been checked by this unexpected disaster, they broke camp and departed as night came on; and after that they ventured out no more from their city, but submitted to seeing their corn, which was then ripe, carried off by the enemy, their herds of cattle driven away, their effects seized, their farm-houses given to the flames and many prisoners led away. After these achievements Fabius, the time having come for the consuls to hand over their power to their successors, took his army and returned home; and Quintius did the same.