[9,69] Ῥωμαῖοι δὲ τοὺς καλουμένους ἀντιβασιλεῖς ἑλόμενοι τῶν ἀρχαιρεσίων ἕνεκα, ὃ ποιεῖν εἰώθασιν, ὅταν ἀναρχία κατάσχῃ τὴν πόλιν, ὑπάτους ἀπέδειξαν Λεύκιον Λοκρήτιον καὶ Τῖτον Οὐετούριον Γέμινον. ἐπὶ τῆς τούτων ἀρχῆς ἥ τε νόσος ἐπαύσατο καὶ τὰ πολιτικὰ ἐγκλήματα ἀναβολῆς ἔτυχε, τά τ´ ἴδια καὶ τὰ κοινά, πειραθέντος μὲν αὖθις τὸ περὶ τῆς κληρουχίας πολίτευμα κινεῖν ἑνὸς τῶν δημάρχων Σέξτου Τιτίου, κωλύσαντος δὲ τοῦ δήμου καὶ εἰς ἐπιτηδειοτέρους ὑπερθεμένου καιρούς. προθυμία τε πολλὴ πᾶσιν ἐνέπεσε τιμωρήσασθαι τοὺς ἐπιστρατεύσαντας τῇ πόλει κατὰ τὸν τῆς νόσου καιρόν· καὶ αὐτίκα τῆς βουλῆς ψηφισαμένης καὶ τοῦ δήμου τὸν πόλεμον ἐπικυρώσαντος κατεγράφοντο τὰς δυνάμεις, οὐδενὸς τῶν ἐχόντων στρατεύσιμον ἡλικίαν οὐδ´, εἴ τινα ὁ νόμος ἀπέλυεν, ἀξιοῦντος ἐκείνης ἀπολειφθῆναι τῆς στρατείας· νεμηθείσης δὲ τριχῇ τῆς δυνάμεως μία μὲν ὑπελείφθη φυλάττειν τὴν πόλιν, ἧς ἡγεῖτο Κόιντος Φούριος ἀνὴρ ὑπατικός· αἱ δὲ δύο σὺν τοῖς ὑπάτοις ἐξῆλθον ἐπί τ´ Αἰκανοὺς καὶ Οὐολούσκους. τὸ δ´ αὐτὸ τοῦτο καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν πολεμίων ἔτυχεν ἤδη γεγονός. ἡ μὲν γὰρ κρατίστη δύναμις ἀφ´ ἑκατέρου τῶν ἐθνῶν συνελθοῦσα ὑπαίθριος ἦν ὑπὸ δυσὶν ἡγεμόσι, καὶ ἔμελλεν ἀπὸ τῆς Ἑρνίκων γῆς, ἐν ᾗ τότ´ ἦν, ἀρξαμένη πᾶσαν ἐπελεύσεσθαι τὴν Ῥωμαίων ὑπήκοον· ἡ δ´ ἧττον ἐκείνης χρησίμη τὰ οἰκεῖα πολίσματα ὑπελείφθη φυλάττειν, μή τις ἔφοδος αἰφνίδιος πολεμίων ἐπ´ αὐτὰ γένηται. πρὸς ταῦτα βουλευομένοις τοῖς Ῥωμαίων ὑπάτοις ἐδόκει κράτιστον εἶναι ταῖς πόλεσιν αὐτῶν πρῶτον ἐπιχειρεῖν, κατὰ τοιόνδε τινὰ λογισμόν, ὅτι διαλυθήσεται τὸ κοινὸν αὐτῶν στράτευμα, εἰ πύθοιντο ἕκαστοι τὰ οἰκεῖα ἐν τοῖς ἐσχάτοις ὄντα κινδύνοις, καὶ πολὺ κρεῖττον ἡγήσεται τὰ σφέτερα σώζειν, ἢ τὰ τῶν πολεμίων φθείρειν. Λοκρήτιος μὲν οὖν εἰς τὴν Αἰκανῶν ἐνέβαλεν, Οὐετούριος δ´ εἰς τὴν Οὐολούσκων. Αἰκανοὶ μὲν οὖν τὰ ἔξω πάντα ἀπολλύμενα περιορῶντες τὴν πόλιν καὶ τὰ φρούρια εἶχον ἐν φυλακῇ.

[9,69] The Romans, after choosing interreges, as they are called, to preside at the election of magistrates — a course they are accustomed to take whenever a state of "anarchy," or lack of a regular government, occurs — elected Lucius Lucretius and Titus Veturius Geminus consuls. In their consulship the pestilence ceased and all civil complaints, both (p155) public and private, were postponed. Sextus Titius, one of the tribunes, endeavoured, it is true, to revive the measure for the allotment of land, but the populace would not permit it and deferred the matter to more suitable times. A great eagerness came upon all to take revenge on those who had made expeditions against the city on the occasion of the pestilence. And the senate having straightway voted for war and the people having confirmed the decree, they proceeded to enrol their forces; and no man who was of military age, not even if the law exempted him, wished to be left out of the expedition. The army having been divided into three bodies, one of them, commanded by Quintus Furius, an ex-consul, was left to defend the city, while the other two marched out with the consuls against the Aequians and the Volscians.This same course had also been taken already by the enemy. For their best army, assembled from both nations, was in the field under two commanders, and intended to begin with the territory of the Hernicans, in which they were then encamped, and to proceed against all the territory that was subject to the Romans; their less useful forces were left to guard their towns, lest some sudden attack might be made upon them by enemies.In view of this situation the Roman consuls thought it best to attack their foes' cities first; for they reasoned to this effect, that the allied army would fall apart if each of the two nations learned that their own possessions were in the direst peril, and that they would think it much more important to save their own (p157) possessions than to destroy those of the enemy. Lucretius accordingly invaded the country of the Aequians and Veturius that of the Volscians. The Aequians, for their part, permitted everything outside their walls to be destroyed, but guarded their city and their fortresses.