[9,7] Ταῦτα παρὰ τῶν μάντεων οἱ Τυρρηνοὶ ἀκούσαντες μέρει τινὶ τῆς ἑαυτῶν στρατιᾶς τὴν ἐρημωθεῖσαν ὑπὸ τῶν Ῥωμαίων καταλαμβάνονται στρατοπεδείαν ὡς ἐπιτείχισμα ποιησόμενοι τῆς ἑτέρας· ἦν δὲ πάνυ ἐχυρὸν τὸ χωρίον καὶ τοῖς ἀπὸ Ῥώμης ἐπὶ τὸ στρατόπεδον ἰοῦσι κωλύσεως ἐν καλῷ κείμενον. πραγματευσάμενοι δὲ καὶ τἆλλα, ἐξ ὧν πλεονεκτήσειν τοὺς πολεμίους ἔμελλον, ἐξῆγον εἰς τὸ πεδίον τὰς δυνάμεις. μενόντων δὲ τῶν Ῥωμαίων ἐφ´ ἡσυχίας προσιππεύοντες ἐξ αὐτῶν οἱ τολμηρότατοι καὶ πλησίον τοῦ χάρακος ἱστάμενοι, γυναῖκάς τ´ ἀπεκάλουν ἅπαντας καὶ τοὺς ἡγεμόνας αὐτῶν τοῖς δειλοτάτοις τῶν ζώων ἐοικέναι λέγοντες ἐκάκιζον, καὶ δυεῖν θάτερον ἠξίουν· εἰ μὲν ἀντιποιοῦνται τῆς περὶ τὰ πολέμια ἀρετῆς, καταβάντας εἰς τὸ πεδίον μιᾷ τὸν ἀγῶνα κρῖναι μάχῃ, εἰ δ´ ὁμολογοῦσιν εἶναι κακοί, παραδόντας τὰ ὅπλα τοῖς κρείττοσι καὶ δίκας ὑποσχόντας, ὧν ἔδρασαν, μηδενὸς ἔτι τῶν μεγάλων ἑαυτοὺς ἀξιοῦν. τοῦτ´ ἐποίουν ὁσημέραι καὶ ἐπεὶ οὐδὲν ἐπέραινον, ἀποτειχίζειν αὐτοὺς ἔγνωσαν ὡς λιμῷ προσαναγκάσοντες παραστῆναι. οἱ δ´ ὕπατοι περιεώρων τὰ γινόμενα μέχρι πολλοῦ, δι´ ἀνανδρίαν μὲν ἢ μαλακίαν οὐδεμίαν - ἀμφότεροι γὰρ εὔψυχοί τε καὶ φιλοπόλεμοι ἦσαν - τὸ δὲ τῶν στρατιωτῶν ἐθελόκακόν τε καὶ ἀπρόθυμον, διαμένον ἐν τοῖς δημοτικοῖς, ἐξ οὗ περὶ τῆς κληρουχίας διεστασίασαν, ὑφορώμενοι· ἔτι γὰρ αὐτοῖς ἔναυλα καὶ πρὸ ὀμμάτων ἦν, ἃ τῷ παρελθόντι ἐνιαυτῷ κατὰ τὸ ἔγκοτον τῆς πρὸς τὸν ὕπατον τιμῆς αἰσχρὰ καὶ ἀνάξια τῆς πόλεως εἰργάσαντο, παραχωρήσαντες τῆς νίκης τοῖς ἡττηθεῖσι καὶ φυγῆς ὄνειδος οὐκ ἀληθὲς ὑπομείναντες, ἵνα μὴ καταγάγῃ τὸν ἐπινίκιον θρίαμβον ὁ ἀνήρ.

[9,7] The Tyrrhenians, hearing this from their augurs, sent a part of their army to take possession of the camp deserted by the Romans, with the intention of making it a fort to serve against the other camp. For the place was a very strong one and was conveniently situated for intercepting any who might come from Rome to the enemy's camp. After they had also made the other dispositions calculated to give them an advantage over the enemy, they led out their forces into the plain. Then, when the Romans remained quiet, the boldest of the Tyrrhenians rode up and, halting near the camp, called them all women and taunted their leaders, likening them to the most cowardly of animals; and they challenged them to do one of two things — either to descend into the plain, if they laid claim to any warlike (p307) valour, and decide the contest by a single battle, or, if they owned themselves to be cowards, to deliver up their arms to those who were their betters, and after paying the penalty for their deeds, never again to hold themselves worthy of greatness. This they did every day, and when it had no effect, they resolved to block them off by a wall with the purpose of starving them into surrender. The consuls permitted this to go on for a considerable time, not through any cowardice or weakness — for they were both men of spirit and fond of war — but because they feared the soldiers' wilful shirking of duty and their apathy, which had persisted among the plebeians ever since the sedition over the allotment of land. For they still had ringing in their ears and fresh before their eyes the shameful behaviour, unworthy of the commonwealth, which the soldiers, because of their begrudging the honour that would come to the consul, had been guilty of the year before, when they had yielded up the victory to the vanquished and endured the false reproach of flight in order that their general might not celebrated the triumph awarded for victory.