[5,39] Ἀγῶνος δὲ καρτεροῦ γενομένου καὶ τοῦ δεξιοῦ τῶν Ῥωμαίων κέρατος, ἔνθα ἦν ὁ ὕπατος, ἐπιβαίνοντος τοῖς ἐναντίοις καὶ προσωτέρω χωροῦντος, τοῦ δ´ εὐωνύμου κάμνοντος ἤδη καὶ πρὸς τῶν πολεμίων ἐπὶ τὸν ποταμὸν ἐξωθουμένου, μαθὼν τὸ γινόμενον ὁ τὴν ἑτέραν τῶν Ῥωμαίων παρεμβολὴν κατέχων ὕπατος ἐξῆγε τὴν στρατιάν. αὐτὸς μὲν οὖν τὴν φάλαγγα τῶν πεζῶν ἐπαγόμενος βάδην ἠκολούθει· τῶν δὲ πρεσβυτέρων Σπόριον Λάρκιον τὸν ὑπατεύσαντα τῷ παρελθόντι ἐνιαυτῷ τοὺς ἱππεῖς ἄγοντα πέμπει κατὰ σπουδήν· ὃς ἀπὸ ῥυτῆρος τοὺς ἵππους ἐλαύνων τόν τε ποταμὸν διαπεραιοῦται κωλύοντος οὐδενὸς εὐπετῶς καὶ κατὰ τὸ δεξιὸν τῶν πολεμίων κέρας παριππεύσας, ἐνσείει πλαγίοις τοῖς ἱππεῦσι τῶν Σαβίνων· καὶ γίνεται μέγας αὐτόθι τῶν ἱππέων ἀμφοτέρων συστάδην μαχομένων ἐπὶ χρόνον πολὺν ἀγών. ἐν δὲ τούτῳ καὶ ὁ Ποστόμιος τοὺς πεζοὺς ἄγων πλησίον αὐτῶν ἐγίνετο· καὶ συρράξας τοῖς πεζοῖς ἀποκτείνει τε πολλοὺς μαχομένους καὶ τοὺς λοιποὺς ἐξωθεῖ τῆς τάξεως. εἰ δὲ μὴ νὺξ ἐπέλαβεν, ἅπαντες ἂν οἱ Σαβῖνοι κυκλωθέντες ὑπὸ τῶν Ῥωμαίων ἱπποκρατούντων ἤδη πανσυδὶ διεφθάρησαν. νῦν δὲ τὸ σκότος τοὺς διαφυγόντας ἐκ τῆς μάχης ὄντας ἀνόπλους καὶ οὐ πολλοὺς ἐρρύσατο καὶ διέσωσεν ἐπὶ τὰ οἰκεῖα. τῆς δὲ παρεμβολῆς αὐτῶν οἱ ὕπατοι χωρὶς ἀγῶνος ἐκράτησαν ἐκλειφθείσης ὑπὸ τῶν ἔνδον ἅμα τῷ θεάσασθαι τὴν τροπὴν τῶν σφετέρων· ἐξ ἧς πολλὰς ὠφελείας λαβόντες, ἃς τοῖς στρατιώταις ἄγειν τε καὶ φέρειν ἐπέτρεψαν, ἀπῆγον ἐπ´ οἴκου τὰς δυνάμεις. τότε πρῶτον ἡ πόλις ἀναλαβοῦσα ἑαυτὴν ἐκ τοῦ Τυρρηνικοῦ πταίσματος εἰς τὸ ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἀποκατέστη φρόνημα, καὶ τῆς ἡγεμονίας τῶν περιοίκων ὡς πρότερον ἐθάρρησεν ἀντιποιεῖσθαι, καὶ ψηφίζεται κοινῇ μὲν ἀμφοτέροις τοῖς ὑπάτοις θριάμβου καταγωγήν, ἰδίᾳ δὲ θατέρῳ τῶν ἀνδρῶν Οὐαλερίῳ δωρεὰν τόπον εἰς οἴκησιν ἐν τῷ κρατίστῳ τοῦ Παλλαντίου {τόπῳ} δοθῆναι, καὶ τὰς εἰς τὴν κατασκευὴν δαπάνας ἐκ τοῦ δημοσίου χορηγεῖσθαι. ταύτης τῆς οἰκίας, παρ´ ἣν ὁ χαλκοῦς ἕστηκε ταῦρος, αἱ κλισιάδες θύραι μόναι τῶν ἐν τῇ Ῥώμῃ δημοσίων τε καὶ ἰδιωτικῶν οἴκων εἰς τὸ ἔξω μέρος ἀνοίγονται.

[5,39] A vigorous action ensuing and the right wing of the Romans, commanded by the consul, attacking the enemy and gaining ground, while their left was already in difficulties and being forced towards the river by the enemy, the consul, who commanded the other camp, being informed of what (p113) was passing, proceeded to lead out his army. And while he himself with the solid ranks of the foot followed at a normal pace, he sent ahead in all haste his legate, Spurius Larcius, who had been consul the year before, together with all the horse. Larcius, urging the horse forward at full speed, crossed the river with ease, as no one opposed him, and riding past the right wing of the enemy, charged the Sabine horse in fact; and there and then occurred a severe battle between the horse on both sides, who fought hand-to-hand for a long time. In the mean time Postumius also drew near the combatants with the foot, and attacking that of the enemy, killed many in the conflict and threw the rest into confusion. And if night had not intervened, the whole army of the Sabines, being surrounded by the Romans, who had now become superior in horse, would have been totally destroyed. But as it was, the darkness saved those who fled from the battle unarmed and few in number, and brought them home in safety. The consuls, without meeting any resistance, made themselves masters of their camp, which had been abandoned by the troops inside as soon as they saw the rout of their own army; and, capturing much booty there, which they permitted the soldiers to drive or carry away, they returned home with their forces. Then for the first time the commonwealth, recovering from the defeat received at the hands of the Tyrrhenians, recovered its former spirit and dared as before to aim at the supremacy over its neighbours. The Romans decreed a triumph jointly (p115) to both the consuls, and, as a special gratification to one of them, Valerius, ordered that a site should be given him for his habitation on the best part of the Palatine Hill and that the cost of the building should be defrayed from the public treasury. The folding doors of this house, near which stands the brazen bull, are the only doors in Rome either of public or private buildings that open outwards.