Texte grec :
| [6,12] Ἀποκομισθέντων δ´ ἀμφοτέρων ἐκ τῆς μάχης
ὁ τεταγμένος αὖθις πρεσβευτὴς Μάρκος Οὐαλέριος τὴν
τοῦ ἱππάρχου παρειληφὼς ἡγεμονίαν, ἐπιστὰς σὺν
τοῖς ἀμφ´ αὐτὸν ἱππεῦσιν ἐπὶ τοὺς κατὰ πρόσωπον καὶ
μικρὸν ἀντισχὼν χρόνον ἐξωθεῖται ταχέως τῆς τάξεως
ἐπὶ πολύ· ἧκον δὲ καὶ τούτοις ἐκ τῶν φυγάδων τῶν
ἐκ Ῥώμης ἱππέων τε καὶ ψιλῶν βοήθειαι, καὶ ὁ Μαμίλιος
ἀνειληφὼς ἐκ τῆς πληγῆς ἑαυτὸν ἤδη παρῆν
αὖθις ἄγων πλῆθος ἱππέων τε καὶ πεζῶν καρτερόν·
ἐν τούτῳ τῷ ἀγῶνι ὅ τε πρεσβευτὴς Μάρκος Οὐαλέριος, ὁ
τὸν κατὰ Σαβίνων πρῶτος καταγαγὼν θρίαμβον καὶ τὸ
φρόνημα τῆς πόλεως τεταπεινωμένον ἐκ
τοῦ Τυρρηνικοῦ πταίσματος ἀναστήσας, δόρατι πληγεὶς
πίπτει, καὶ περὶ αὐτὸν ἄλλοι Ῥωμαίων πολλοὶ καὶ
ἀγαθοί. περὶ δὲ τῷ πτώματι αὐτοῦ γίνεται καρτερὸς
ἀγὼν Ποπλίου καὶ Μάρκου τῶν Ποπλικόλα παίδων
τὸν θεῖον ὑπερασπισάντων. ἐκεῖνον μὲν οὖν ἀσκύλευτόν τε
καὶ μικρὸν ἔτι ἐμπνέοντα τοῖς ὑπασπισταῖς
ἀναθέντες ἀπέστειλαν ἐπὶ τὸν χάρακα, αὐτοὶ δ´ εἰς
μέσους τοὺς πολεμίους ὑπὸ λήματός τε καὶ προθυμίας
ὠσάμενοι καὶ πολλὰ τραύματα λαβόντες, ἀθρόων
περιχυθέντων σφίσι τῶν φυγάδων, ἀποθνήσκουσιν ἅμα.
ἐξωθεῖται δὲ μετὰ τοῦτο τὸ πάθος ἡ Ῥωμαίων φάλαγξ
ἀπὸ τῶν ἀριστερῶν ἐπὶ πολὺ καὶ μέχρι τῶν μέσων
παρερρήγνυτο. ἔπειτα μαθὼν ὁ δικτάτωρ τὴν τροπὴν
τῶν σφετέρων, ἐβοήθει κατὰ τάχος ἄγων τοὺς περὶ
αὐτὸν ἱππεῖς. κελεύσας δὲ τὸν ἕτερον πρεσβευτήν,
Τῖτον Ἑρμήνιον, ἴλην ἱππέων ἄγοντα κατὰ νώτου
χωρεῖν τῆς σφετέρας φάλαγγος καὶ τοὺς φεύγοντας
ἐπιστρέφειν, εἰ δὲ μὴ πείθοιντο ἀποκτεῖναι, αὐτὸς ἅμα
τοῖς κρατίστοις ἐπὶ τὸ στῖφος ὠθεῖται, κἀπειδὴ πλησίον τῶν
πολεμίων ἐγένετο πρῶτος εἰσελαύνει τὸν
ἵππον ἀφειμένων τῶν χαλινῶν. ἀθρόας δὲ γενομένης
καὶ καταπληκτικῆς τῆς ἐλάσεως οὐ δεξάμενοι τὸ μανικὸν
αὐτῶν καὶ τεθηριωμένον οἱ πολέμιοι τρέπονται
καὶ πίπτουσι συχνοί. ἐν δὲ τούτῳ καὶ ὁ πρεσβευτὴς
Ἑρμήνιος ἀνειληφὼς τοὺς φοβηθέντας ἐκ τῆς τροπῆς
τῶν σφετέρων ἦγεν ἐπὶ τοὺς περὶ τὸν Μαμίλιον συνεστῶτας·
καὶ συμπεσὼν αὐτῷ μεγίστῳ τε ὄντι καὶ
ῥώμην ἀρίστῳ τῶν καθ´ αὑτὸν {τότε ἀνθρώπων} ἐκεῖνόν τ´
ἀποκτείνει καὶ αὐτὸς ἐν τῷ σκυλεύειν τὸν
νεκρὸν πληγεὶς ὑπό τινος ξίφει διὰ τῆς λαγόνος ἀποθνήσκει.
Σέξτος δὲ Ταρκύνιος τοῦ λαιοῦ τῶν Λατίνων κέρατος
ἡγούμενος ἀντεῖχεν ἔτι τοῖς δεινοῖς καὶ
τοὺς ἐπὶ τοῦ δεξιοῦ τῶν Ῥωμαίων κέρατος ἐξεώθει
τῆς στάσεως· ὡς δὲ τὸν Ποστόμιον ἐθεάσατο σὺν τοῖς
ἐπιλέκτοις ἱππεῦσιν ἐπιφερόμενον ἀπογνοὺς ἁπάσης
ἐλπίδος εἰς μέσους αὐτοὺς ἵεται· ἔνθα δὴ κυκλωθεὶς
ὑπὸ τῶν Ῥωμαίων ἱππέων τε καὶ πεζῶν καὶ βαλλόμενος
πανταχόθεν ὥσπερ θηρίον, οὐκ ἄνευ τοῦ πολλοὺς
ἀποκτεῖναι τῶν ὁμόσε χωρησάντων ἀποθνήσκει.
πεσόντων δὲ τῶν ἡγεμόνων, ἀθρόα γίνεται πάντων
αὐτίκα τῶν Λατίνων φυγὴ καὶ τοῦ χάρακος αὐτῶν
ἐρήμου καταλειφθέντος ὑπὸ τῶν φυλάκων ἅλωσις, ὅθεν
οἱ Ῥωμαῖοι πολλὰς καὶ καλὰς ἔλαβον ὠφελείας. συμφορά τε
αὕτη μεγίστη Λατίνοις ἐγένετο, δι´ ἣν ἐπὶ
πλεῖστον ἐκακώθησαν, καὶ φθόρος σωμάτων, ὅσος οὔπω
πρότερον· ἀπὸ γὰρ τετρακισμυρίων πεζῶν καὶ τρισχιλίων
ἱππέων, ὥσπερ ἔφην, οἱ λειφθέντες ἐλάττους
μυρίων ἐσώθησαν ἐπὶ τὰ σφέτερα.
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Traduction française :
| [6,12] Both of these leaders having been carried off (p273) the field, Marcus Valerius, who
had again been appointed legate, took over the command of the Master of the Horse
and with his followers attacked those of the enemy who confronted him; and after a
brief resistance on their part he speedily drove them far out of the line. But to this
body of the enemy also came reinforcements from the Roman exiles, both horse and
light-armed men; and Mamilius, having by this time recovered from his wound,
appeared on the field again at the head of a strong body both of horse and foot. In this
action not only Marcus Valerius, the legate, fell, wounded with a spear (he was the
man who had first triumphed over the Sabines and raised the spirit of the
commonwealth when dejected by the defeat it had received at the hands of the
Tyrrhenians), but also many other brave Romans at his side. A sharp conflict took
place over his body, as Publius and Marcus, the sons of publicola, protected their
uncle with their shields; but they delivered him to their shield-bearers undespoiled
and still breathing a little, and sent him back to the camp. For their own part, such
was their courage and ardour, they thrust themselves into the midst of the enemy,
and receiving many wounds, as the Roman exiles pressed closely round them, they
perished together. After this misfortune the line of the Romans was forced to give
way on the left for a long distance and was being broken even to the (p275) centre. When
the dictator learned of the rout of his men, he hastened to their assistance with the
horse he had about him. And ordering the other legate, Titus Herminius, to take a top
of horse, and passing behind their own lines, to force the men who fled to face about,
and if they refused obedience to kill them, he himself with the best of his men pushed
on towards the thick of the conflict; and when he came near the enemy, he spurred on
ahead of the rest with a loose rein. And as they all charged in a body in this
terrifying manner, the enemy, unable to sustain their frenzied and savage onset, fled
and many of them fell. In the meantime the legate Herminius also, having rallied
from their route those of his men who had been put to flight, brought them up and
attacked the troops arrayed under Mamilius; and encountering this general, who both
for stature and strength was the best man of his time, he not only killed him, but was
slain himself while he was despoiling the body, someone having pierced his flank with
a sword. Sextus Tarquinius, who commanded the left wing of the Latins, still held
out against all the dangers that beset him, and was forcing the right wing of the
Romans to give way. But when he saw Postumius suddenly appear with the flower of
the horse, he gave over all hope and rushed into the midst of the enemy's ranks,
where, being surrounded by the Romans, both horse and foot, and assaulted on all
sides with missiles, (p277) like a wild beast, he perished, but not before he had killed
many of those who came to close quarters with him. Their leaders having fallen, the
Latins at once fled en masse, and their camp, abandoned by the men who had been
left to guard it, was captured; from this camp the Romans took much valuable booty.
6 Not only was this a very great defeat for the Latins, from the disastrous effects of
which they suffered a very long time, but their losses were greater than ever before.
For out of 40,000 foot and 3000 horse, as I have said, less than 10,000 survivors
returned to their homes in safety.
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