ὁ δὲ Φούλβιος, ὡς ἐγένοντο πάντες ἀθρόοι, πεισθεὶς ὑπὸ τοῦ Γαΐου πέμπει τῶν υἱῶν τὸν νεώτερον ἔχοντα κηρύκειον εἴς ἀγοράν. ἦν δὲ κάλλιστος ὁ νεανίσκος ὀφθῆναι· καὶ τότε καταστὰς κοσμίως καὶ μετʼ αἰδοῦς δεδακρυμένος ἐποιήσατο συμβατικοὺς λόγους πρὸς τὸν ὕπατον καὶ τὴν σύγκλητον.
When all were assembled together, Fulvius, yielding to the advice of Caius, sent the younger of his sons with a herald’s wand into the forum. The young man was very fair to look upon; and now, in a decorous attitude, modestly, and with tears in his eyes, he addressed conciliatory words to the consul and the senate.
οἱ μὲν οὖν πολλοὶ τῶν παρόντων οὐκ ἀηδῶς πρὸς τὰς διαλύσεις εἶχον· ὁ δὲ Ὀπίμιος οὐ διʼ ἀγγέλων ἔφη χρῆναι πείθειν τὴν σύγκλητον, ἀλλὰ καταβάντας ὡς ὑπευθύνους πολίτας ἐπὶ κρίσιν καὶ παραδόντας αὑτούς οὕτως παραιτεῖσθαι τὴν ὀργήν τῷ δὲ μειρακίῳ καὶ διηγόρευσεν ἐπὶ τούτοις κατιέναι πάλιν ἢ μὴ κατιέναι.
Most of his audience, then, were not disinclined to accept his terms of peace; but Opimius declared that the petitioners ought not to try to persuade the senate by word of messenger; they should rather come down and surrender themselves for trial, like citizens amenable to the laws, and then beg for mercy; he also told the young man plainly to come back again on these terms or not come back at all.
Γάιος μὲν οὖν, ὥς φασιν, ἐβούλετο βαδίζειν καὶ πείθειν τὴν σύγκλητον οὐδενὸς δὲ τῶν ἄλλων συγχωροῦντος, αὖθις ἔπεμψεν ὁ Φούλβιος τὸν παῖδα διαλεξόμενον ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν ὅμοια τοῖς προτέροις. ὁ δὲ Ὀπίμιος σπεύδων μάχην συνάψαι τὸ μὲν μειράκιον εὐθὺς συνέλαβε καὶ παρέδωκεν εἴς φυλακήν, τοῖς δὲ περὶ τὸν Φούλβιον ἐπῄει μετὰ πολλῶν ὁπλιτῶν καὶ τοξοτῶν Κρητῶν,
Caius, accordingly, as we are told, was willing to come and try to persuade the senate; but no one else agreed with him, and so Fulvius sent his son again to plead in their behalf as before. But Opimius, who was eager to join battle, at once seized the youth and put him under guard, and then advanced on the party of Fulvius with numerous men-at-arms and Cretan archers.
οἳ μάλιστα βάλλοντες αὑτούς καὶ κατατραυματίζοντες συνετάραξαν. γενομένης δὲ τῆς τροπῆς ὁ μὲν Φούλβιος εἴς τι βαλανεῖον ἠμελημένον καταφυγὼν καὶ μετὰ μικρὸν ἀνευρεθεὶς κατεσφάγη μετὰ τοῦ πρεσβυτέρου παιδός, ὁ δὲ Γάιος ὤφθη μὲν ὑπʼ οὐδενὸς μαχόμενος, ἀλλὰ δυσανασχετῶν τοῖς γινομένοις ἀνεχώρησεν εἴς τὸ τῆς Ἀρτέμιδος ἱερόν ἐκεῖ δὲ βουλόμενος ἑαυτὸν ἀνελεῖν ὑπὸ τῶν πιστοτάτων ἑταίρων ἐκωλύθη, Πομπωνίου καὶ Λικιννίου· παρόντες γὰρ οὗτοι τό τε ξίφος ἀφείλοντο καὶ πάλιν φεύγειν ἐπῆραν αὐτόν.
And it was the archers who, by discharging their arrows and wounding their opponents, were most instrumental in throwing them into confusion. After the rout had taken place, Fulvius fled for refuge into an unused bath, where he was shortly discovered and slain, together with his elder son. Caius, however, was not seen to take any part in the battle, but in great displeasure at what was happening he withdrew into the temple of Diana. There he was minded to make away with himself, but was prevented by his most trusty companions, Pomponius and Licinius; for they were at hand, and took away his sword, and urged him to flight again.
ἔνθα δὴ λέγεται καθεσθεὶς εἴς γόνυ καὶ τὰς χεῖρας ἀνατείνας πρὸς τὴν θεὸν ἐπεύξασθαι τὸν Ῥωμαίων δῆμον ἀντὶ τῆς ἀχαριστίας ἐκείνης καὶ προδοσίας μηδέποτε παύσασθαι δουλεύοντα· φανερῶς γὰρ οἱ πλεῖστοι μετεβάλλοντο κηρύγματι δοθείσης ἀδείας.
Then, indeed, as we are told, he sank upon his knees, and with hands outstretched towards the goddess prayed that the Roman people, in requital for their great ingratitude and treachery, might never cease to be in servitude; for most of them were manifestly changing sides, now that proclamation of immunity had been made.
φεύγοντι δʼ οὖν τῷ Γαΐῳ τῶν ἐχθρῶν ἐπιφερομένων καὶ καταλαμβανόντων περὶ τὴν ξυλίνην γέφυραν, οἱ μὲν δύο φίλοι προχωρεῖν ἐκεῖνον κελεύσαντες αὐτοὶ τοὺς διώκοντας ὑπέστησαν καὶ μαχόμενοι πρὸ τῆς γεφύρας οὐδένα παρῆκαν ἕως ἀπέθανον.
So then, as Caius fled, his foes pressed hard upon him and were overtaking him at the wooden bridge over the Tiber, but his two friends bade him go on, while they themselves withstood his pursuers, and, fighting there at the head of the bridge, would suffer no man to pass, until they were killed.
τῷ δὲ Γαΐῳ συνέφευγεν εἷς οἰκέτης ὄνομα Φιλοκράτης, πάντων μὲν, ὥσπερ ἐν ἁμίλλῃ, παρακελευομένων, οὐδενὸς δὲ βοηθοῦντος, οὐδὲ ἵππον αἰτουμένῳ παρασχεῖν ἐθελήσαντος ἐπέκειντο γὰρ ἐγγὺς οἱ διώκοντες. ὁ δὲ φθάνει μικρὸν εἰς ἱερὸν ἄλσος Ἐριννύων καταφυγών, κἀκεῖ διαφθείρεται, τοῦ Φιλοκράτους ἀνελόντος ἐκεῖνον, εἶτα ἑαυτὸν ἐπισφάξαντος.
Caius had with him in his flight a single servant, by name Philocrates; and though all the spectators, as at a race, urged Caius on to greater speed, not a man came to his aid, or even consented to furnish him with a horse when he asked for one, for his pursuers were pressing close upon him. He barely succeeded in escaping into a sacred grove of the Furies, and there fell by the hand of Philocrates, who then slew himself upon his master.
ὡς δὲ ἔνιοί φασιν, ἀμφότεροι μὲν ὑπὸ τῶν πολεμίων κατελήφθησαν ζῶντες, τοῦ δὲ θεράποντος τὸν δεσπότην περιβαλόντος οὐδεὶς ἐκεῖνον ἠδυνήθη πατάξαι πρότερον ἢ τοῦτον ὑπὸ πολλῶν παιόμενον ἀναιρεθῆναι. τὴν δὲ κεφαλὴν τοῦ Γαΐου λέγουσιν ἄλλον μὲν ἀποκόψαι καὶ κομίζειν, ἀφελέσθαι δὲ τούτου φίλον Ὀπιμίου τινὰ, Σεπτουμουλήιον ἦν γὰρ προκεκηρυγμένον ἐν ἀρχῇ τῆς μάχης ἰσοστάσιον χρυσίον τοῖς ἀνενεγκοῦσι τὴν Γαΐου καὶ Φουλβίου κεφαλήν.
According to some writers, however, both were taken alive by the enemy, and because the servant had thrown his arms about his master, no one was able to strike the master until the slave had first been dispatched by the blows of many. Someone cut off the head of Caius, we are told, and was carrying it along, but was robbed of it by a certain friend of Opimius, Septimuleius; for proclamation had been made at the beginning of the battle that an equal weight of gold would be paid the men who brought the head of Caius or Fulvius.
ἀνηνέχθη δὲ ὑπὸ τοῦ Σεπτουμουληΐου περιπεπαρμένη δόρατι πρὸς τὸν Ὀπίμιον, καὶ ζυγοῦ κομισθέντος ἐντεθεῖσα λίτρας ἑπτακαίδεκα καὶ δίμοιρον εἵλκυσε, τοῦ Σεπτουμουληίου καὶ περὶ τοῦτο μιαροῦ γενομένου καὶ κακουργήσαντος ἐξελὼν γὰρ τὸν ἐγκέφαλον ἐνέτηξε μόλυβδον. οἱ δὲ τοῦ Φουλβίου τὴν κεφαλὴν κομίσαντες ἦσαν γὰρ τῶν ἀσημοτέρων οὐδὲν ἔλαβον.
So Septimuleius stuck the head of Caius on a spear and brought it to Opimius, and when it was placed in a balance it weighed seventeen pounds and two thirds, since Septimuleius, besides showing himself to be a scoundrel, had also perpetrated a fraud; for he had taken out the brain and poured melted lead in its place. But those who brought the head of Fulvius were of the obscurer sort, and therefore got nothing.
τὰ δὲ σώματα καὶ τούτων καὶ τῶν ἄλλων εἰς τὸν ποταμὸν ἐρρίφη, τρισχιλίων ἀναιρεθέντων· καὶ τὰς οὐσίας αὐτῶν ἀπέδοντο πρὸς τὸ δημόσιον. ἀπεῖπαν δὲ πενθεῖν ταῖς γυναιξί, τὴν δὲ Γαΐου Λικιννίαν καὶ τῆς προικὸς ἀπεστέρησαν. ὠμότατον δὲ προσειργάσαντο τοῦ Φουλβίου τὸν νεώτερον υἱόν, οὔτε χεῖρας ἀνταράμενον οὔτʼ ἐν τοῖς μαχομένοις γενόμενον, ἀλλὰ ἐπὶ σπονδὰς ἐλθόντα πρὸ τῆς μάχης συλλαβόντες καὶ μετὰ τὴν μάχην ἀνελόντες.
The bodies of Caius and Fulvius and of the other slain were thrown into the Tiber, and they numbered three thousand; their property was sold and the proceeds paid into the public treasury. Moreover, their wives were forbidden to go into mourning, and Licinia, the wife of Caius, was also deprived of her marriage portion. Most cruel of all, however, was the treatment of the younger son of Fulvius, who had neither lifted a hand against the nobles nor been present at the fighting, but had come to effect a truce before the battle and had been arrested; after the battle he was slain.
οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ τούτου καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἁπάντων μᾶλλον ἠνίασε τοὺς πολλοὺς τὸ κατασκευασθὲν Ὁμονοίας ἱερὸν ὑπὸ τοῦ Ὀπιμίου· σεμνύνεσθαι γὰρ ἐδόκει καὶ μέγα φρονεῖν καὶ τρόπον τινὰ θριαμβεύειν ἐπὶ φόνοις τοσούτοις πολιτῶν, διὸ καὶ νυκτὸς ὑπὸ τὴν ἐπιγραφὴν τοῦ νεὼ παρενέγραψάν τινες τὸν στίχον τοῦτον· ἔργον ἀπονοίας ναὸν ὁμονοίας ποιεῖ.
However, what vexed the people more than this or anything else was the erection of a temple of Concord by Opimius; for it was felt that he was priding himself and exulting and in a manner celebrating a triumph in view of all this slaughter of citizens. Therefore at night, beneath the inscription on the temple, somebody carved this verse:— A work of mad discord produces a temple of Concord.
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