Latin Texts & Translations

ch. 4610.46 ^[Note] Everything was now deep in snow, and it was impossible to remain any longer in the open, so the consul withdrew his army from Samnium. On his approach to Rome a triumph was granted to him by universal consent. This triumph, which he celebrated while still in office, was a very brilliant one for those days. The infantry and cavalry who marched in the procession were conspicuous with their decorations, many were wearing civic, mural, and vallarian crowns. ^[Note] The spoils of the Samnites attracted much attention; their splendour and beauty were compared with those which the consul's father had won, and which were familiar to all through their being used as decorations of public places Amongst those in the victor's train were some prisoners of high rank distin- guished for their own or their fathers' military services; there were also carried in the procession 2,533,000 bronze ases, stated to be the proceeds of the sale of the prisoners, and 1830 pounds of silver taken from the cities. All the silver and bronze was stored in the treasury, none of this was given to the soldiers. This created dissatisfaction amongst the plebs, which was aggravated by the collection of the war tax to provide the soldiers' pay, for if Papirius had not been so anxious to get the credit of paying the price of the prisoners into the treasury there would have been enough to make a gift to the soldiers and also to furnish their pay.

He dedicated the temple of Quirinus. I do not find in any ancient author that it was he who vowed this temple in the crisis of a battle, and certainly he could not have completed it in so short a time; it was vowed by his father when Dictator, and the son dedicated it when consul, and adorned it with the spoils of the enemy. There was such a vast quantity of these that not only were the temple and the Forum adorned with them, but they were distributed amongst the allied peoples and the nearest colonies to decorate their public spaces and temples.

After his triumph Papirius led his army into the neighbour- hood of Vescia, as that district was still infested by the Samnites, and there he wintered.

^[Note] During this time Carvilius was making preparations to attack Troilum in Etruria. He allowed 470 of its wealthiest citizens to leave the place after they had paid an enormous sum by way of ransom; the town with the rest of its population he took by storm. Going on from there he carried five forts, positions of great natural strength. In these actions the enemy lost 2400 killed and 2000 prisoners. The Faliscans sued for peace, and he granted them a truce for one year on condition of their supplying a year's pay to his troops, and an indemnity of 100,000 ases of bronze coinage. After these successes he went home to enjoy his triumph, a triumph less illustrious than his colleague's in regard of the Samnite cam- paign, but fully equal to it considering his series of successes in Etruria. He brought into the treasury 380,000 ases out of the proceeds of the war, the rest he disposed of partly in contracting for the building of a temple to Fortis Fortuna, near the temple of that deity, which King Servius Tullius had dedicated, and partly as a donative to the soldiers, each legionary receiving 102 ases, the centurions and cavalry twice as much. This gift was all the more acceptable to the men after the niggardliness of his colleague.

L. Postumius, one of his staff, was indicted before the people, but was protected by the consul's popularity. His prosecutor was M. Scantius, a tribune of the plebs, and the report was that he had evaded trial by being made a staff-officer, proceedings, therefore, could only be threatened without being carried out.