[Linenotes: 1. +ad Luceriam+ = _in the direction of Luceria_, a town in Apulia on the borders of Samnium, and now threatened by the Samnites. 1-2. +praeter ... maris+ = _along the coast of the upper sea_, i.e. the Adriatic. Taking this route, they would go N. of Samnium, through the Peligni, and S. through the Frentani into Apulia. 3. +fere+ = _just_. 3-4. +Furculas Caudinas+, two _fork-shaped_ defiles near Caudium, the capital of the Caudine Samnites, between Beneventum and Capua on what was afterwards the _Via Appia_. 5-6. +montibus ... iuncti+ = _united by a continuous ring_ (+perpetuis circa+) _of mountains_. 10. +insinuaveris+ = lit. _have wound your way_. 11-12. +artiorem impeditioremque+ = _more narrow and more difficult_ (i.e. _steeper_). 13. +per cavam rupem+ = _through an overhanging rocky defile_. +demisso agmine+ = _with their troops led down_ (the descent). 14. +protinus+ = _straightforward_. 14-15. +deiectu ... mole+ = lit. ‘_a barrier lying in the way (formed) by the throwing down of trees and large pieces of rock_.’ +mole+ = an _abattis_ (a _knocking down_, _felling_).--Rawlins. 16. +cum fraus ...+ = _no sooner had ... when ..._ 17. +citati+ = _hurriedly_ (in hot haste). Partic. used adverbially. --Stephenson. 19. +sua obice+ = _with a barrier of its own_ (i.e. specially prepared).] D37 SECOND SAMNITE WAR, 326-304 B.C. (3) _The Caudine Forks. The Yoke._ Alii alios intueri, contemplari arma mox tradenda et inermes futuras dextras obnoxiaque corpora hosti; proponere sibimet ipsi ante oculos iugum hostile et ludibria victoris et vultus superbos et per armatos inermium iter, inde foedi agminis miserabilem viam {5} per sociorum urbes, reditum in patriam ad parentes, quo saepe ipsi maioresque eorum triumphantes venissent: se solos sine vulnere, sine ferro, sine acie victos: sibi non stringere licuisse gladios, non manum cum hoste conferre; sibi nequicquam animos datos. {10} Haec frementibus hora fatalis ignominiae advenit, omnia tristiora experiundo factura, quam quae praeceperant animis. Iam primum cum singulis vestimentis inermes extra vallum exire iussi, et primi traditi obsides atque in custodiam abducti. Primi {15} consules prope seminudi sub iugum missi; tum ut quisque gradu proximus erat, ita ignominiae obiectus; tum deinceps singulae legiones. Ita traducti sub iugum et, quod paene gravius erat, per hostium oculos, cum e saltu evasissent, etsi velut ab inferis {20} extracti tum primum lucem aspicere visi sunt, tamen ipsa lux ita deforme intuentibus agmen omni morte tristior fuit. LIVY, ix. 5, 6.