2.6

Marcus Valerius Corvinus gets his cognomen (349 BCE)

(1) Cēnsus: on the Roman census, see census

mīlitēs praestāre nōllent: in 349 BCE Gallic raiding parties and Greek pirates compelled the Romans to demand Latin troops, but the Latins refused. The Romans raised ten legions of 4,500 men each. One of the consuls, Appius Claudius, died, leaving the command to L. Furius Camillus, the other consul (Bird).

factaeque: supply sunt

quī modus ... efficiēbat: "a force which produced" (Hazzard), lit., "a quantity which"

Parvīs adhūc Rōmānīs rēbus: "although up to this time the Roman state was small" (Hazzard), concessive ablative absolute with form of the verb esse assumed (AG 419.a). Here and elsewhere, Eutropius uses rēs (pl.) for rēs pūblica. See LS rēs II.K.2.

(2) Quae: connecting relative referring to legiōnēs (AG 308.f)

duce L. Fūriō: "L. Furius being the leader" = "under the leadership of L. Furius" (Hazzard), ablative absolute with form of esse assumed (AG 419.a)

unum ex Rōmānīs: cardinal numerals (except mīlia) regularly take the ablative with ē (ex) or dē instead of the partitive genitive (AG 346.c)

quī esset optimus: "whoever was the best" (Hazzard), relative clause of characteristic (AG 534)

(3) M. Valerius tribūnus mīlitum: on military tribunes, see military tribunes. Similar to the story of T. Manlius Torquatus in the previous chapter (Brev. 2.5), Eutropius provides the story of how Marcus Valerius Corvus ("the Raven") received his name.

(4) commissā adversum Gallum pūgnā: ablative absolute using a perfect passive participle (AG 419)

nē rectum posset aspicere: "so that he could not see properly" (Bird), referring to the Gallus. The negative purpose clause (AG 531), attributes intention to the crow.

interfectus: supply est

Nōn sōlum...sed etiam: "Not only...but also..." idiomatic expression showing a parallel construction

annōrum trium et vīgintī: by a law passed in 181 BCE, the minimum legal age of the consulship was fixed at forty-three. There were exceptions made, as in the case of Cn. Pompeius, who was elected consul when he was thirty-six years old (Hazzard).