16. quae ＝ eae lēgiōnēs.
duce L. Fūriō: lit. ‘L. Furius being the leader’ ＝ ‘under the leadership of L. Furius.’
17. quī esset optimus: ‘whoever was the best.’
18. sē … obtulit: ‘offered himself.’
Valerius: see The Story of the Romans, p. 111.
20. commissā … pūgnā: cf. conditā cīvitāte, Bk. I, 2.
21. ālīs et unguibus: cf. fulmine, Bk. I, 4.
25. annōrum: by a law passed in 181 B.C., the 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.