[27.13] The Veientes fought almost constantly against Rome from a very early time (cf. IV, 57; Livy says that they were defeated by Romulus) till their city was completely destroyed in 396 B.C.
[27.14] Fabiōs . . . date: ‘give the Veientes the Fabii as their enemies,’ i.e. let the war against the Veientes be the special business of the Fabii.
[27.15] Cf. [p. 24, n. 9].
[27.16] nōbīs . . . est: since nōbīs is a dat. of possession (H 430 (387): M 542: A 231: G 349: B 190) with est, the phrase exactly = ‘we have it in mind.’ The subject of est is the clause id . . . gerere. Fabiōs is strongly opposed to vōs.
[28.1] comitante . . . āgmine: ‘the Fabii accompanying him in a body.’ How literally?
[28.2] ad . . . ferunt: so we ‘laud a person to the skies.’
[28.3] Numquam . . . neque . . . neque: in Latin, as in English, two negatives neutralize each other and make an affirmative. To this law there are two regular exceptions in Latin: When a general negative like nōn, numquam, or nēmō is followed (1) by neque . . . neque or (2) by the emphatic nē . . . quidem. In the former case the negation is distributed by the neque . . . neque into two (or more) clauses or phrases; in the latter, the full weight of the negation is concentrated upon a single word or phrase. In English a single negative is always to be employed.
[28.4] dat. of purpose: cf. [p. 25, n. 6]. This construction is especially frequent with phrases consisting of a gerundive and a noun.
[28.5] nōn semel: ‘not once (only),’ i.e. repeatedly.
[28.6] Cf. [p. 4, n. 4].