Act 1, Scene 7

The gates of Corioli.

[TITUS LARTIUS, having set a guard upon Corioli, going with drum and trumpet toward COMINIUS and CAIUS MARCIUS, enters with a LIEUTENANT, a party of Soldiers, and a Scout.]
Titus Lartius
647 So, let the ports be guarded: keep your duties
648 As I have set them down. If I do send, despatch
649 Those centuries to our aid; the rest will serve
650 For a short holding: if we lose the field
651 We cannot keep the town.
Lieutenant
652 Fear not our care, sir.
Titus Lartius
653 Hence, and shut your gates upon's.—
654 Our guider, come; to the Roman camp conduct us.
[Exeunt.]

Word definitions on hover

Notes

TLN 647archaic vocab
“let the ports be guarded”
'Ports' here means gates — specifically the city gates of Corioli. Lartius is ordering the garrison to keep the captured city's entrances locked and watched.
TLN 649historical topical
“Those centuries to our aid”
A 'century' was the basic tactical unit of the Roman army — a company of roughly 80 to 100 soldiers commanded by a centurion. Lartius is telling the lieutenant to send these garrison units to reinforce Cominius and Marcius on the main battlefield if called for.
TLN 649archaic vocab
“the rest will serve / For a short holding”
'Holding' means a defensive hold — keeping possession of a place against attack for a limited time. Lartius is saying the remaining troops in the garrison are enough for a brief defense of Corioli, but if the Romans lose the battle in the field they will be unable to hold the city either.
TLN 654archaic vocab
“Our guider, come; to the Roman camp conduct us”
'Guider' is an archaic word for a guide -- here the Scout named in the stage direction who will lead Lartius's column from Corioli to the Roman field camp where Cominius and Marcius are fighting. The word was common from the 15th century but had largely been replaced by 'guide' by the 18th.