ch. 231.23The Albans reported this at home. Both sides made extraordinary
preparations for a war, which closely resembled a civil war between parents and children,
for both were of Trojan descent, since Lavinium was an offshoot of Troy, and Alba of
Lavinium, and the Romans were sprung from the stock of the kings of Alba. The outcome
of the war, however, made the conflict less deplorable, as there was no regular
engagement, and though one of the two cities was destroyed, the two nations were blended
into one.
The Albans were the first to move, and invaded the Roman territory with an immense
army. They fixed their camp only five miles from the City and surrounded it with a moat;
this was called for several centuries the Cluilian Dyke from the name of the Alban
general, till through lapse of time the name and the thing itself disappeared.
While they were encamped Cluilius, the Alban king, died, and the Albans made
Mettius Fufetius dictator. The king's
death made Tullus more sanguine than ever of success. He gave out that the wrath of
heaven which had fallen first of all on the head of the nation would visit the whole race of
Alba with condign punishment for this unholy war. Passing the enemy's camp by a night
march, he advanced upon Alban territory. This drew Mettius from his entrenchments. He
marched as close to his enemy as he could, and then sent on an officer to inform Tullus that
before engaging it was necessary that they should have a conference. If he granted one,
then he was satisfied that the matters he would lay before him were such as concerned
Rome no less than Alba. Tullus did not reject the proposal, but in case the conference
should prove illusory, he led out his men in order of battle. The Albans did the same. After
they had halted, confronting each other, the two commanders, with a small escort of
superior officers, advanced between the lines. The Alban general, addressing Tullus, said:
I think I have heard our king Cluilius say that acts of robbery and the non-restitution of
plundered property, in violation of the existing treaty, were the cause of this war, and I
have no doubt that you, Tullus, allege the same pretext. But if we are to say what is true,
rather than what is plausible, we must admit that it is the lust of empire which has made
two kindred and neighbouring peoples take up arms. Whether rightly or wrongly I do not
judge; let him who began the war settle that point; I am simply placed in command by the
Albans to conduct the war. But I want to give you a warning, Tullus. You know, you
especially who are nearer to them, the greatness of the Etruscan State, which hems us both
in; their immense strength by land, still more by sea. Now remember, when once you have
given the signal to engage, our two armies will fight under their eyes, so that when we are
wearied and exhausted they may attack us both, victor and vanquished alike. If then, not
content with the secure freedom we now enjoy, we are determined to enter into a game of
chance, where the stakes are either supremacy or slavery, let us, in heaven's name, choose
some method by which, without great suffering or bloodshed on either side, it can be
decided which nation, is to be master of the other. Although, from natural temperament,
and the certainty he felt of victory, Tullus was eager to fight, he did not disapprove of the
proposal. After much consideration on both sides a method was adopted, for which
Fortune herself provided the necessary means.
