ch. 622.62. [Note]In the same
year the consul Valerius advanced with an army against the
Aequi, but failing to draw the enemy into an engagement he
commenced an attack on their camp. A terrible storm, sent
down from heaven, of thunder and hail prevented him from
continuing the attack. The surprise was heightened when
after the retreat had been sounded, calm and bright weather
returned. He felt that it would be an act of impiety to
attack a second time a camp defended by some divine power.
His warlike energies were turned to the devastation of the
country.
The other consul, Aemilius, conducted a campaign amongst the
Sabines. There, too, as the enemy kept behind their walls,
their fields were laid waste. The burning not only of
scattered homesteads but also of villages with numerous
populations roused the Sabines to action. They met the
depredators, an indecisive action was fought, after which they
moved their camp into a safer locality. The consul thought
this a sufficient reason for leaving the enemy as though
defeated, and coming away without finishing the war.
LXIII. T. Numicius Priscus and A. Verginius were the new
consuls. The domestic disturbance continued through these
wars, and the plebeians were evidently not going to tolerate
any further delay with regard to the Agrarian Law, and were
pre-paring for extreme measures, when the smoke of burning
farms and the flight of the country folk announced the
approach of the Volscians. This checked the revolution which
was now ripe
and on the point of breaking out. The senate was hastily
summoned, and the consuls led the men liable for active service
out to the war, thereby making the rest of the plebs more
peaceably disposed. The enemy retired precipitately, having
effected nothing beyond filling the Romans with groundless
fears. Numicius advanced against the Volscians to Antium,
Verginius against the Aequi. Here he was ambushed and
narrowly escaped a serious defeat; the valour of the soldiers
restored the fortunes of the day, which the consul's
negligence had imperilled. More skillful generalship was
shown against the Volscians; the enemy were routed in the
first engagement and driven in flight to Antium, which was,
for those days, a very wealthy city. The consul did not
venture to attack it, but he took Caeno from the Antiates,
not by any means so wealthy a place.
Whilst the Aequi and Volscians were keeping the Roman armies
engaged, the Sabines extended their ravages up to the gates
of the City. In a few days the consuls invaded their
territory, and, attacked fiercely by both armies, they
suffered heavier losses than they had inflicted.
LXIV. Towards the close of the year there was a short
interval of peace, but, as usual, it was marred by the
struggle between the patricians and the plebeians. The plebs,
in their exasperation, refused to take any part in the
election of consuls; T. Quinctius and Q. Servilius were
elected consuls by the patricians and their clients. They had
a year similar to the previous one:
agitation during the first part, then the calming of this by
foreign war.
The Sabines hurriedly traversed the plains of Crustumerium,
and carried fire and sword into the district watered by the
Anio, but were repulsed when almost close to the Colline gate
and the walls of the City. They succeeded, however, in
carrying off
immense spoil both in men and cattle. The consul
Servilius followed them up with an army bent on revenge, and
though unable to come up with their main body in the open
country, he carried on his ravages on such an extensive scale
that he left no part unmolested by war, and returned with
spoil many times greater than that of the enemy.
Amongst the Volscians also the cause of Rome was splendidly
upheld by the exertions of general and soldiers alike. To
begin with, they met on level ground and a pitched battle was
fought with immense losses on both sides in killed and
wounded. The
Romans, whose paucity of numbers made them more sensible
of their loss, would have retreated had not the consul called
out that the enemy on the other wing were in flight, and by
this well-timed falsehood roused the army to fresh effort.
They made a charge and converted a supposed victory into a
real one. The consul, fearing lest by pressing the attack too
far he might force a renewal of the combat, gave the signal
for retiring.
For the next few days both sides kept quiet, as though there
were a tacit understanding. During this interval, an immense
body of men from all the Volscian and Aequan cities came into
camp, fully expecting that when the Romans heard of their
arrival they would make a nocturnal retreat. Accordingly,
about the third watch they moved out to attack the camp.
After allaying the confusion caused by the sudden alarm,
Quinctius ordered the soldiers to remain quietly in their
quarters, marched out a cohort of Hernicans to the outposts,
mounted the buglers and trumpeters on horseback, and ordered
them to sound their calls and keep the enemy on the alert
till dawn. For the remainder of the night all was so quiet in
the camp that the Romans even enjoyed ample sleep. The sight
of the armed infantry whom the Volscians took to be Romans
and more numerous than they really were, the noise and
neighing of the horses, restless under their inexperienced
riders and excited by the sound of the trumpets, kept the
enemy in constant apprehension of an attack.
LXV. At daybreak the Romans, fresh from their undisturbed
sleep, were led into action, and at the first charge broke
the Volscians, worn out as they were with standing and want
of sleep. It was, however, a retreat rather than a rout, for
in their rear there were hills to which all behind the front
ranks safely retired. When they reached the rising ground,
the consul halted his army. The soldiers were with difficulty
restrained, they clamoured to be allowed to follow up the
beaten foe. The cavalry were much more insistent, they
crowded round the general and loudly declared that they would
go on in advance of the infantry. While the consul, sure of
the courage of his men, but not reassured as to the nature of
the ground, was still hesitating, they shouted that they
would go on, and followed up their shouts by making an
advance. Fixing their spears in the ground that they might be
more lightly equipped for the ascent, they went up at a run.
The Volscians hurled their javelins at the first onset, and
then flung the stones lying at their feet upon the enemy as
they came up. Many were hit,
and through the disorder thus created they were forced back
from the higher ground. In this way the Roman left wing was
nearly overwhelmed, but through the reproaches which the
consul cast upon his retreating men for their rashness as
well as their cowardice, he made their fear give way to the
sense of shame. At first they stood and offered a firm
resistance, then when by holding their ground they had
recovered their energies they ventured upon an advance. With
a renewed shout the whole line went forward, and pressing on
in a second charge they surmounted the difficulties of the
ascent, and were just on the point of reaching the summit
when the enemy turned and fled. With a wild rush, pursuers
and fugitives almost in one mass dashed into the camp, which
was taken. Those of the Volscians who succeeded in escaping
made for Antium; thither the Roman army was led. After a few
days' investment the place was surrendered, not owing to any
unusual efforts on the part of the besiegers, but simply
because after the unsuccessful battle and the loss of their
camp the enemy had lost heart.
BOOK III
THE DECEMVIRATE
