ch. 233.23Whilst these events were occurring at Antium, the
Aequi sent forward some of their best troops and by a sudden
night attack captured the citadel of Tusculum; the rest of
the army they halted not far from the walls, in order to
distract the enemy. Intelligence of this quickly reached
Rome, and from Rome was carried to the camp before Antium,
where it produced as much excitement as if the Capitol had
been taken. The service which Tusculum had so recently
rendered and the similar character of the danger then and
now, demanded a similar return of assistance. Fabius made it
his first object to carry the spoil from the camp into
Antium; leaving a small force there he hastened by forced
marches to Tusculum. The soldiers were not allowed to carry
anything but their arms and whatever baked bread was at hand,
the consul Cornelius brought up supplies from Rome. The
fighting went on for some months at Tusculum. With a portion
of his army the consul attacked the camp of the Aequi, the
rest he lent to the Tusculans for the recapture of their
citadel. This could not be approached by
direct assault. Ultimately, famine compelled the enemy
to evacuate it, and after being reduced to the last
extremities, they were all stripped of their arms and clothes
and sent under the yoke. Whilst they were making their way
home in this ignominious plight, the Roman consul on Algidus
followed them
up and slew them to a man. After this victory he led his
army
back to a place called Columen, where he fixed his camp. As
the walls of Rome were no longer exposed to danger after the
defeat of the enemy, the other consul also marched out of the
City. The two consuls entered the enemies' territories by
separate routes, and each tried to outdo the other in
devastating the Volscian lands on the one side and those of
the Aequi eon the other.
I find it stated in the majority of authorities that Antium
revolted this year, but that the consul L. Cornelius
conducted a campaign and recaptured the town, I would not
venture to assert, as there is no mention of it in the older
writers.
