The History of Rome; Books Nine to Twenty Six - Titus Livius
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20. While both the consuls, with the whole force of the Romans,
pointed their exertions principally against the war in Etruria, a new
army which arose in Samnium, with design to ravage the frontiers of
the Roman empire, passed over through the country of the Vescians,
into the Campanian and Falernian territories, and committed great
depredations. Volumnius, as he was hastening back to Samnium, by
forced marches, because the term for which Fabius and Decius had been
continued in command was nearly expired, heard of this army of
Samnites, and of the mischief which they had done in Campania;
determining, therefore, to afford protection to the allies, he altered
his route towards that quarter. When he arrived in the district of
Gales, he found marks of their recent ravages; and the people of Gales
informed him that the enemy carried with them such a quantity of
spoil, that they could scarcely observe any order in their march: and
that the commanders then directed publicly that the troops should go
immediately to Samnium, and having deposited the booty there, that
they should return to the business of the expedition, as they must not
commit to the hazard of an engagement an army so heavily laden.
Notwithstanding that this account carried every appearance of truth,
he yet thought it necessary to obtain more certain information;
accordingly he despatched some horsemen, to seize on some of the
straggling marauders; from these he learned, on inquiry, that the
enemy lay at the river Vulturnus; that they intended to remove thence
at the third watch; and that their route was towards Samnium. On
receiving this intelligence, which could be depended upon, he set out,
and sat down at such a distance from the enemy, that his approach
could not be discovered by his being too near them, and, at the same
time, that he might surprise them, as they should be coming out of
their camp. A long time before day, he drew nigh to their post, and
sent persons, who understood the Oscan language, to discover how they
were employed: these, mixing with the enemy, which they could easily
do during the confusion in the night, found that the standards had
gone out thinly attended; that the booty, and those appointed to guard
it, were then setting out, a contemptible train; each busied about his
own affairs, without any concert with the rest, or much regard to
orders. This was judged the fittest time for the attack, and daylight
was now approaching; he gave orders to sound the charge, and fell on
the enemy as they were marching out. The Samnites being embarrassed
with the spoil, and very few armed, some quickened their pace, and
drove the prey before them; others halted, deliberating whether it
would be safer to advance, or to return again to the camp; and while
they hesitated, they were overtaken and cut off. The Romans had by
this time passed over the rampart, and filled the camp with slaughter
and confusion: the Samnite army, in addition to the disorder caused by
the enemy, had their disorder increased by a sudden insurrection of
their prisoners; some of whom, getting loose, set the rest at liberty,
while others snatched the arms which were tied up among the baggage,
and being intermixed with the troops, raised a tumult more terrible
than the battle itself. They then performed a memorable exploit: for
making an attack on Statius Minacius, the general, as he was passing
between the ranks and encouraging his men; then, dispersing the
horsemen who attended him, they gathered round himself, and dragged
him, sitting on his horse, a prisoner to the Roman consul. By this
movement the foremost battalions of the Samnites were brought back,
and the battle, which seemed to have been already decided, was
renewed: but they could not support it long. Six thousand of them were
slain, and two thousand five hundred taken, among whom were four
military tribunes, together with thirty standards, and, what gave the
conquerors greater joy than all, seven thousand four hundred prisoners
were recovered. The spoil which had been taken from the allies was
immense, and the owners were summoned by a proclamation, to claim and
receive then property. On the day appointed, all the effects, the
owners of which did not appear, were given to the soldiers, who were
obliged to sell them, in order that they might have nothing to think
of but their duty.
21. The depredations, committed on the lands of Campania, had
occasioned a violent alarm at Rome, and it happened, that about the
same time intelligence was brought from Litruria, that, after the
departure of Volumnius's army, all that country had risen up in arms,
and that Gellius Egnatius, the leader of the Samnites, was causing the
Umbrians to join in the insurrection, and tempting the Gauls with high
offers. Terrified at this news, the senate ordered the courts of
justice to be shut, and a levy to be made of men of every description.
Accordingly not only free-born men and the younger sort were obliged
to enlist, but cohorts were formed of the elder citizens, and the sons
of freed-men were incorporated in the centuries. Plans were formed for
the defence of the city, and the praetor, Publius Sempronius, was
invested with the chief command. However, the senate was exonerated of
one half of their anxiety, by a letter from the consul, Lucius
Volumnius informing them that the army, which had ravaged Campania,
had been defeated and dispersed whereupon, they decreed a public
thanksgiving for this success, in the name of the consul. The courts
were opened, after having been shut eighteen days, and the
thanksgiving was performed with much joy. They then turned their
thoughts to devising measures for the future security of the country
depopulated by the Samnites, and, with this view, it was resolved,
that two colonies should be settled on the frontiers of the Vescian
and Falernian territories, one at the mouth of the river Liris, which
has received the name of Minturnae, the other in the Vescian forest,
which borders on the Falernian territory, where, it is said, stood
Sinope, a city of Grecians, called thenceforth by the Roman colonists
Sinuessa. The plebeian tribunes were charged to procure an order of
the commons, commanding Publius Sempronius, the praetor, to create
triumphs for conducting the colonies to those places. But persons were
not readily found to give in their names, because they considered that
they were being sent into what was almost a perpetual advanced guard
in a hostile country, not as a provision from concord between consuls,
and the evils arising from their disagreement in the conduct of
military affairs; at the same time remarking, "how near the extremity
of danger matters had been brought, by the late dispute between his
colleague and himself." He warmly recommended to Decius and Fabius to
"live together with one mind and one spirit." Observed that "they were
men qualified by nature for military command: great in action, but
unpractised in the strife of words and eloquence; their talents were
such as eminently became consuls. As to the artful and the ingenious
lawyers and orators, such as Appius Claudius, they ought to be kept at
home to preside in the city and the forum; and to be appointed
praetors for the administration of justice." In these proceedings that
day was spent, and, on the following, the elections both of consuls
and praetor were held, and were guided by the recommendations
suggested by the consul. Quintus Fabius and Publius Decius were chosen
consuls; Appius Claudius, praetor; all of them absent; and, by a
decree of the senate, followed by an order of the commons, Lucius
Volumnius was continued in the command for another year.
23. During that year many prodigies happened. For the purpose of
averting which, the senate decreed a supplication for two days: the
wine and frankincense for the sacrifices were furnished at the expense
of the public; and numerous crowds of men and women attended the
performance. This supplication was rendered remarkable by a quarrel,
which broke out among the matrons in the chapel of patrician chastity,
which stands in the cattle market, near the round temple of Hercules.
Virginia, daughter of Aulus, a patrician, but married to Volumnius the
consul, a plebeian, was, because she had married out of the
patricians, excluded by the matrons from sharing in the sacred rites:
a short altercation ensued, which was afterwards, through the
intemperance of passion incident to the sex, kindled into a flame of
contention. Virginia boasted with truth that she had a right to enter
the temple of patrician chastity, as being of patrician birth, and
chaste in her character, and, besides, the wife of one husband, to
whom she was betrothed a virgin, and had no reason to be dissatisfied
either with her husband, or his exploits or honours: to her
high-spirited words, she added importance by an extraordinary act. In
the long street where she resided, she enclosed with a partition a
part of the house, of a size sufficient for a small chapel, and there
erected an altar. Then calling together the plebeian matrons, and
complaining of the injurious behaviour of the patrician ladies, she
said, "This altar I dedicate to plebeian chastity, and exhort you,
that the same degree of emulation which prevails among the men of this
state, on the point of valour, may be maintained by the women on the
point of chastity; and that you contribute your best care, that this
altar may have the credit of being attended with a greater degree of
sanctity, and by chaster women, than the other, if possible." Solemn
rites were performed at this altar under the same regulations, nearly,
with those at the more ancient one; no person being allowed the
privilege of taking part in the sacrifices, except a woman of approved
chastity, and who was the wife of one husband. This institution, being
afterwards debased by [the admission of] vicious characters, and not
only by matrons, but women of every description, sunk at last into
oblivion. During this year the Ogulnii, Cneius and Quintus, being
curule aediles, carried on prosecutions against several usurers; whose
property being fined, out of the produce, which was deposited in the
treasury, they ordered brazen thresholds for the Capitol, utensils of
plate for three tables in the chapel of Jupiter, a statue of Jupiter
in a chariot drawn by four horses placed on the roof, and images of
the founders of the city in their infant state under the teats of the
wolf, at the Ruminal fig-tree. They also paved with square stones the
roads from the Capuan gate to the temple of Mars. By the plebeian
aediles likewise, Lucius Aelius Paetus and Caius Fulvius Corvus, out
of money levied as fines on farmers of the public pastures, whom they
had convicted of malpractices, games were exhibited, and golden bowls
were placed in the temple of Ceres.
24. Then came into the consulship Quintus Fabius a fifth time, and
Publius Decius a fourth. They had been colleagues from the censorship,
and twice in the consulship, and were celebrated not more for their
glorious achievements, splendid as these were, than for the unanimity
which had ever subsisted between them. The continuance of this feeling
I am inclined to think was interrupted by a jarring between the
[opposite] orders rather than between themselves, the patricians
endeavouring that Fabius should have Etruria for his province, without
casting lots, and the plebeians insisting that Decius should bring the
matter to the decision of lots. There was certainly a contention in
the senate, and the interest of Fabius being superior there, the
business was brought before the people. Here, between military men who
laid greater stress on deeds than on words, the debate was short.
Fabius said, "that it was unreasonable, after he had planted a tree,
another should gather the fruit of it. He had opened the Ciminian
forest, and made a way for the Roman arms, through passes until then
impracticable. Why had they disturbed him, at that time of his life,
if they intended to give the management of the war to another?" Then,
in the way of a gentle reproof, he observed, that "instead of an
associate in command, he had chosen an adversary; and that Decius
thought it too much that their unanimity should last through three
consulates." Declaring, in fine, that "he desired nothing further,
than that, if they thought him qualified for the command in the
province, they should send him thither. He had submitted to the
judgment of the senate, and would now be governed by the authority of
the people." Publius Decius complained of injustice in the senate; and
asserted, that "the patricians had laboured, as long as possible, to
exclude the plebeians from all access to the higher honours; and since
merit, by its own intrinsic power, had prevailed so far, as that it
should not, in any rank of men, be precluded from the attainment of
honours, expedients were sought how not only the suffrages of the
people, but even the decisions of fortune may be rendered ineffectual,
and be converted to the aggrandizement of a few. All the consuls
before him had disposed of the provinces by lots; now, the senate
bestowed a province on Fabius without lots. If this was meant as a
mark of honour, the merits of Fabius were so great towards the
commonwealth, and towards himself in particular, that he would gladly
second the advancement of his reputation, provided only its splendour
could be increased without reflecting dishonour on himself. But who
did not see, that, when a war of difficulty and danger, and out of the
ordinary course, was committed to only that one consul, the other
would be considered as useless and insignificant. Fabius gloried in
his exploits performed in Etruria: Publius Decius wished for a like
subject of glory, and perhaps would utterly extinguish that fire,
which the other left smothered, in such a manner that it often broke
out anew, in sudden conflagrations. In fine, honours and rewards he
would concede to his colleague, out of respect to his age and
dignified character: but when danger, when a vigorous struggle with an
enemy was before them, he never did, nor ever would, willingly, give
place. With respect to the present dispute, this much he would gain at
all events, that a business, appertaining to the jurisdiction of the
people, should be determined by an order of that people, and not
complimented away by the senate. He prayed Jupiter, supremely good and
great, and all the immortal gods, not to grant him an equal chance
with his colleague, unless they intended to grant him equal ability
and success, in the management of the war. It was certainly in its
nature reasonable, in the example salutary, and concerned the
reputation of the Roman people, that the consuls should be men of such
abilities, that under either of them a war with Etruria could be well
managed." Fabius, after requesting of the people nothing else than
that, before the tribes were called in to give their votes, they would
hear the letters of the praetor Appius Claudius, written from Etruria,
withdrew from the Comitium, and with no less unanimity of the people
than of the senate, the province of Etruria was decreed to him without
having recourse to lots.
25. Immediately almost all the younger citizens flocked together to
the consul, and readily gave in their names; so strong was their
desire of serving under such a commander. Seeing so great a multitude
collected round him, he said, "My intention is to enlist only four
thousand foot and six hundred horse: such of you as give in your names
to-day and to-morrow, I will carry with me. I am more solicitous to
bring home all my soldiers rich, than to employ a great multitude."
Accordingly, with a competent number of men, who possessed greater
hopes and confidence because a numerous army had not been required, he
marched to the town of Aharna, from which the enemy were not far
distant, and proceeded to the camp of the praetor Appius. When within
a few miles of it, he was met by some soldiers, sent to cut wood,
attended by a guard. Observing the lictors preceding him, and learning
that he was Fabius the consul, they were filled with joy and alacrity;
they expressed their thanks to the gods, and to the Roman people, for
having sent them such a commander. Then as they gathered round to pay
their respects, Fabius inquired whither they were going, and on their
answering they were going to provide wood, "What do you tell me," said
he, "have you not a rampart, raised about your camp?" When to this
they replied, "they had a double rampart, and a trench, and,
notwithstanding, were in great apprehension."
"Well then," said he, "you have abundance of wood, go back and level
the rampart." They accordingly returned to the camp and there
levelling the rampart threw the soldiers who had remained in it, and
Appius himself, into the greatest fright, until with eager joy each
called out to the rest, that, "they acted by order of the consul,
Quintus Fabius." Next day the camp was moved from thence, and the
praetor, Appius, was dismissed to Rome. From that time the Romans had
no fixed post, the consul affirming, that it was prejudicial to an
army to lie in one spot, and that by frequent marches, and changing
places, it was rendered more healthy, and more capable of brisk
exertions, and marches were made as long as the winter, which was not
yet ended, permitted. Then, in the beginning of spring, leaving the
second legion near Clusium, which they formerly called the Camertian,
and giving the command of the camp to Lucius Scipio, as propraetor, he
returned to Rome, in order to adjust measures for carrying on the war,
either led thereto by his own judgment, because the war seemed to him
more serious than he had believed, from report, or, being summoned by
a decree of the senate, for writers give both accounts. Some choose to
have it believed, that he was forced back by the praetor, Appius
Claudius, who, both in the senate, and before the people, exaggerated,
as he was wont in all his letters, the danger of the Etrurian war,
contending, that "one general, or one army, would not be sufficient to
oppose four nations. That whether these directed the whole of their
combined force against him alone, or acted separately in different
parts, there was reason to fear, that he would be unable to provide
against every emergency. That he had left there but two Roman legions;
and that the foot and horse, who came with Fabius, did not amount to
five thousand. It was, therefore, his opinion, that the consul,
Publius Decius should, without delay, set out to his colleague in
Etruria, and that the province of Samnium should be given to Lucius
Volumnius. But if the consul preferred going to his own province, that
then Volumnius should march a full consular army into Etruria, to join
the other consul." When the advice of the praetor influenced a great
part of the members, they say that Publius Decius recommended that
every thing should be kept undetermined, and open for Quintus Fabius;
until he should either come to Rome, if he could do so without
prejudice to the public, or send some of his lieutenants, from whom
the senate might learn the real state of the war in Etruria; and with
what number of troops, and by how many generals, it should be carried
on.
26. Fabius, as soon as he returned to Rome, qualified his discourses,
both in the senate and when brought before the people, in such a
manner as to appear neither to exaggerate or lessen, any particular
relating to the war; and to show, that, in agreeing to another general
being joined with him, he rather indulged the apprehensions of others,
than guarded against any danger to himself, or the public. "But if
they chose," he said, "to give him an assistant in the war, and
associate in command, how could he overlook Publius Decius the consul,
whom he had tried during so many associations in office? There was no
man living whom he would rather wish to be joined in commission with
him: with Publius Decius he should have forces sufficient, and never
too many enemies. If, however, his colleague preferred any other
employment, let them then give him Lucius Volumnius as an assistant."
The disposal of every particular was left entirely to Fabius by the
people and the senate, and even by his colleague. And when Decius
declared that he was ready to go either to Etruria or Samnium, such
general congratulation and satisfaction took place, that victory was
anticipated, and it seemed as if a triumph, not a war, had been
decreed to the consuls. I find in some writers, that Fabius and
Decius, immediately on their entering into office, set out together
for Etruria, without any mention of the casting of lots for the
provinces, or of the disputes which I have related. Others, not
satisfied with relating those disputes, have added charges of
misconduct, laid by Appius before the people against Fabius, when
absent; and a stubborn opposition, maintained by the praetor against
the consul, when present; and also another contention between the
colleagues, Decius insisting that each consul should attend to the
care of his own separate province. Certainty, however, begins to
appear from the time when both consuls set out for the campaign. Now,
before the consuls arrived in Etruria, the Senonian Gauls came in a
vast body to Clusium, to attack the Roman legion and the camp. Scipio,
who commanded the camp, wishing to remedy the deficiency of his
numbers by an advantage in the ground, led his men up a hill, which
stood between the camp and the city but having, in his haste,
neglected to examine the place, he reached near the summit, which he
found already possessed by the enemy, who had ascended on the other
side. The legion was consequently attacked on the rear, and surrounded
in the middle, when the enemy pressed it on all sides. Some writers
say, that the whole were cut off, so that not one survived to give an
account of it, and that no information of the misfortune reached the
consuls, who were, at the time, not far from Clusium, until the Gallic
horsemen came within sight, carrying the heads of the slain, some
hanging before their horses' breasts, others on the points of their
spears, and expressing their triumph in songs according to their
custom. Others affirm, that the defeat was by Umbrians, not Gauls, and
that the loss sustained was not so great. That a party of foragers,
under Lucius Manlius Torquatus, lieutenant-general, being surrounded,
Scipio, the propraetor, brought up relief from the camp, and the
battle being renewed, that the Umbrians, lately victorious, were
defeated, and the prisoners and spoil retaken. But it is more probable
that this blow was suffered from a Gallic than an Umbrian enemy,
because during that year, as was often the case at other times, the
danger principally apprehended by the public, was that of a Gallic
tumult, for which reason, notwithstanding that both the consuls had
marched against the enemy, with four legions, and a large body of
Roman cavalry, joined by a thousand chosen horsemen of Campania,
supplied on the occasion, and a body of the allies and Latin
confederates, superior in number to the Romans, two other armies were
posted near the city, on the side facing Etruria, one in the
Faliscian, the other in the Vatican territory. Cneius Fulvius and
Lucius Postumius Megellus, both propraetors, were ordered to keep the
troops stationed in those places.
27. The consuls, having crossed the Apennines, came up with the enemy
in the territory of Sentinum, their camp was pitched there at the
distance of about four miles. Several councils were then held by the
enemy, and their plan of operations was thus settled: that they should
not encamp together, nor go out together to battle; the Gauls were
united to the Samnites, the Umbrians to the Etrurians. The day of
battle was fixed. The part of maintaining the fight was committed to
the Samnites and Gauls; and the Etrurians and Umbrians were ordered to
attack the Roman camp during the heat of the engagement. This plan was
frustrated by three Clusian deserters, who came over by night to
Fabius, and after disclosing the above designs, were sent back with
presents, in order that they might discover, and bring intelligence
of, any new scheme which should be determined on. The consuls then
wrote to Flavius and Postumius to move their armies, the one from the
Faliscian, the other from the Vatican country, towards Clusium; and to
ruin the enemy's territory by every means in their power. The news of
these depredations drew the Etrurians from Sentinum to protect their
own region. The consuls, in their absence, practised every means to
bring on an engagement. For two days they endeavoured, by several
attacks, to provoke the enemy to fight; in which time, however,
nothing worth mention was performed. A few fell on each side, but
still the minds [of the Romans] were irritated to wish for a general
engagement; yet nothing decisive was hazarded. On the third day, both
parties marched out their whole force to the field: here, while the
armies stood in order of battle, a hind, chased by a wolf from the
mountains, ran through the plain between the two lines: there the
animals taking different directions, the hind bent its course towards
the Gauls, the wolf towards the Romans: way was made between the ranks
for the wolf, the Gauls slew the hind with their javelins; on which
one of the Roman soldiers in the van said, "To that side, where you
see an animal, sacred to Diana, lying prostrate, flight and slaughter
are directed; on this side the victorious wolf of Mars, safe and
untouched, reminds us of our founder, and of our descent from that
deity." The Gauls were posted on the right wing, the Samnites on the
left: against the latter, Fabius drew up, as his right wing, the first
and third legions: against the Gauls, Decius formed the left wing of
the fifth and sixth. The second and fourth were employed in the war in
Samnium, under the proconsul, Lucius Volumnius. In the first encounter
the action was supported with strength so equal on both sides, that
had the Etrurians and Umbrians been present, either in the field or at
the camp, in whichever place they might have employed their force, the
Romans must have been defeated.