was against him, the consul ordered his men to halt: but it was with great difficulty that they could be restrained; they called out, and insisted on being allowed to pursue the advantage which they had gained while the horsemen, collected round the general, were still more ungovernable, loudly declaring that they would advance before the front line. While Titus hesitated, between the confidence which he knew he might place in the valour of his men, and the difficulty of the ground, all cried out, with one voice, that they would proceed; and they instantly put their words in execution; sticking their spears in the ground, that they might be lighter to climb the steeps, they ran forward in full speed. The Volscians having at the first onset discharged their missive weapons, began to pour down on them, as they approached. The incessant blows from the stones of the higher ground, and which lay among their feet, so galled and disordered the Romans, that their left wing was by this means almost overborne; when the consul, just as they were beginning to give way, reproaching

| them with their rashness, and at the same time with want of spirit, made their fears give place to shame. At first, they stood their ground with determined firmness; then, as they recovered strength to renew the attack, in spite of the disadvantage of situation, they ventured to advance, and raising the shout anew, moved forward in a body. Rushing on again in full career, they forced their way, and when they had reached almost to the summit of the hill, the enemy turned their backs, and the pursuers and pursued, exerting their utmost speed, both rushed into the camp together, almost in one body. In this consternation of the Volscians, their camp was taken. Such of them as could make their escape, took the road to Antium ; thither also the Roman army marched; and, after a siege of a few days, the town surrendered, not because the force of the besiegers was stronger now than in the former attack, but because the spirits of the besieged were broken by the late unsuccessful battle, and the loss of their camp.

I. Soon after the taking of Antium, Titus Æmilius and Quintus Fabius were elected consuls. [Y. R. 287. B. C. 465.] This Quintus was the single one of the Fabii who remained alive when the family were cut off at the Cremera. Æmilius had before, in his former consulate, recommended the distribution of lands among the commons: now, therefore, on his being a second time invested with that office, those, who expected the lands, conceived sanguine hopes of the law being passed. The tribunes, supposing that an affair for which such struggles had often been made, in opposition to both the consuls, might probably be accomplished now, when one of those magistrates was an advocate for it, set the business on foot; and the consul continued in the same sentiments. The possessors of the lands, and most of the patricians, complaining loudly that a person at the head of the state aimed to distinguish himself by intrigues more becoming a tribune courting popularity, by making donations out of other people's property, removed the odium of the whole transaction from the tribunes to the consul. A desperate contest would have ensued had not Fabius

struck out an expedient to prevent it, by a plan disagreeable to neither party; which was, that, as a considerable tract of land had been taken from the Volscians in the preceding year, under the conduct and auspices of Titus Quintius, a colony should be led off to Antium, a town at no great distance, convenient in every respect, and a sea-port; by these means, the commons might come in for lands, without any complaints from the present possessors at home, and harmony might be preserved in the state. This proposition was approved of, and he had commissioners, called triumvirs, appointed to distribute the same; these were Titus Quintius, A. Virginius, and Publius Furius; and such as chose to accept of those lands, were ordered to give in their names. The gratification of their wishes, as is generally the case, instantly begat disgust; and so few subscribed to the proposal, that, to fill up the colony, they were obliged to take in a number of the Volscians. The rest of the populace chose rather to prosecute claims of land at Rome, than to receive immediate possession of it elsewhere. The Equans sued to Quintus Fabius for peace, for he had gone

II. In the year following, [Y. R. 288. B. C. 464.] Quintus Servilius, who was consul with Spurius Postumius, being sent against the Equans, fixed his camp in the Latine territory, a post which he intended to retain. Here the troops were compelled by sickness, to remain inactive within their lines; by which means the war was protracted to the third year, in which Quintus Fabius and Titus Quintius were consuls. As Fabius, in consequence of his former successes there, had granted peace to the Æquans, that province was now particularly assigned to him. He set out with confident expectations, that the splendour of his name would be sufficient to induce the Equans to put an end to hostilities, and sent ambassadors to the general meeting of that nation, with orders to tell them, that Quintus Fabius, consul, gave them notice, that as he had brought peace to Rome from the Æquans, so now he brought war to the quans from Rome; having armed for war the same hand which he had formerly given to them as a pledge of peace. Which of the parties had, by perjury and perfidy, given occasion to this rupture, was known to the gods, who would soon prove avengers of the crime: yet, notwithstanding this, he was still more desirous that the Equans should, of their own accord, repent of their misconduct, than suffer the evils of war. If they repented, they should find safety in that clemency which they had already experienced: if they chose to persist in a conduct which involved them in the guilt of perjury, they must expect, in the progress of the war, to find the resentment of the gods even greater than that of their enemies." So far were these declarations from producing the desired effect on them, that the ambassadors narrowly escaped ill-treatment, and an army was sent to Algidum against the Romans. [Y. R. 289. B. C. 463.] When the news of these transactions was brought to Rome, the indignity of the affair, rather than the danger, called out the other consul from the city, and the two consular armies advanced to the enemy in order of battle, prepared for an immediate engagement. But this happening rather late in the day, a person called out from ore of the enemy's posts, "Romans, this is making an ostentatious parade, not waging war: ye draw up your forces for battle, when night is at hand.

cide the contest which is to come on: return into the field to-morrow at sun-rise; ye shall have an opportunity of fighting, doubt it not." The soldiers were led back into camp until the next day, highly irritated by those expressions, and thinking the approaching night would appear too long, which was to occasion a delay to the combat: the intervening hours, however, they employed in refreshing themselves with food and sleep. Next morning, as soon as it was light, the Roman army were the first, by a considerable time, to take their post in the field. At length, the Æquans also came forward. The battle was fought with great fury on both sides, for the Romans were stimulated both by anger and hatred, while the Æquans, conscious that the dangers to which they were exposed were the consequence of their own crimes, and despairing of ever being treated with confidence in future, felt a necessity of making the most desperate exertions. However, they were not able to withstand the Roman troops. They were driven from the field, and retreated to their own territories; where the outrageous multitude, not at all the more disposed to peace from their failure, censured their leaders for having hazarded success in a pitched battle; a manner of fighting in which the Romans possessed superior skill. The Æquans, they said, were better fitted for predatory expeditions; and there was greater reason to hope for success, from a number of detached parties acting separately, than from one army of unwieldy bulk.

III. Leaving therefore a guard in the camp, they marched out, and fell upon the Roman frontiers with such fury, as to carry terror even to the city. Such an event caused the greater uneasiness, because it was entirely unexpected; for nothing could be less apprehended, than that a vanquished enemy, almost besieged in their camp, should entertain a thought of committing depredations. The country people, in a panic, pouring into the gates, and, in the excess of their fright, exaggerating every thing, cried out, that they were not small ravaging parties, nor employed in plundering; but that the legions, and the entire army of the enemy were approaching, marching rapidly towards the city, and prepared for an assault. The first who heard these rumours, spread them about among others, unauthenticated as they were, and therefore the more liable to exaggeration;

senate with such dismay, that by a decree, in that form which has been always deemed to be appropriated to cases of extreme exigency, the other consul Postumius was charged "to take care, that the commonwealth should receive no detriment." It was judged most expedient that the consul himself should remain at Rome, in order to enlist all who were able to bear arms; and that Titus Quintius should be sent as proconsul to the relief of the camp, with an army composed of the allies; to complete the number of which, the Latines, Hernicians, and the colony at Antium, were ordered to supply Quintius with subitary soldiers; this was the appellation then given to auxiliaries called out on a sudden emergency.

V. For some time there was a great variety of movements, and many attempts made, both on one side and on the other; for the enemy, relying on their superiority in number, endeavoured to weaken the force of the Romans, by obliging them to divide it into many parts, in hopes that it would prove insufficient to withstand them on every different quarter. At the same time that the siege of the camp was carried on, a part of their forces was sent to ravage the lands of the Romans, and to attempt even Rome itself, if a favourable occasion should offer.

Lucius Valerius was left to guard the city, and the consul Postumius was sent to protect the frontiers from the enemy's incursions. No degree of vigilance and activity was left unemployed in any particular: watches were stationed in the town, out-posts before the gates, and guards along the walls; and, as was necessary in a time of such general confusion, a cessation of civil business was observed for several days. Meanwhile, at the camp, the consul Furius, after having endured the siege for some time, without making any effort, burst forth, from the Decuman gate,' on the enemy, when they least expected him; and though he might have pursued their flying troops with advantage, yet, fearing lest an attack might be made on the camp from the opposite side, he halted. Another Furius, who was a lieutenant-general, and brother to the consul, hastily pushed forward too far; and so eagerly intent was he on the pursuit, that he neither perceived his own party retreating, nor the enemy intercepting him be

1 The Decuman gate was in the rear of the encampment. For the order and disposition of a Roman camp, see Adam's Roman Antiquities.

hind: being thus shut out from assistance, and having often in vain essayed, by every kind of effort,to open himself a passage, he fell, fighting with great bravery. The consul, on the other hand, hearing that his brother was surrounded, turned back on the enemy, and while, forget. ting all caution, he rushed too precipitately into the thick of the fight, he received a wound, and was, not without difliculty, carried off by his attendants. This both damped the courage of his own men, and rendered the enemy more daring; and so highly were the latter elated by the death of the lieutenant-general, and the consul's being wounded, that no force could afterwards withstand them, so as to prevent their driving the Romans back to their camp, and compelling them to submit again to a siege, with both strength and hopes considerably diminished; they were even in danger of utter destruction, had not Titus Quintius, with the troops supplied by the Latines and Hernicians, come to their relief. He attacked the Equans on their rear, whilst their attention was employed on the Roman camp, and as they were insultingly exhibiting to view the head of the lieutenant-general; and a sally being made from the camp at the same time, on a signal given by him at some distance, a great number of the enemy were surrounded and cut off. Of the quans who were employed in the Roman territories, the number slain was less, but their defeat and dispersion was more complete. Being divided into separate parties, and busied in collecting plunder, they were attacked by Postumius in several places, where he had posted troops in convenient situations; when, not knowing what course to take, and pursuing their flight in great disorder, they fell in with Quintius, who, after his victory, was returning home with the wounded consul. Then did the consular army, exerting themselves with extraordinary alacrity, take full vengeance for the consul's wound, and for the loss of the lieutenant-general and the cohorts. Many heavy losses were sustained on both sides in the course of that campaign: but it is diffi cult, at this distance of time, to assign, with any degree of certainty, the precise number of those who were engaged, and of those who fell. Yet Valerius Antius undertakes to estimate them, affirming that, of the Romans, there fell in the country of the Hernicans five thousand three hundred; that, of the plundering parties of the quans, who spread themselves over