from the war of the Samnites, he should, with all haste, lead his army into Umbria. The consul obeyed the order, and, by forced marches, proceeded to Mevania, where the forces of the Umbrians then lay. The unexpected arrival of the consul, whom they had believed to be sufficiently employed in Samnium, far distant from their country, so thoroughly affrighted the Umbrians, that several advised retiring to their fortified towns; others, the laying aside their arms. However, one district, called by themselves Materina, prevailed on the rest, not only to retain their arms, but to come to an immediate engagement. They fell upon Fabius while he was fortifying his camp. When the consul saw them rushing impetuously towards his rampart, he called off his men from the work, and drew them up in the best manner which the nature of the place and the time allowed; encouraged them by displaying, in honourable and just terms, the glory which they had acquired, as well in Etruria as in Samnium, and bade them finish this insignificant appendage to the Etrurian war, and take vengeance for the impious expressions in which these people had threatened to attack the city of Rome. Such was the alacrity of the soldiers on hearing this, that, raising the shout spontaneously, they interrupted the general's discourse, and, without waiting for orders, advanced, with the sound of all the trumpets and cornets, in full speed against the enemy. They made their attack, not as on men, or, at least, men in arms, but, what must appear wonderful in the relation, began by snatching the standards out of the hands which held them; and then, the standard-bearers themselves were dragged to the consul, and the armed soldiers hauled from the one line to the other; little resistance was any where made, and the business was performed, not so much with swords, as with their shields, with the bosses of which, and thrusts of their elbows, they bore down the foe. The prisoners were more numerous than the slain, and through the whole line the Umbrians called on each other, with one voice, to lay down their arms. Thus a surrender was made in the midst of action, by the first promoters of the war; and, on the next and following days, the other states of this people also surrendered. The Ocriculans were admitted to a treaty of friendship on giving security. Y.R.446. XLII. Fabius, after reaping laurels in a war allotted to another, led back his army into his own province. And as, in the preceding year, the people had, in consideration of his services so successfully performed, re-elected him to the consulship, so now the senate, from the same motive, notwithstanding a warm opposition made by Appius, prolonged his command for the year following, in which Ap pius Claudius and Lucius Volumnius were consuls. In some annals I find, that Appius, still holding the office of censor, declared himself a candidate for the consulship, and that his election was stopped by a protest of Lucius Furius, plebeian tribune, until he resigned the censorship. After his election to the consulship, the new war with the Sallentines, who had taken arms, being decreed to his colleague, he remained at Rome, with design to increase his interest by popular intrigues, since the means of procuring honour in war were placed in the hands of others. Volumnius had no reason to be dissatisfied with his province: he fought many battles with good success, and took several cities by assault. He was liberal in his donations of the spoil; and this munificence, engaging in itself, he enhanced by his courteous demeanour, by which conduct he inspired his soldiers with ardour to meet both toil and danger. Quintus Fabius, proconsul, fought a pitched battle with the armies of the Samnites, near the city of Allifæ. The victory was com plete. The enemy were driven from the field, and pursued to their camp; nor would they have kept possession of that, had not the day been almost spent. It was invested, how t fo n W al W da ever, before night, and guarded until day, lest any should slip away. Next morning, while it was scarcely clear day, they proposed to capitulate, and it was agreed, that such as were natives of Samnium sheuld be dismissed with single garments. All these were sent under the yoke. No precaution was taken in favour of the allies of the Samnites: they were sold by auction, to the number of seven thousand. Those who declared themselves subjects of the Hernicians, were kept by themselves under a guard. All these Fabius sent to Rome to the senate; and, after being examined, whether it was in consequence of a public order, or as volunteers, that they had carried arms on the side of the Samnites against the Romans, they were distributed among the states of the Latines, to be held in custody; and it was ordered, that the new consuls, Publius Cornelius Arvina, and Quintus Marcius Tremulus, who by this time had been elected, should lay that affair entire before the senate: this gave such offence to the Hernicians, that, at a meeting of all the states, assembled by the Anagnians, in the circus called the Maritime, the whole nation of the Hernicians, excepting the Alatrians, Ferentines, and Verulans, declared war against the Roman people. Y.R.447. B.C.305. XLIII. In Samnium also, in consequence of the departure of Fabius, new commotions arose. Calatia and Sora, and the Roman garrisons stationed there, were taken, and the prisoners treated with extreme cruelty: Publius Cornelius was therefore sent thither with an army. The command against the new enemy (for by this time an order had passed for declaring war against the Anagnians, and the rest of the Hernicians) was decreed to Marcius. These, in the beginning, secured all the passes between the camps of the consuls, in such a manner, that no messenger, however expert, could make his way from one to the other; and each consul spent several days in absolute uncertainty and in anxious suspense con A cerning the state of the other. Apprehensions for their safety spread even to Rome; so that all the younger citizens were compelled to enlist, and two regular armies were raised, to answer sudden emergencies. The conduct of the Hernicians, during the progress of the war afterwards, showed nothing suitable to the present alarm, or to the ancient renown of that nation. Without ever making any effort worth mention ing, being beaten out of three different camps within a few days, they stipulated for a truce of thirty days, during which they might send to Rome, to the senate, on the terms of fur nishing two months' pay, and corn, and a tunic to every sol dier. The senate referred them back to Marcius, whom they empowered to determine on the affair, and he accepted their submission. Meanwhile, in Samnium, the other consul, though superior in strength, was very much embarrassed by the nature of his situation: the enemy had blocked up all the roads, and seized on the passable defiles, so as to stop all supplies of provisions; nor could the consul, though he daily drew out his troops, and offered battle, allure them to an engagement. It was evident, that neither could the Samnite support an immediate contest, nor the Roman a delay of ac tion. The approach of Marcius, who, after he had subdued the Hernicians, hastened to the succour of his colleague, put it out of the enemy's power any longer to avoid fighting: for they, who had not deemed themselves a match in the field, even for one of the armies, could surely not suppose that, if they should allow the two consular armies to unite, they could have any hope remaining: they made an attack, therefore, on Marcius, as he was approaching in the irregular order of march. The baggage was hastily thrown together in the centre, and the line formed as well as the time permitted. The shout, which reached the post of Cornelius, with the dust observed at a distance, excited a bustle and hurry in his camp. Ordering his men, instantly, to arms, and leading them out to the field with the utmost haste, he charged the flank of the enemy's line, which had enough to do in the other dispute, at the same time exclaiming, that “it would be the height of infamy, if they suffered Marcius's army to monopolize the honour of both victories, and did not assert their claim to the glory of their own war." He bore down all before him, and pushed forward, through the midst of the enemy's line, to their camp, which, being left without a guard, he took and set on fire; and the flames of it being seen by the soldiers of Marcius, and likewise by the enemy, on their looking about, a general flight immediately took place among the Samnites. But they could not effect an escape in any direction; in every quarter they met death. After a slaughter of thirty thousand men, the consuls had now given the signal for retreat; and were collecting, into one body, their several forces, who were employed in mutual congratulations, when some new cohorts of the enemy, which had been levied for a reinforcement, being seen at a distance, occasioned a renewal of the carnage. On these the conquerors rushed, without any order of the consuls, or signal received, crying out, that they would give these Samnites an introduction to service, which they would not like. The consuls indulged the ardour of the legions, well knowing that raw troops mixed with veterans dispirited by defeat, would be incapable even of attempting a contest. Nor were they wrong in their judgment: all the forces of the Samnites, old and new, fled to the nearest mountains. These the Roman army also ascended, so that no situation afforded safety to the vanquished: they were beaten off, even from the summits which they had seized. And now, they all, with one voice, supplicated for a suspension of arms. On which, being ordered to furnish corn for three months, pay for a year, and a tunic to each of the soldiers, they sent deputies to the senate to sue for peace. Cornelius was left in Samnium. VOL. II.-2 Q |