LITMIR.BIZ

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and they believed that the same solitude they should find in the other places. The accounts of the prisoners proved well-founded, and the consul took possession of the forsaken towns.

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      The war was by no means so easy with the other consul, Marcus Atilius. As he was marching his legions towards Luceria, to which he was informed that the Samnites had laid siege, the enemy met him on the border of the Lucerian territory. Rage supplied them, on this occasion, with strength to equal his: the battle was stubbornly contested, and the victory doubtful; in the issue, however, more calamitous on the side of the Romans, both because they were unaccustomed to defeat, and that, on leaving the field, they felt more sensibly, than during the heat of the action, how much more wounds and bloodshed had been on their side. In consequence of this, such dismay spread through the camp, as, had it seized them during the engagement, a signal defeat would have been the result. Even as the matter stood, they spent the night in great anxiety; expecting, every instant, that the Samnites would assault the camp; or that, at the first light, they should be obliged to stand a battle with a victorious enemy. On the side of the enemy, however, although there was less loss, yet there was not greater courage. As soon as day appeared, they wished to retire without any more fighting; but there was only one road, and that leading close by the post of their enemy; on their taking which, they seemed as if advancing directly to attack the camp. The consul, therefore, ordered his men to take arms, and to follow him outside the rampart, giving directions to the lieutenants-general, tribunes, and the praefects of the allies, in what manner he would have each of them act. They all assured him that "they would do every thing in their power, but that the soldiers were quite dejected; that, from their own wounds, and the groans of the dying, they had passed the whole night without sleep; that if the enemy had approached the camp before day, so great were the fears of the troops, that they would certainly have deserted their standards." "Even at present they were restrained from flight merely by shame; and, in other respects, were little better than vanquished men." This account made the consul judge it necessary to go himself among the soldiers, and speak to them; and, as he came up to each, he rebuked them for their backwardness in taking arms, asking, "Why they loitered, and declined the fight? If they did not choose to go out of the camp, the enemy would come into it; and they must fight in defence of their tents, if they would not in defence of the rampart. Men who have arms in their hands, and contend with their foe, have always a chance for victory; but the man who waits naked and unarmed for his enemy, must suffer either death or slavery." To these reprimands and rebukes they answered, that "they were exhausted by the fatigue of the battle of yesterday; and had no strength, nor even blood remaining; and besides, the enemy appeared more numerous than they were the day before." The hostile army, in the mean time, drew near; so that, seeing every thing more distinctly as the distance grew less, they asserted that the Samnites carried with them pallisades for a rampart, and evidently intended to draw lines of circumvallation round the camp. On this the consul exclaimed, with great earnestness, against submitting to such an ignominious insult, and from so dastardly a foe. "Shall we even be blockaded," said he, "in our camp, and die, with ignominy, by famine, rather than bravely by the sword, if it must be so? May the gods be propitious! and let every one act in the manner which he thinks becomes him. The consul Marcus Atilius, should no other accompany him, will go out, even alone, to face the enemy; and will fall in the middle of the Samnite battalions, rather than see the Roman camp enclosed by their trenches." The lieutenants-general, tribunes, every troop of the cavalry, and the principal centurions, expressed their approbation of what the consul said; and the soldiers at length, overcome by shame, took up their arms, but in a spiritless manner; and in the same spiritless manner, marched out of the camp. In a long train, and that not every where connected, melancholy, and seemingly subdued, they proceeded towards the enemy, whose hopes and courage, were not more steady than theirs. As soon therefore as the Roman standards were beheld, a murmur spread from front to rear of the Samnites, that, as they had feared, "the Romans were coming out to oppose their march; that there was no road open, through which they could even fly thence; in that spot they must fall, or else cut down the enemy's ranks, and make their way over their bodies."

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      They then threw the baggage in a heap in the centre, and, with their arms prepared for battle, formed their line, each falling into his post. There was now but a small interval between the two armies, and both stood, waiting until the shout and onset should be begun by their adversary. Neither party had any inclination to fight, and they would have separated, and taken different roads, unhurt and untouched, but that each had a dread of being harassed, in retreat, by the other. Notwithstanding this shyness and reluctance, an engagement unavoidably began, but spiritless, and with a shout which discovered neither resolution nor steadiness; nor did any move a foot from his post. The Roman consul, then, in order to infuse life into the action, ordered a few troops of cavalry to advance out of the line and charge: most of whom being thrown from their horses and the rest put in disorder, several parties ran forward, both from the Samnite line, to cut off those who had fallen, and from the Roman, to protect their friends. In consequence the battle became a little more brisk, but the Samnites had come forward with more briskness, and also in greater numbers, and the disordered cavalry, with their affrighted horses, trod down their own party who came to their relief. Flight commencing in this quarter, caused the whole Roman line to turn their backs. And now the Samnites had no employment for their arms but against the rear of a flying enemy, when the consul, galloping on before his men to the gate of the camp, posted there a body of cavalry, with orders to treat as an enemy any person who should make towards the rampart, whether Roman or Samnite; and, placing himself in the way of his men, as they pressed in disorder towards the camp, denounced threats to the same purport: "Whither are you going, soldiers?" said he; "here also you will find both men and arms; nor, while your consul lives, shall you pass the rampart, unless victorious. Choose therefore which you will prefer, fighting against your own countrymen, or the enemy." While the consul was thus speaking the cavalry gathered round, with the points of their spears presented, and ordered the infantry to return to the fight. Not only his own brave spirit, but fortune likewise aided the consul, for the Samnites did not push their advantage; so that he had time to wheel round his battalions, and to change his front from the camp towards the enemy. The men then began to encourage each other to return to the battle, while the centurions snatched the ensigns from the standard-bearers and bore them forward, pointing out to the soldiers the enemy, coming on in a hurry, few in number, and with their ranks disordered. At the same time the consul, with his hands lifted up towards heaven, and raising his voice so as to be heard at a distance, vowed a temple to Jupiter Stator, if the Roman army should rally from flight, and, renewing the battle, cut down and defeat the Samnites. All divisions of the army, now, united their efforts to restore the fight; officers, soldiers, the whole force, both of cavalry and infantry; even the powers of heaven seemed to have looked, with favour, on the Roman cause; so speedily was a thorough change effected in the fortune of the day, the enemy being repulsed from the camp, and, in a short time, driven back to the spot where the battle had commenced. Here they stopped, being obstructed by the heap of baggage, lying in their way, where they had thrown it together; and then, to prevent the plundering of their effects, formed round them a circle of troops. On this, the infantry assailed them vigorously in front, while the cavalry, wheeling, fell on their rear: and, being thus enclosed between the two, they were all either slain, or taken prisoners. The number of the prisoners was seven thousand two hundred, who were all sent under the yoke; the killed amounted to four thousand eight hundred. The victory did not prove a joyous one, even on the side of the Romans: when the consul took an account of the loss sustained in the two days, the number returned, of soldiers lost, was seven thousand three hundred. During these transactions in Apulia, the Samnites with the other army having attempted to seize on Iteramna, a Roman colony situated on the Latin road, did not however obtain the town; whence, after ravaging the country, as they were driving off spoil, consisting of men and cattle, together with the colonists whom they had taken, they met the consul returning victorious from Luceria, and not only lost their booty, but marching in disorder, in a long train, and heavily encumbered, were themselves cut to pieces. The consul, by proclamation, summoned the owners to Interamna, to claim and receive again their property, and leaving his army there, went to Rome to hold the elections. On his applying for a triumph, that honour was refused

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