The History of Rome, Books 01 to 08
need of aid from no one. You have to do with that enemy, who on
yesterday, through their supineness, availed themselves not of the
fortunate opportunity of destroying our whole army, who did not see this
hill so advantageously situate hanging over their heads, until it was
seized on by us; who with so many thousand men did not prevent us so few
from the ascent, and did not surround us with a rampart when in
possession of the ground, though so much of the day still remained. That
enemy which with their eyes open and awake you so baffled, it is
incumbent on you now to beguile, buried, as they are, in sleep; nay, it
is absolutely necessary. For our affairs are in that situation, that I
am rather to point out to you your necessity than to propose advice. For
whether you are to remain or to depart hence, can no longer be matter of
deliberation, since, with the exception of your arms, and courage
mindful of those arms, fortune has left you nothing, and we must die of
famine and thirst, if we are more afraid of the sword than becomes men
and Romans. Therefore our only safety is to sally forth from this and to
depart. That we must do either by day or by night. But lo! another point
which admits of less doubt; for if daylight be waited for, what hope is
there, that the enemy, who have now encompassed the hill on every side,
as you perceive, with their bodies exposed at disadvantage, will not hem
us in with a continued rampart and ditch? If night then be favourable
for a sally, as it is, this is undoubtedly the most suitable hour of
night. You assembled here on the signal of the second watch, a time
which buries mortals in the profoundest sleep. You will pass through
their bodies lulled to sleep, either in silence unnoticed by them, or
ready to strike terror into them, should they perceive you, by a sudden
shout. Only follow me, whom you have followed. The same fortune which
conducted us hither, will I follow. Those of you to whom these measures
seem salutary, come on, pass over to the right."
36. They all passed over, and followed Decius as he proceeded through
the intervals which lay between the guards. They had now passed the
middle of the camp, when a soldier, striding over the bodies of the
watchmen as they lay asleep, occasioned a noise by striking one of their
shields. When the watchman, being aroused by this, stirred the next one
to him, and those who were awake stirred up others, not knowing whether
they were friends or foes, whether it was the garrison that sallied
forth or the consul had taken their camp; Decius, having ordered the
soldiers to raise a shout, as they were no longer unobserved,
disheartens them by panic whilst still heavy from sleep, by which being
perplexed, they were neither able to take arms briskly, nor make
resistance, nor to pursue them. During the trepidation and confusion of
the Samnites, the Roman guard, slaying such of the guards as came in
their way, reached the consul's camp. A considerable portion of night
still remained, and things now appeared to be in safety; when Decius
says, "Roman soldiers, be honoured for your bravery. Your journey and
return ages shall extol. But to behold such bravery light and day are
necessary; nor do you deserve that silence and night should cover you,
whilst you return to the camp with such distinguished glory. Here let us
wait in quiet for the daylight." His words they obeyed. And as soon as
it was day, a messenger being despatched to the camp to the consul, they
were aroused from sleep with great joy; and the signal being given by
ticket, that those persons returned safe who had exposed their persons
to evident danger for the preservation of all, rushing out each most
anxiously to meet them, they applaud them, congratulate them, they call
them singly and collectively their preservers, they give praises and
thanks to the gods, they raise Decius to heaven. This was a sort of camp
triumph for Decius, who proceeded through the middle of the camp, with
his guard fully armed, the eyes of all being fixed on him, and all
giving him equal honour with the consul. When they came to the general's
tent, the consul summons them by sound of trumpet to an assembly; and
commencing with the well-earned praises of Decius, he adjourned the
assembly on the interposition of Decius himself, who advising the
postponement of every thing else, whilst the occasion was still present,
persuaded the consul to attack the enemy, whilst still in consternation
from the panic of the night, and dispersing in separate detachments
around the hill, [adding] that he believed that some who had been sent
out in pursuit of him were straggling through the forest. The legions
were ordered to take arms; and having departed from the camp, as the
forest was now better known by means of scouts, they are led onwards to
the enemy through a more open tract. Having unexpectedly attacked the
enemy when off their guard, since the soldiers of the Samnites
straggling in every direction, most of them unarmed, were not able
either to rally, nor to take arms, nor to betake themselves within the
rampart, they first drive them in a panic into the camp: then they take
the camp itself, having dislodged the guards. The shout spread around
the hill; and puts each to flight from their respective posts. Thus a
great part yielded to an enemy they had not seen. Those whom the panic
had driven within the rampart (they amounted to thirty thousand) were
all slain; the camp was plundered.
37. Matters being thus conducted, the consul, having summoned an
assembly, pronounces a panegyric on Decius, not only that which had been
commenced on a previous occasion, but as now completed by his recent
deserts; and besides other military gifts, he presents him with a golden
crown and one hundred oxen, and with one white one of distinguished
beauty, richly decorated with gilded horns. The soldiers who had been in
the guard with him, were presented with a double allowance of corn for
ever; for the present, with an ox and two vests each. Immediately after
the consuls' donation, the legions place on the head of Decius a crown
of grass, indicative of their deliverance from a blockade, expressing
their approbation of the present with a shout. Decorated with these
emblems, he sacrificed the beautiful ox to Mars; the hundred oxen he
bestowed on the soldiers, who had been with him in the expedition. On
the same soldiers the legions conferred, each a pound of corn and a pint
of wine; and all these things were performed with great alacrity, with a
military shout, a token of the approbation of all. The third battle was
fought near Suessula, in which the army of the Samnites, having been
routed by Marcus Valerius, having summoned from home the flower of their
youth, determined on trying their strength by a final contest. From
Suessula messengers came in great haste to Capua, and from thence
horsemen in full speed to the consul Valerius, to implore aid. The
troops were immediately put in motion; and the baggage in the camp being
left with a strong guard, the army moves on with rapidity; and they
select at no great distance from the enemy a very narrow spot (as, with
the exception of their horses, they were unaccompanied by a crowd of
cattle and servants). The army of the Samnites, as if there was to be no
delay in coming to an engagement, draw up in order of battle; then, when
no one came to meet them, they advance to the enemy's camp in readiness
for action. There when they saw the soldiers on the rampart, and persons
sent out to reconnoitre in every direction, brought back word into how
narrow a compass the camp had been contracted, inferring thence the
scanty number of the enemy. The whole army began to exclaim, that the
trenches ought to be filled up, the rampart to be torn down, and that
they should force their way into the camp; and by that temerity the war
would have been soon over, had not the generals restrained the
impetuosity of the soldiers. However, as their own numbers bore heavily
on their supplies, and in consequence, first of their sitting down so
long at Suessula, and then by the delay of the contest, they were not
far from a want of provisions, it was determined, whilst the enemy
remained shut up as if through fear, that the soldiers should be led
through the country to forage; [supposing] in the mean time, that all
supplies would fail the Romans also, who having marched in haste, had
brought with him only as much corn as could be carried on his shoulders
amid his arms. The consul, after he had observed the enemy scattered
through the country, that the posts were left but insufficiently
attended, having in a few words encouraged his men, leads them on to
besiege the camp. After he had taken this on the first shout and
contest, more of the enemy being slain in their tents than at the gates
and rampart, he ordered the captive standards to be collected into one
place, and having left behind two legions as a guard and protection,
after giving them strict order that they should abstain from the booty,
until he himself should return; having set out with his troops in
regular order, the cavalry who had been sent on driving the dispersed
Samnites as it were by hunting toils, he committed great slaughter among
them. For in their terror they could neither determine by what signal
they should collect themselves into a body, whether they should make for
the camp, or continue their flight to a greater distance. And so great
was their terror, and so precipitate their flight, that to the number of
forty thousand shields, though by no means were so many slain, and one
hundred and seventy standards, with those which had been taken in the
camp, were brought to the consul. Then they returned to the enemy's
camp; and there all the plunder was given up to the soldiers.
38. The result of this contest obliged the Faliscians, who were on terms
of a truce, to petition for a treaty of alliance from the senate; and
diverted the Latins, who had their armies already prepared, from the
Roman to a Pelignian war. Nor did the fame of such success confine
itself within the limits of Italy; but the Carthaginians also sent
ambassadors to Rome to congratulate them, with an offering of a golden
crown, to be placed in Jupiter's shrine in the Capitol. Its weight was
twenty-five pounds. Both consuls triumphed over the Samnites, whilst
Decius followed distinguished with praises and presents, when amid the
rough jesting of the soldiers the name of the tribune was no less
celebrated than that of the consuls. The embassies of the Campanians and
Suessulans were then heard; and to their entreaties it was granted that
a garrison should be sent thither, in order that the incursions of the
Samnites might be repelled. Capua, even then by no means favourable to
military discipline, alienated from the memory of their country the
affections of the soldiers, which were debauched by the supply of
pleasures of all kinds; and schemes were being formed in winter-quarters
for taking away Capua from the Campanians by the same kind of wickedness
as that by which they had taken it from its original possessors: "and
not undeservedly would they turn their own example against themselves.
For why should the Campanians, who were neither able to defend
themselves nor their possessions, occupy the most fertile land of Italy,
and a city worthy of that land, rather than the victorious army, who had
driven the Samnites from thence by their sweat and blood? Was it
reasonable that men who had surrendered to them should have the full
enjoyment of that fertile and delightful country; that they, wearied by
military toil, had to struggle in an insalubrious and arid soil around
their city, or within the city to suffer the oppressive and exhausting