The History of Rome, Books 01 to 08
enemy the guilt of murdering the ambassadors contrary to the law of
nations, the massacre of the Fidenatian colonists in time of peace, the
infraction of truces, a seventh unsuccessful revolt. As soon as they
should bring their camp near them, he was fully confident that the joy
of these most impious enemies at the disgrace of the Roman army would
not be of long continuance, and that the Roman people would be convinced
how much better those persons deserved of the republic, who nominated
him dictator for the third time, than those who, in consequence of his
abolishing the despotism of the censorship, would cast a slur on his
second dictatorship." Having offered up his vows and set out on his
march, he pitches his camp fifteen hundred paces on this side of Fidenæ,
covered on his right by mountains, on his left by the river Tiber. He
orders Titus Quintius Pennus to take possession of the mountains, and to
post himself secretly on some eminence which might be in the enemy's
rear. On the following day, when the Etrurians had marched out to the
field, full of confidence in consequence of their accidental success of
the preceding day, rather than of their good fighting, he himself,
having delayed a little until the senate brought back word that Quintius
had gained an eminence nigh to the citadel of Fidenæ, puts his troops
into motion and led on his line of infantry in order of battle in their
quickest pace against the enemy: the master of the horse he directs not
to commence the fight without orders; that, when it would be necessary,
he would give the signal for the aid of the cavalry; then that he would
conduct the action, mindful of his fight with the king, mindful of the
rich oblation, and of Romulus and Jupiter Feretrius. The legions begin
the conflict with impetuosity. The Romans, fired with hatred, gratified
that feeling both with deeds and words, calling the Fidenatian impious,
the Veientian robbers, truce-breakers, stained with the horrid murder of
ambassadors, sprinkled with the blood of their own brother-colonists,
treacherous allies, and dastardly enemies.
33. In the very first onset they had made an impression on the enemy;
when on a sudden, the gates of Fidenæ flying open, a strange sort of
army sallies forth, unheard of and unseen before that time. An immense
multitude armed with fire and all blazing with fire-brands, as if urged
on by fanatical rage, rush on the enemy: and the form of this unusual
mode of fighting frightened the Romans for the moment. Then the
dictator, having called to him the master of the horse and the cavalry,
and also Quintius from the mountains animating the fight, hastens
himself to the left wing, which, more nearly resembling a conflagration
than a battle, had from terror given way to the flames, and exclaims
with a loud voice, "Vanquished by smoke, driven from your ground as if a
swarm of bees, will ye yield to an unarmed enemy? will ye not extinguish
the fires with the sword? or if it is with fire, not with weapons, we
are to fight, will ye not, each in his post, snatch those brands, and
hurl them on them? Come, mindful of the Roman name, of the valour of
your fathers, and of your own, turn this conflagration against the city
of your enemy, and destroy Fidenæ by its own flames, which ye could not
reclaim by your kindness. The blood of your ambassadors and colonists
and the desolation of your frontiers suggest this." At the command of
the dictator the whole line advanced; the firebrands that were
discharged are partly caught up; others are wrested by force: the armies
on either side are now armed with fire. The master of the horse too, on
his part, introduces among the cavalry a new mode of fighting; he
commands his men to take the bridles off their horses: and he himself at
their head, putting spurs to his own, dashing forward, is carried by the
unbridled steed into the midst of the fires: the other horses also being
urged on carry their riders with unrestrained speed against the enemy.
The dust being raised and mixed with smoke excluded the light from the
eyes of both men and horses. That appearance which had terrified the
soldiers, no longer terrified the horses. The cavalry therefore,
wherever they penetrated, produced a heap of bodies like a ruin. A new
shout then assailed their ears; and when this attracted the attention of
the two armies looking with amazement at each other, the dictator cries
out "that his lieutenant-general and his men had attacked the enemy on
the rear:" he himself, on the shout being renewed, advances against them
with redoubled vigour. When two armies, two different battles pressed on
the Etrurians, now surrounded, in front and rear, and there was now no
means of flight back to their camp, nor to the mountains, where new
enemies were ready to oppose them, and the horses, now freed from their
bridles, had scattered their riders in every direction, the principal
part of the Veientians make precipitately for the Tiber. Such of the
Fidenatians as survived, bend their course to the city of Fidenæ. Their
flight hurries them in their state of panic into the midst of slaughter;
they are cut to pieces on the banks; others, when driven into the water,
were carried off by the eddies; even those who could swim were weighed
down by fatigue, by their wounds, and by fright; a few out of the many
make their way across. The other party make their way through the camp
into the city. In the same direction their impetuosity carries the
Romans in pursuit; Quintius more especially, and with him those who had
just come down from the mountain, being the soldiers who were freshest
for labour, because they had come up towards the close of the
engagement.
34. These, after they entered the gate mixed with the enemy, make their
way to the walls, and raise from their summit a signal to their friends
of the town being taken. When the dictator saw this, (for he had now
made his way into the deserted camp of the enemy,) he leads on the
soldiers, who were now anxious to disperse themselves in quest of booty,
entertaining a hope of a greater spoil in the city, to the gate; and
being admitted within the walls, he proceeds to the citadel, whither he
saw the crowds of fugitives hurrying. Nor was the slaughter in the city
less than in the battle; until, throwing down their arms, begging
nothing but their life, they surrendered to the dictator. The city and
camp are plundered. On the following day, one captive being allotted to
each horseman and centurion, and two to those whose valour had been
conspicuous, and the rest being sold by auction, the dictator in triumph
led back to Rome his army victorious and enriched with spoil; and having
ordered the master of the horse to resign his office, he immediately
resigned his own on the sixteenth day (after he had obtained it);
surrendering in peace that authority which he had received during war
and trepidations. Some annals have reported that there was a naval
engagement with the Veientians at Fidenæ, a thing as difficult as it was
incredible, the river even now not being broad enough for such a
purpose; and at that time, as we learn from old writers, being
considerably narrower: except that perhaps in disputing the passage of
the river, magnifying, as will happen, the scuffle of a few ships, they
sought the empty honour of a naval victory.
35. The following year had as military tribunes with consular power
Aulus Sempronius Atratinus, Lucius Quintius Cincinnatus, Lucius Furius
Medullinus, Lucius Horatius Barbatus. To the Veientians a truce for
twenty years was granted, and one for three years to the Æquans, though
they had solicited one for a longer term. There was quiet also from city
riots. The year following, though not distinguished either by war abroad
or by disturbance at home, was rendered celebrated by the games which
had been vowed during the war, both through the magnificence displayed
in them by the military tribunes, and also through the concourse of the
neighbouring states. The tribunes with consular power were Appius
Claudius Crassus, Spurius Nautilus Rutilus, Lucius Sergius Fidenas,
Sextus Julius Iulus. The exhibition, besides that they had come with the
public concurrence of their states, was rendered still more grateful to
the strangers by the courtesy of their hosts. After the games seditious
harangues were delivered by the tribunes of the commons upbraiding the
multitude; "that stupified with admiration of those persons whom they
hated, they kept themselves in a state of eternal bondage; and they not
only had not the courage to aspire to the recovery of their hopes of a
share in the consulship, but even in the electing of military tribunes,
which elections lay open to both patricians and commons, they neither
thought of themselves nor of their party. That they must therefore cease
feeling surprised why no one busied himself about the interests of the
commons: that labour and danger would be expended on objects whence
emolument and honour might be expected. That there was nothing men would
not attempt if great rewards were proposed for those who make great
attempts. That any tribune of the commons should rush blindly at great
risk and with no advantage into contentions, in consequence of which he
may rest satisfied that the patricians against whom he should strive,
will persecute him with inexpiable war, whilst with the commons in whose
behalf he may have contended he will not be one whit the more honoured,
was a thing neither to be expected nor required. That by great honours
minds became great. That no plebeian would think meanly of himself, when
they ceased to be despised by others. That the experiment should be at
length made in the case of one or two, whether there were any plebeian
capable of sustaining a high dignity, or whether it were next to a
miracle and a prodigy that any one sprung from the commons should be a
brave and industrious man. That by the utmost energy the point had been
gained, that military tribunes with consular power might be chosen from
among the commons also. That men well approved both in the civil and
military line had stood as candidates. That during the first years they
were hooted at, rejected, and ridiculed by the patricians: that at
length they had ceased to expose themselves to insult. Nor did he for
his part see why the law itself might not be repealed; by which that was
made lawful which never could take place; for that there would be less
cause for blushing at the injustice of the law, than if they were to be
passed over through their own want of merit."
36. Harangues of this kind, listened to with approbation, induced some
persons to stand for the military tribuneship, each avowing that if in
office he would propose something to the advantage of the commons. Hopes
were held out of a distribution of the public land, of colonies to be
planted, and of money to be raised for the pay of the soldiers, by a tax
imposed on the proprietors of estates. Then an opportunity was laid
hold of by the military tribunes, so that during the absence of most
persons from the city, when the patricians who were to be recalled by a
private intimation were to attend on a certain day, a decree of the
senate might be passed in the absence of the tribunes of the commons;
that a report existed that the Volscians had gone forth into the lands
of Hernici to commit depredations, the military tribunes were to set out
to examine into the matter, and that an assembly should be held for the
election of consuls. Having set out, they leave Appius Claudius, son of
the decemvir, as prefect of the city, a young man of great energy, and
one who had ever from his cradle imbibed a hatred of the tribunes and
the commons. The tribunes of the commons had nothing for which they