The Capitol was the next object of attack. There was only one steep way leading up to it, and all the assaults of the besiegers were easily repelled. They thereupon turned the siege into a blockade, and for seven months were encamped amid the ruins of Rome. But their numbers were soon thinned by disease, for they had entered Rome in the most unhealthy time of the year, when fevers have always prevailed. The failure of provisions obliged them to ravage the neighboring countries, the people of which began to combine for defense against the marauders. Meantime the scattered Romans took courage. They collected at Veii, and here resolved to recall Camillus from banishment, and appoint him Dictator. In order to obtain the consent of the Senate, a daring youth, named Pontius Cominius, offered to swim across the Tiber and climb the Capitol. He reached the top unperceived by the enemy, obtained the approval of the Senate to the appointment of Camillus, and returned safely to Veii. But next day some Gauls observed the traces of his steps, and in the dead of night they climbed up the same way. The foremost of them had already reached the top, unnoticed by the sentinels and the dogs, when the cries of some geese roused M. Manlius from sleep. These geese were sacred to Juno, and had been spared notwithstanding the gnawings of hunger; and the Romans were now rewarded for their piety. M. Manlius thrust down the Gaul who had clambered up, and gave the alarm. The Capitol was thus saved; and down to latest times M. Manlius was honored as one of the greatest heroes of the early Republic. Still no help came, and the Gauls remained before the Capitol. The Romans suffered from famine, and at length agreed to pay the barbarians 1000 pounds of gold, on condition of their quitting the city and its territory. Brennus brought false weights, and, when the Romans exclaimed against this injustice, the Gallic chief threw his sword also into the scale, crying, "Woe to the vanquished!" But at this very moment Camillus marched into the forum, ordered the gold to be taken away, and drove the Gauls out of the city. Another battle was fought on the road to Gabii, in which the Gauls were completely destroyed, and their leader Brennus taken prisoner. This tale, however, is an invention of Roman vanity. We learn from other sources that the Gauls retreated because their settlements in Northern Italy were attacked by the Venetians; and there can be little doubt that their departure was hastened by a present of Roman gold. The Gauls frequently repeated their inroads, and for many years to come were the constant dread of the Romans.