it) and from the milk famine; for they should encounter so great a scarcity of provisions as to seek for food of native growth and pasturage. [Footnote 14: In Greek, _Birdless_.] Manius, then, interpreted the omens in this way, [Sidenote: FRAG. 33^22] AND AS HIS PROPHECY TURNED OUT TO BE CORRECT, HE GAINED THEREAFTER A REPUTATION FOR SKILL AND FOREKNOWLEDGE IN ALL MATTERS. Now Volumnius was ordered to make war upon the Samnites; Fabius Maximus Rullus and Publius Decius were chosen consuls and were sent to withstand the Gauls and the other warriors in the Gallic contingent. They, having come with speed to Etruria, saw the camp of Appius, which was fortified by a double palisade; and they pulled up the stakes and carried them off, instructing the soldiers to place their hope of safety in their weapons. So they joined battle with the enemy. Meanwhile a wolf in pursuit of a deer had invaded the space between the two armies and darting toward the Romans passed through their ranks. This encouraged them, for they regarded themselves as having a bond of union with him, since, according to tradition, a she-wolf had reared Romulus. But the deer ran to the other side and was struck down, thus leaving to _them_ fear and the issue of disaster. When the armies collided, Maximus quite easily conquered the foes opposed to him, but Decius was defeated. And recalling the self-devotion of his father, undertaken on account of the dream, he likewise devoted himself, though without giving anybody any information about his act. Scarcely had he let himself be slain, when the men ranged at his side, partly through shame at his deed (feeling that he had perished voluntarily for them) and partly in the hopes of certain victory as a result of this occurrence, checked their flight and nobly withstood their pursuers. At this juncture Maximus, too, assailed the latter in the rear and slaughtered vast numbers. The survivors took to their heels and were annihilated. Fabius Maximus then burned the corpse of Decius together with the spoils and made a truce with such as asked for peace.