They marched therefore to the fight, which had been suspended on their
part, and endeavoured to regain the ground which they had lost, and in
a moment not only was the battle restored, but one of the wings of
the Sabines gave way. The cavalry, protected between the ranks of the
infantry, remounted their horses; they then galloped across to the
other division to announce their success to their party; at the same
time also they charged the enemy, now disheartened by the discomfiture
of their stronger wing. The valour of none shone forth more
conspicuous in that battle. The consul provided for all emergencies;
he applauded the brave, rebuked wherever the battle seemed to slacken.
When reproved, they displayed immediately the deeds of brave men; and
a sense of shame stimulated these, as much as praises the others. The
shout being raised anew, all together making a united effort, drove
the enemy back; nor could the Roman attack be any longer resisted.
The Sabines, driven in every direction through the country, left their
camp behind them for the enemy to plunder. There the Romans recovered
the effects, not of the allies, as at Algidum, but their own property,
which had been lost by the devastations of their lands. For this
double victory, gained in two battles, in two different places, the
senate in a niggardly spirit merely decreed thanksgivings in the name
of the consuls for one day only. The people went, however, on the
second day also, in great numbers of their own accord to offer
thanksgiving; and this unauthorized and popular thanksgiving, owing to
their zeal, was even better attended. The consuls by agreement came
to the city within the same two days, and summoned the senate to
the Campius Martius.[67] When they were there relating the services
performed by themselves, the chiefs of the patricians complained that
the senate was designedly convened among the soldiers for the purpose
of intimidation. The consuls, therefore, that there might be no room
for such a charge, called away the senate to the Flaminian meadows,
where the Temple of Apollo now is (even then it was called the
Apollinare). There, when a triumph was refused by a large majority
of the patricians, Lucius Icilius, tribune of the commons, brought a
proposition before the people regarding the triumph of the consuls,
many persons coming forward to argue against the measure, but in
particular Gaius Claudius, who exclaimed, that it was over the senate,
not over the enemy, that the consuls wished to triumph; and that it
was intended as a return for a private service to a tribune, and not
as an honour due to valour. That never before had the matter of a
triumph been managed through the people; but that the consideration of
that honour and the disposal of it, had always rested with the senate;
that not even the kings had infringed on the majesty of this most
august body. The tribunes should not so occupy every department with
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account