1. When the consul held a council on the subject of a war with Istria, some were of opinion that it ought to be begun immediately, before the enemy could collect forces; others, that the senate ought first to be consulted; the opinion was adopted which opposed delay. Accordingly the consul, marching from Aquileia, pitched his camp at the lake Timavus, which lies very near the sea. Thither came Caius Furius, one of the naval commanders, with ten ships; for two naval commanders had been appointed against the fleet of the Illyrians, and these commanders, with twenty ships for the protection of the coast of the Hadriatic, were to make Ancona, as it were, the pivot of their position; so that Lucius Cornelius had to guard the coasts on the right, extending from the latter place to Tarentum; and Caius Furius those on the left, as far as Aquileia. This squadron was sent to the nearest port in the Istrian territory, with a number of transports and a large store of provisions; while the consul, following with the legions, encamped at the distance of about five miles from the coast. A plentiful market was soon established at the port, and every thing conveyed thence to the camp. That this might be done with greater safety, out-posts were fixed around the camp; a newly-levied cohort of Placentines was posted between the camp and the sea, as a picket in the direction of Istria; and that the watering-parties might likewise have protection at the river, orders were given to Marcus Æbutius, military tribune, to take thither two companies of the second legion. Titus and Caius Ælius, military tribunes, led out the third legion on the road towards Aquileia, in support of those that went for food and forage. In the same quarter, nearly a mile distant, was the camp of the Gauls: Catmelus acted as their chieftain, and they were not more than three thousand armed men.