At length a day came when the brave folk in the Capitol must either die of starvation or surrender. So the senators sent to King Brennus and offered to pay him a large sum of money if he would raise the siege. As the Gauls too were suffering from famine, the king was willing to accept a ransom, but he demanded the large sum of one thousand pounds of gold. Only by borrowing treasures from the temple, and receivings gifts of golden ornaments from Roman matrons, could the sum be found. In bitterness of spirit the Romans went down to the Forum on the day appointed, and began to lay their treasures on the scales. Suddenly they noticed that the weights which the barbarians were using on their scales, were false. But when they complained, the king threw his sword into the scale, crying scornfully, ‘Væ Victis,’ ‘Woe to the Conquered.’ At that moment, Rome was saved from the shame of paying a ransom, for Camillus with his army marched into the Forum. As Dictator, the supreme power was his, and he had the right to forbid even what the Senate had allowed. He looked at the gold ornaments lying in the scales, and bade the Romans take them back, for, said Camillus proudly, ‘It is usual with Romans to pay their debts, not in gold, but in iron.’ By these words the Dictator meant that the Romans used their weapons to settle their quarrels. Then, forcing the Gauls out of the city which they had ruined, Camillus and his army fought so fiercely against their enemy that not a single man was left alive to tell the tidings to his countrymen. King Brennus himself was slain, and as he fell he heard the Romans shout in triumph the words he himself had so lately used, ‘Væ Victis,’ ‘Woe to the conquered.’ CHAPTER XXXVII THE CITY IS REBUILT When the Dictator had cut the Gallic host to pieces, he returned to Rome. The brave defenders of the Capitol went out to meet their deliverer, tears of joy streaming down their gaunt, hungry-looking faces. Scarcely yet could they believe that they were saved. But when they saw the vestal virgins returning to their temple, bearing with them the fire they tended, still undimmed, and the priests also coming back to the city, they grew quiet and unafraid, for were not the ministers of the gods again in their midst? Before aught else, the sacred places that had been pulled down must be restored. It was difficult amid the ruins of the city to find the very spot on which the temples had stood, but they were rebuilt as nearly as could be in the places where the people had been used to see them. As the touch of the barbarian had made the sites unholy, they were dedicated anew to the gods, with solemn rites and sacrifices. Under the buildings which had been destroyed some relics were found, as by a miracle unharmed. One of these was the staff or crook used by Romulus when he dwelt upon Mount Palatine, a careless shepherd lad, while another was the Laws of the Twelve Tables.