Dentatus had little to say to the Samnite ambassadors, when they offered him bribes to desert his country, save to tell them that he did not consider it a great thing to possess gold. ‘To rule those who have it, is what I value,’ he added sternly. And as the ambassadors withdrew they saw, as in a picture, their own army defeated, and the Romans, with Dentatus at their head, marching home victorious. The Consul did indeed defeat the Samnites, so that they were forced to sue for peace and retire once again to their mountain strongholds. Yet even now their hardy spirits were not subdued, and again and again you will read of them coming down from their fastnesses to strike a blow at Rome. And they were wise in their warfare, choosing always the time when Rome was already surrounded by other foes. CHAPTER XLVII PYRRHUS, KING OF THE EPIROTS Along the southern coast of Italy, many of the towns were Greek, and had not yet become subject to Rome. But as Rome became more and more powerful in the south of Italy, many of these Greek towns, when attacked by an enemy, appealed to her for help. Tarentum, the chief of these towns, was jealous of Rome, and chose to send to Greece or Sicily when help was needed. During the second Samnite war, Rome had made a treaty with the Tarentines, promising that no ships of war should enter the Gulf of Tarentum. But in the autumn of 282 B.C. ten Roman warships suddenly appeared before the harbour, to the indignation as well as to the dismay of the Tarentines. Should the warships be allowed to enter the inner harbour, their town would be in the hands of Rome. So the Tarentines speedily manned their ships and boldly sailed to attack the enemy. On this occasion the Tarentines showed themselves good fighters, and soon they had sunk four of the Roman warships and taken one, while the other five escaped. The admiral of the fleet was killed, and many soldiers and sailors were made prisoners. Of these, the Tarentines sold the sailors as slaves, the soldiers they put to death. Knowing that the defeat of the Roman fleet would be avenged, the Tarentines grew reckless. Thurii, a town not far off, had received help from Rome and had had a Roman garrison imposed upon it. The Tarentines now marched to Thurii, expelled the garrison, and prepared to defend themselves from the consequences of their act. But Rome was at war with the Samnites, and was not yet ready to punish Tarentum. She merely sent an embassy to demand that the prisoners taken from her fleet should be given up, that the garrison should be restored to Thurii. The Tarentines not only refused to do as Rome demanded; they treated the embassy with insults. This was more than the Senate could brook. The Consul Æmilius was at once sent with his legions into the country of the Tarentines.