42.
Fabius, successful in a war allotted to another, led back his army into his own province.
[2]
And as, in the preceding year, the people had, in consideration of his services so successfully performed, re-elected him to the consulship, so now the senate, from the same motive, notwithstanding a warm opposition made by Appius, prolonged his command for the year following, in which Appius Claudius and Lucius Volumnius were consuls.
[3]
In some annals I find, that Appius, still holding the office of censor, declared himself a candidate for the consulship, and that his election was stopped by a protest of Lucius Furius, plebeian tribune, until he resigned the censorship.
[4]
After his election to the consulship, the new war with the Sallentine enemies being decreed to his colleague, he remained at Rome, with design to increase his interest by city intrigues, since the means of procuring honour in war were placed in the hands of others.
[5]
Volumnius had no reason to be dissatisfied with his province: he fought many battles with good success, and took several cities by assault. He was [p. 620]liberal in his donations of the spoil; and this munificence, engaging in itself, he enhanced by his courteous demeanour, by which conduct he inspired his soldiers with ardour to meet both toil and danger.
[6]
Quintus Fabius, proconsul, fought a pitched battle with the armies of the Samnites, near the city of Allifae. The victory was complete. The enemy were driven from the field, and pursued to their camp; nor would they have kept possession of that, had not the day been almost spent. It was invested, however, before night, and guarded until day, lest any should slip away.
[7]
Next morning, while it was scarcely clear day, they proposed to capitulate, and it was agreed, that such as were natives of Samnium should be dismissed with single garments. All these were sent under the yoke.
[8]
No precaution was taken in favour of the allies of the Samnites: they were sold by auction, to the number of seven thousand. Those who declared themselves subjects of the Hernicians, were kept by themselves under a guard.
[9]
All these Fabius sent to Rome to the senate; and, after being examined, whether it was in consequence of a public order, or as volunteers, that they had carried arms on the side of the Samnites against the Romans, they were distributed among the states of the Latins to be held in custody;
[10]
and it was ordered, that the new consuls, Publius Cornelius Arvina and Quintus Marcius Tremulus, who by this time had been elected, should lay that affair entire before the senate:
[11]
this gave such offence to the Hernicians, that, at a meeting of all the states, assembled by the Anagnians, in the circus called the Maritime, the whole nation of the Hernicians, excepting the Alatrians, Ferentines, and Verulans, declared war against the Roman people.
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.
An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.