in the following year, when Quintus1
Fabius and Lucius Fulvius were consuls, the dread of a serious war with the Samnites —who were said to have gathered an army of mercenaries from neighbouring tribes —occasioned the appointment of Aulus Cornelius Arvina as dictator and Marcus Fabius Ambustus as master of the horse.
by a vigorous levy these men raised an excellent army, and marching against the Samnites, went into camp on hostile soil with as little regard to their position as if the enemy had been far away. suddenly the Samnite legions appeared, and advancing with great hardihood entrenched themselves close to the Roman outposts.
night was now drawing on, which prevented them from assaulting the Roman works; but they made no secret of their intention to do so with the morrow's earliest light.
The dictator saw that the battle was coming sooner than he had anticipated, and feared that the courage of his men would be affected by their cramped position. so, leaving behind him numerous fires to deceive the enemy, he silently led the legions out. but the camps were so near each other that he could not elude their observation.
their cavalry at once pursued him, but though they hung upon the fringe of his column, they refrained from attacking until the day began to break; as for the infantry, they did not even leave their stockade before the dawn.
finally, when it was light, the cavalry ventured to charge the Romans, and by harassing their rear and pressing them when they came to places that were difficult to cross, delayed their march.
meanwhile the foot had caught up with the horse, and the Samnites were throwing all their forces into the assault. then the [p. 149]
dictator, finding that he could make no headway2
without great distress, gave orders to lay out a camp on the very spot where he had halted. but enveloped, as they were, by the enemy's horse, it was impossible to gather stakes and begin the work.
and so, when he saw that he could neither advance nor encamp, he removed the baggage from his column and formed a line of battle. The enemy then formed up against him, being inferior neither in spirit nor in strength.
their encouragement was due chiefly to ignorance that their enemies had retreated from an awkward position, and not from them; for they assumed that their own doughty appearance had driven the Romans before them in a panic.
this held the fighting in balance for a while, though the Samnites had now for some time been unused to abide the battle —cry of a Roman army. indeed it is said that on that day from the third hour to the eighth the outcome was so much in doubt, that there was never a second cheer after that which was once given when the armies rushed together; nor were standards either moved forward or withdrawn; nor did the combatants anywhere give ground.
facing each other with every man squarely in his place, they pressed forward with their shields and fought without stopping to breathe or to look behind. The monotonous din and changeless tenor of the battle made it seem probable that sheer exhaustion or the night would put an end to it.
and now men's strength was ebbing, and the sword was forgetting its keenness and the generals their strategy; —when the Samnite horsemen, learning from one of their squadrons that had pushed on ahead how the [p. 151]
baggage of the Romans lay remote from their fighting3
men, without defenders or a rampart to protect it, were seized with the lust of pillaging, and made a sudden dash for it.
but when a frightened messenger brought word of this to the dictator, he said, “only let them cumber themselves with spoil!” after that came others and still others, crying aloud that the soldiers' possessions were being plundered and carried clean away.
then Cornelius called the master of the horse and said, “do you not see, Marcus Fabius, how the enemy's cavalry have ceased to fight?
they are caught fast and entangled in our baggage. have at them while they are dispersed, as any body of men will be in pillaging! you shall find few in the saddle, few sword in hand; while they are loading themselves and their horses with spoils, cut them down unarmed and make it a bloody booty for them.
i will see to the legions and the battle of the infantry; be yours the glory of the cavalry fight.”