"
None of these omens had any effect upon Caius Flaminius, the consul,
for, besides his naturally spirited and ambitious nature, he was excited
by the successes which he had previously won, contrary to all reasonable
probability. Once, against the express command of the Senate, and in
spite of the opposition of his colleague, he engaged with the Gauls and
won a victory over them. Fabius also was but little disturbed by the
omens, because of their strange and unintelligible character, though
many were alarmed at them. Knowing how few the enemy were in numbers,
and their great want of money and supplies, he advised the Romans not
to offer battle to a man who had at his disposal an army trained by many
previous encounters to a rare pitch of perfection, but rather to send
reinforcements to their allies, keep a tight hand over their subject
cities, and allow Hannibal's brilliant little force to die away like a
lamp which flares up brightly with but little oil to sustain it.
III. This reasoning had no effect upon Flaminius, who said that he would
not endure to see an enemy marching upon Rome, and would not, like
Camillus of old, fight in the streets of Rome herself. He ordered the
military tribunes to put the army in motion, and himself leaped upon his
horse's back. The horse for no visible reason shied in violent terror,
and Flaminius was thrown headlong to the ground. He did not, however,
alter his determination, but marched to meet Hannibal, and drew up his
forces for battle near the lake Thrasymenus, in Etruria.
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