VIII. Corioli was the most important city of the Volscian nation, with
which Rome then was at war. The consul Cominius was besieging it, and
the Volscians, fearing it might be taken, gathered from all quarters,
meaning to fight a battle under the city walls, and so place the Romans
between two fires. Cominius divided his army, and led one part of it to
fight the relieving force, leaving Titus Lartius, a man of the noblest
birth in Rome, to continue the siege with the rest of his troops. The
garrison of Corioli, despising the small numbers of their besiegers,
attacked them and forced them to take shelter within their camp. But
there Marcius with a few followers checked their onset, slew the
foremost, and with a loud voice called on the Romans to rally. He was,
as Cato said a soldier should be, not merely able to deal weighty blows,
but struck terror into his enemies by the loud tones of his voice and
his martial appearance, so that few dared to stand their ground before
him. Many soldiers rallied round him and forced the enemy to retreat;
but he, not satisfied with this, followed them close and drove them in
headlong flight back to the city. On arriving there, although he saw
that the Romans were slackening their pursuit as many missiles were
aimed at them from the city walls, and none of them thought of daring to
enter together with the fugitives into a city full of armed men, yet he
stood and cheered them on, loudly telling them that fortune had opened
the city gates as much to the pursuers as to the pursued.
Pages:
533
534
535
536
537
538
539
540
541
542
543
544
545
546
547
548
549
550
551
552
553
554
555
556
557