1.12
However this may be, the
Sabines were in possession of the citadel. And they
would not come down from it the next day, though the
Roman army was drawn up in battle array over the
whole of the ground between the Palatine and the
Capitoline hill, until, exasperated at the loss of
their citadel and determined to recover it, the
Romans mounted to the attack. Advancing before the
rest, Mettius Curtius, on the side of the Sabines,
and Hostius Hostilius, on the side of the Romans,
engaged in single combat. Hostius, fighting on
disadvantageous ground, upheld the fortunes of Rome
by his intrepid bravery, but at last he fell; the
Roman line broke and fled to what was then the gate
of the Palatine. Even Romulus was being swept away
by the crowd of fugitives, and lifting up his hands
to heaven he exclaimed: "Jupiter, it was thy omen
that I obeyed when I laid here on the Palatine the
earliest foundations of the City. Now the Sabines
hold its citadel, having bought it by a bribe, and
coming thence have seized the valley and are
pressing hitherwards in battle. Do thou, Father of
gods and men, drive hence our foes, banish terror
from Roman hearts, and stay our shameful flight!
Here do I vow a temple to thee, 'Jove the Stayer,'
as a memorial for the generations to come that it is
through thy present help that the City has been
saved." Then, as though he had become aware that his
prayer had been heard, he cried, "Back, Romans!
Jupiter Optimus Maximus bids you stand and renew the
battle." They stopped as though commanded by a voice
from heaven -Romulus dashed up to the foremost
line, just as Mettius Curtius had run down from the
citadel in front of the Sabines and driven the
Romans in headlong flight over the whole of the
ground now occupied by the Forum. He was now not far
from the gate of the Palatine, and was shouting: "We
have conquered our faithless hosts, our cowardly
foes; now they know that to carry off maidens is a
very different thing from fighting with men." In the
midst of these vaunts Romulus, with a compact body
of valiant troops, charged down on him. Mettius
happened to be on horseback, so he was the more
easily driven back, the Romans followed in pursuit,
and, inspired by the courage of their king, the rest
of the Roman army routed the Sabines. Mettius,
unable to control his horse, maddened by the noise
of his pursuers, plunged into a morass. The danger
of their general drew off the attention of the
Sabines for a moment from the battle; they called
out and made signals to encourage him, so, animated
to fresh efforts, he succeeded in extricating
himself. Thereupon the Romans and Sabines renewed
the fighting in the middle of the valley, but the
fortune of Rome was in the ascendant.