6.13
The vast
host of the enemy, relying solely on their numbers and measuring the
strength of each army merely by their eyes, went recklessly into the battle
and as recklessly abandoned it. Courageous enough in the battle shout, in
discharging their weapons, in making the first charge, they were unable to
stand the foot to foot fighting and the looks of their opponents, glowing with
the ardour of battle. Their front was driven in and the demoralisation
extended to the supports; the charge of the cavalry produced fresh panic; the
ranks were broken in many places, the whole army was in commotion and
resembled a retreating wave. When each of them saw that as those in front
fell he would be the next to be cut down, they turned and fled. The Romans
pressed hard upon them, and as long as the enemy defended themselves
whilst retreating, it was the infantry to whom the task of pursuit fell. When
they were seen to be throwing away their arms in all directions and
dispersing over the fields, the signal was given for the squadrons of cavalry
to be launched against them, and these were instructed not to lose time by
cutting down individual fugitives and to give the main body a chance of
escaping. It would be enough to check them by hurling missiles and
galloping across their front, and generally terrifying them until the infantry
could come up and regularly dispatch the enemy. The flight and pursuit did
not end till nightfall. The Volscian camp was taken and plundered on the
same day, and all the booty, with the exception of the prisoners, was
bestowed on the soldiers. The majority of the captives belonged to the
Hernici and Latins, not men of the plebeian class, who might have been
regarded as only mercenaries, they were found to include some of the
principal men of their fighting force, a clear proof that those States had
formally assisted the enemy. Some were also recognised as belonging to
Circeii and to the colony at Velitrae. They were all sent to Rome and
examined by the leaders of the senate; they gave them the same replies which
they had made to the Dictator, and disclosed without any attempt at evasion
the defection of their respective nations.