4.33
The enemy were shaken at
the very first onset, when suddenly the gates of
Fidenae were flung open and a strange army sallied
forth, never seen or heard of before. An immense
multitude, armed with firebrands, and all waving
blazing torches, rushed like men possessed on the
Roman line. For a moment this extraordinary mode of
fighting put the Romans into a fright. Then the
Dictator called up the Master of the Horse with his
cavalry, and sent to order Quinctius back from the
hills, whilst he himself, encouraging his men, rode
up to the left wing, which looked more like a
conflagration than a body of combatants, and had
given way through sheer terror at the flames. He
shouted to them: "Are you overcome with smoke, like
a swarm of bees? Will you let an unarmed enemy drive
you from your ground? Will you not put the fire out
with your swords? If you must fight with fire, not
with arms, will you not snatch those torches away
and attack them with their own weapons? Come!
remember the name of Rome and the courage you have
inherited from your fathers; turn this fire upon the
enemies' city, and destroy with its own flames the
Fidenae which you could not conciliate by your
kindness. The blood of ambassadors and colonists,
your fellow-countrymen, and the devastation of your
borders call upon you to do this."
At the Dictator's command the whole line
advanced; some of the torches were caught as they
were thrown, others were wrenched from the bearers;
both armies were armed with fire. The Master of the
Horse, too, on his part, invented a new mode of
fighting for his cavalry. He ordered his men to take
the bits off the horses, and, giving his own horse
his head and putting spurs to it, he was carried
into the midst of the flames, whilst the other
horses, urged into a hard gallop, carried their
riders against the enemy. The dust they raised,
mixed with the smoke, blinded both horses and men.
The sight which had terrified the infantry had no
terrors for the horses. Wherever the cavalry moved
they left the slain in heaps. At this moment fresh
shouts were heard, creating astonishment in both
armies. The Dictator called out that Quinctius and
his men had attacked the enemy in the rear, and on
the shouts being renewed, he pressed his own attack
with more vigour. When the two bodies in two
distinct attacks had forced the Etruscans back both
in front and rear and hemmed them in, so that there
was no way of escape either to their camp or to the
hills -for in that direction the fresh enemy had
intercepted them -and the horses, with their reins
loose, were carrying their riders about in all
directions, most of the Veientines made a wild rush
for the Tiber; the survivors amongst the Fidenates
made for their city. The flight of the terrified
Veientines carried them into the midst of slaughter,
some were killed on the banks, others were driven
into the river and swept away by the current; even
good swimmers were carried down by wounds and fright
and exhaustion, few out of the many got across. The
other body made their way through their camp to
their city with the Romans in close pursuit,
especially Quinctius and his men, who had just come
down from the hills, and having arrived towards the
close of the struggle, were fresher for the work.