5.41
After all the
arrangements that circumstances permitted had been
made for the defence of the Capitol, the old men
returned to their respective homes and, fully
prepared to die, awaited the coming of the enemy.
Those who had filled curule offices resolved to meet
their fate wearing the insignia of their former rank
and honour and distinctions. They put on the
splendid dress which they wore when conducting the
chariots of the gods or riding in triumph through
the City, and thus arrayed, they seated themselves
in their ivory chairs in front of their houses. Some
writers record that, led by M. Fabius, the Pontifex
Maximus, they recited the solemn formula in which
they devoted themselves to death for their country
and the Quirites. As the Gauls were refreshed by a
night's rest after a battle which had at no point
been seriously contested, and as they were not now
taking the City by assault or storm, their entrance
the next day was not marked by any signs of
excitement or anger. Passing the Colline gate, which
was standing open, they came to the Forum and gazed
round at the temples and at the Citadel, which alone
wore any appearance of war. They left there a small
body to guard against any attack from the Citadel or
Capitol whilst they were scattered, and then they
dispersed in quest of plunder through streets in
which they did not meet a soul. Some poured in a
body into all the houses near, others made for the
most distant ones, expecting to find them untouched
and full of spoils. Appalled by the very desolation
of the place and dreading lest some stratagem should
surprise the stragglers, they returned to the
neighbourhood of the Forum in close order. The
houses of the plebeians were barricaded, the halls
of the patricians stood open, but they felt greater
hesitation about entering the open houses than those
which were closed. They gazed with feelings of real
veneration upon the men who were seated in the
porticoes of their mansions, not only because of the
superhuman magnificence of their apparel and their
whole bearing and demeanour, but also because of the
majestic expression of their countenances, wearing
the very aspect of gods. So they stood, gazing at
them as if they were statues, till, as it is
asserted, one of the patricians, M. Papirius, roused
the passion of a Gaul, who began to stroke his beard
-which in those days was universally worn long -by
smiting him on the head with his ivory staff. He was
the first to be killed, the others were butchered in
their chairs. After this slaughter of the magnates,
no living being was thenceforth spared; the houses
were rifled, and then set on fire.
