4.29
Messius with a body of
their bravest troops charged through heaps of slain
and was carried on to the Volscian camp, which was
not yet taken; the entire army followed. The consul
followed them up in their disordered flight as far
as the stockade and began to attack the camp, whilst
the Dictator brought up his troops to the other side
of it. The storming of the camp was just as furious
as the battle had been. It is recorded that the
consul actually threw a standard inside the stockade
to make the soldiers more eager to assault it, and
in endeavouring to recover it the first breach was
made. When the stockade was torn down and the
Dictator had now carried the fighting into the camp,
the enemy began everywhere to throw away their arms
and surrender. After the capture of this camp, the
enemy, with the exception of the senators, were all
sold as slaves. A part of the booty comprised the
plundered property of the Latins and Hernicans, and
after being identified, was restored to them, the
rest the Dictator sold "under the spear". After
placing the consul in command of the camp, he
entered the City in triumph and then laid down his
dictatorship. Some writers have cast a gloom over
the memory of this glorious dictatorship by handing
down a tradition that the Dictator's son, who,
seeing an opportunity for fighting to advantage, had
left his post against orders, was beheaded by his
father, though victorious. I prefer to disbelieve
the story, and am at liberty to do so, as opinions
differ. An argument against it is that such cruel
displays of authority are called "Manlian" not
"Postumian," for it is the first man who practiced
such severity to whom the stigma would have been
affixed. Moreover, Manlius received the soubriquet
of "Imperiosus"; Postumius was not distinguished by
any invidious epithet. The other consul, C. Julius,
dedicated the temple of Apollo in his colleague's
absence, without waiting to draw lots with him as to
who should do it. Quinctius was very angry at this,
and after he had disbanded his army and returned to
the City, he laid a protest before the senate, but
nothing came of it. In this year so memorable for
great achievements an incident occurred which at the
time seemed to have little to do with Rome. Owing to
disturbances amongst the Sicilians, the
Carthaginians, who were one day to be such powerful
enemies, transported an army into Sicily for the
first time to assist one of the contending parties.