10.46
Everything was now deep in snow, and it
was impossible to remain any longer in the open, so the consul withdrew his
army from Samnium. On his approach to Rome a triumph was granted to
him by universal consent. This triumph, which he celebrated while still in
office, was a very brilliant one for those days. The infantry and cavalry who
marched in the procession were conspicuous with their decorations, many
were wearing civic, mural, and vallarian crowns. The spoils of the Samnites
attracted much attention; their splendour and beauty were compared with
those which the consul's father had won, and which were familiar to all
through their being used as decorations of public places. Amongst those in
the victor's train were some prisoners of high rank distinguished for their
own or their fathers' military services; there were also carried in the
procession 2,533,000 bronze ases, stated to be the proceeds of the sale of
the prisoners, and 1830 pounds of silver taken from the cities. All the silver
and bronze was stored in the treasury, none of this was given to the soldiers.
This created dissatisfaction amongst the plebs, which was aggravated by the
collection of the war tax to provide the soldiers' pay, for if Papirius had not
been so anxious to get the credit of paying the price of the prisoners into the
treasury there would have been enough to make a gift to the soldiers and
also to furnish their pay. He dedicated the temple of Quirinus. I do not find
in any ancient author that it was he who vowed this temple in the crisis of a
battle, and certainly he could not have completed it in so short a time; it was
vowed by his father when Dictator, and the son dedicated it when consul.
and adorned it with the spoils of the enemy. There was such a vast quantity
of these that not only were the temple and the Forum adorned with them, but
they were distributed amongst the allied peoples and the nearest colonies to
decorate their public spaces and temples. After his triumph Papirius led his
army into the neighbourhood of Vescia, as that district was still infested by
the Samnites, and there he wintered.
During this time Carvilius was making preparations to attack
Troilum in Etruria. He allowed 470 of its wealthiest citizens to leave the
place after they had paid al1 enormous sum by way of ransom; the town with
the rest of its population he took by storm. Going on from there he carried
five forts, positions of great natural strength. In these actions the enemy lost
2400 killed and 2000 prisoners. The Faliscans sued for peace, and he granted
them a truce for one year on condition of their supplying a year's pay to his
troops, and an indemnity of 100,000 ases of bronze coinage. After these
successes he went home to enjoy his triumph, a triumph less illustrious than
his colleague's in regard of the Samnite campaign, but fully equal to it
considering his series of successes in Etruria. He brought into the treasury
380,000 ases out of the proceeds of the war, the rest he disposed of partly in
contracting for the building of a temple to Fortis Fortuna, near the temple of
that deity, which King Servius Tullius had dedicated, and partly as a
donative to the soldiers, each legionary receiving 102 ases, the centurions
and cavalry twice as much. This gift was all the more acceptable to the men
after the niggardliness of his colleague. L. Postumius, one of his staff, was
indicted before the people, but was protected by the consul's popularity. His
prosecutor was M. Scantius, a tribune of the plebs, and the report was that
he had evaded trial by being made a staff-officer, proceedings, therefore,
could only be threatened without being carried out.