7.9
The consuls
for the following year were C. Sulpicius and C. Licinius Calvus. They
resumed operations against the Hernici and invaded their territory, but did
not find the enemy in the open. They attacked and captured Ferentinum, a
Hernican City; but as they were returning home the Tiburtines closed their
gates against them. There had previously been numerous complaints made
on both sides, but this last provocation finally decided the Romans, in case
the Fetials failed to get redress, to declare war against the Tiburtines. It is
generally understood that T. Quinctius Pennus was the Dictator and Ser.
Cornelius Maluginensis the Master of the Horse. According to Licinius
Macer, the Dictator was nominated by the consul Licinius. His colleague,
Sulpicius, was anxious to get the elections over before he departed for the
war, in the hope of being himself re-elected, if he were on the spot, and
Licinius determined to thwart his colleague's self-seeking ambition. Licinius
Macer's desire to appropriate the credit of this to his house (the Licinii)
lessens the weight of his authority. As I find no mention of this in the older
annalists, I am more inclined to believe that it was the prospect of a Gaulish
war which was the immediate cause why a Dictator was nominated. At all
events it was in this year that the Gauls formed their camp by the Salarian
road, three miles from the City at the bridge across the Anio. In face of this
sudden and alarming inroad the Dictator proclaimed a suspension of all
business, and made every man who was liable to serve take the military oath.
He marched out of the City with an immense army and fixed his camp on this
side the Anio. Each side had left the bridge between them intact, as its
destruction might have been thought due to fears of an attack. There were
frequent skirmishes for the possession of the bridge; as these were
indecisive, the question was left unsettled. A Gaul of extraordinary stature
strode forward on to the unoccupied bridge, and shouting as loudly as he
could, cried: "Let the bravest man that Rome possesses come out and fight
me, that we two may decide which people is the superior in war."