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influenced by his resolution; a total route began to ensue: the Romans
pressed them on every side, and so great was the carnage, that
scarcely a fourth part of the enemy survived the defeat.
_Questions for Examination_.
1. Against whom did the Romans next turn their arms?
2. Who were appointed commanders in this war?
3. Who was Valerius?
4. What separate commands were entrusted to the consuls?
5. What was the character of Valerius?
6. What was the character of the hostile armies?
7. To whom did the advantage belong?
8. Was not the division under Cornelius led into a difficulty, and how
was it extricated?
9. What important event next occurred?
10. How were the senate affected by their approach?
11. What are the peculiar evils attendant on civil wars?
12. What steps did Corvus take on this occasion?
13. What was the consequence of this mildness?
14. What reflection may be drawn from this incident?
15. What was the next occurrence of note?
16. What precautions were necessary in this war?
17. In what way was the discipline of the Romans put to the proof?
18. Was his challenge disregarded?
19. Relate the particulars of the combat?
20. What reception did he expect from his father?
21. What was the consequence of his rashness?
22. How was this sentence received by the army?
23. Did a battle ensue?
24. What was wanting to insure the victory?
25. To whom did success incline?
26 What heroic resolution did Decius make?
27. In what way did he do this?
28. What followed?
29. What effect had this sacrifice on the hostile armies?
SECTION II.
U.C. 431.
Absurd the fumed advice to Pyrrhus given,
More praised than pander'd, specious, but unsound;
Sooner that hero's sword the world had quell'd,
Than reason, his ambition.--_Young_
1. But a signal disgrace which the Romans sustained about this time,
in their contest with the Samnites, made a pause in their usual good
fortune, and turned the scale for a while in the enemy's favour.[1] 2.
The senate having denied the Samnites peace, Pon'tius, their general,
was resolved to gain by stratagem, what he had frequently lost by
force. 3. Accordingly, leading his army into the neighbourhood of a
defile, called Cau'dium, and taking possession of all its outlets, he
sent ten of his soldiers, habited like shepherds, with directions to
throw themselves into the way which the Romans were to march. 4.
Exactly to his wishes, the Roman consul, Posthu'mius, met them, and
taking them for what they appeared, demanded the route the Samnite
army had taken: they, with seeming indifference, replied, that
they were going to Luce'ria, a town in Apulia, and were then actually
besieging it. 5 The Roman general, not suspecting the stratagem that
was laid against him, marched directly by the shortest road, which lay
through the defile, to relieve that city; and was not undeceived till
he saw his army surrounded, and blocked up on every side.[2] 6.
Pon'tius, thus having the Romans entirely in his power, first obliged
the army to pass under the yoke, after having stript them of all but
their under garments. He then stipulated, that they should wholly quit
the territories of the Samnites, and that they should continue to live
upon the terms of their former confederacy. 7. The Romans were
constrained to submit to this ignominious treaty, and marched into
Cap'ua disarmed, half naked, and burning with a desire of _retrieving_
their lost honour. 8. When the army arrived at Rome, the whole city
was most sensibly affected at their shameful return; nothing but grief
and resentment were to be seen, and the whole city was put into
mourning.
9. This was a transitory calamity; the state had suffered a diminution
of its glory, but not of its power.[3] The war was carried on as
usual, for many years; the power of the Samnites declining every day,
while that of the Romans gained fresh vigour from every victory. 10.
Under the conduct of Papir'ius Cursor, repeated triumphs were gained.
Fa'bius Max'imus also had his share in the glory of conquering the
Samnites; and De'cius, the son of that Decius whom we saw devoting
himself, for his country about forty years before, followed the
example of his noble father, and, rushing into the midst of the enemy,
saved the lives of his countrymen with the loss of his own.[4]
11. The Samnites being driven to the most extreme distress, and unable
to defend themselves, were obliged to call in the assistance of a
foreign power, and have recourse to Pyr'rhus, king of Epi'rus,[5]
to save them from impending ruin. 12. Pyr'rhus, a man of great
courage, ambition, and power, who had always kept the example of
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