Ab urbe condita

Now the men began to encourage each other, the centurions snatched the standards from the hands of the bearers and carried them forward, pointing out at the same time to their men how few the enemy were, and in what loose order they were coming.

In the middle of it all the consul, raising his hands towards heaven and speaking in a loud voice so that he might be well heard, vowed a temple to Jupiter Stator[*](Jupiter Stator=“Jove the Stayer,” see Vol. I. p. 16.) if the Roman army stayed its flight and renewed the battle and defeated and slew the Samnites.

The officers and men, infantry and cavalry alike, exerted themselves to the utmost to restore the battle. Even the divine providence seemed to have looked with favour on the Romans, so easily did matters take a favourable turn. The enemy were repulsed from the camp, and in a short time were driven back to the ground where the battle began.

Here their movements were hampered by the heap of knapsacks they had piled up in their centre; to prevent these from being plundered they took up their position round them.

But the Roman infantry pressed upon them in front and the cavalry attacked them in rear, so between the two they were all either killed or made prisoners. The latter amounted to 7800, these were all stripped and sent under the yoke.

The number of those killed was reported to be 4800. The Romans had not much cause for rejoicing over their victory, for when the consul reckoned up the losses sustained through the two days' fighting the number of missing was returned as 7800. During these incidents in Apulia, the Samnites made an attempt with a second army upon the Roman colony at Interamna, situated on the Latin road.

Failing to get possession of the city, they ravaged the fields and proceeded to carry off, along with their other plunder, a number of men and several head of cattle and some colonists whom they had captured.