Ab urbe condita

It was situated where Narnia now stands, on high ground which on one side was steep and precipitous, and it was impossible to take it either by assault or by regular siege works.

It was left to the new consuls, M. Fulvius Paetus and T. Manlius Torquatus, to carry the siege to a successful issue.

According to Licinius Macer and Tubero, all the centuries intended to elect Q. Fabius consul for this year, but he urged them to postpone his consulship until some more important war broke out, for he considered that he would be more useful to the State as a City magistrate. So without dissembling his real wishes or ostensibly seeking the post, he was elected curule aedile along with L. Papirius Cursor.

I cannot, however, be certain on this point, for the earlier annalist, Piso, states that the curule aediles for this year were Cn. Domitius, Cn. F. Calvinus, Sp. Carvilius, and Q. F. Maximus I think that the cognomen of the last-mentioned aedile —Maximus

—was the cause of the error, and that a story in which the lists of both elections were combined was constructed to fit in with the mistake.

The lustrum was closed this year by the censors, P. Sempronius Sophus and P. Sulpicius Saverrio, and two new tribes were added, the Aniensis and the Teretina. These were the principal events of the year in Rome.

Meantime the siege of Nequinum was dragging slowly on and time was being wasted. At length two of the townsmen, whose houses abutted on the city wall, made a tunnel, and came by that secret passage to the Roman outposts.

They were conducted to the consul, and undertook to admit a detachment of soldiers within the fortifications and the city walls. It did not seem right to reject their proposal, nor yet to accept it offhand.

One of them was instructed to conduct two spies through the underground passage; the other was detained as a hostage.

The report of the spies was satisfactory, and 300 soldiers, led by the deserter, entered the city by night and seized the nearest gate. This was broken open, and the consul with his army took possession of the place without any fighting. Thus Nequinum passed into the power of Rome.

A colony was sent there as an outpost against the Umbrians, and the place was called Narnia from the river Nar. The army marched back to Rome with a large amount of spoil. This[*](Renewal of Hostilities by the Etruscans and Samnites.) year the Etruscans determined to break the truce, and began to make preparations for war.