Ab urbe condita

We will rest here and wait for the daylight.” They rested accordingly. As soon as it was light and the news was sent on to the consul in camp, there was great excitement and rejoicing, and where it was officially announced throughout the camp that the men who saved the army at the risk of their own lives had themselves returned safe and sound, they all poured out in crowds to meet them, showered congratulations upon them, gave thanks and praise to the gods, and extolled Decius to the skies.

He marched through the camp in what amounted to a triumphal procession with his small force fully armed. Every eye was fixed upon him; the military tribune was treated with as much distinction as if he had been a consul.

When he reached the headquarters' tent, the consul ordered the Assembly to be sounded.

He was beginning to give Decius the praise he had so well earned, before the whole army, when Decius interrupted him and begged him to postpone those proceedings in view of the splendid opportunity which they now had in their hands.

He accordingly dismissed the parade and followed Decius' advice, which was to attack the enemy before they had recovered from their nocturnal panic and were still stationed round the height in separate detachments; some who had been sent in pursuit were believed to be still defiling through the pass.

The legions were ordered to arm for battle and were conducted by a more open route towards the enemy, as scouting parties had brought back fuller information about the locality. The attack was sudden and unexpected; the Samnites were everywhere in scattered bodies, most of them without arms, unable to secure their weapons or get into any compact formation or retire within their entrenchments. They were first driven in panic into their camp, there the camp itself was rushed and captured.

The shouting rolled round the height and the detachments who had been posted to watch it fled from a foe whom they had not yet seen. Those who had fled panic-struck into their camp —some 3o,ooo —were all slain.

After this success the consul summoned an Assembly, and in the presence of his fellow-soldiers pronounced a eulogy on Decius not only for his former services but also for this crowning proof of his soldierly qualities. In addition to the other military rewards he presented him with a golden chaplet and a hundred oxen, and one white oxen of especial beauty, the horns of which had been gilded.

The men who had been with him on the height were rewarded with a standing order for double rations and also with one ox and two tunics apiece. After the consul had made the presentation, the legionaries, amidst loud cheers, placed on Decius' head an “obsidial” wreath of grass.[*](The “wreath of the blockade.” —This was regarded as the highest of all military distinctions, and was always the gift of the whole army or particular body of troops who had been delivered, or rescued from a position in which they had been completely shut in by the enemy. The grass was taken, according to Festus, from the place which the force had occupied while it was invested.) Another similar wreath was bestowed upon him by his own

men. With these decorations upon him he sacrificed the beautiful ox to Mars and presented the hundred oxen which had been given him to the men who had accompanied him on his expedition. The legionaries also contributed a pound of meal and a pint of wine for each of them. During all these proceedings enthusiastic cheering went on through the whole camp.

After[*](Battle of Suessula —final Defeat of the Samnites.) the rout it had suffered at the hands of Valerius, the Samnite army was determined to put its fortunes to the proof in a final conflict, and a third battle was fought at Suessula. The whole fighting strength of the nation was

brought up. The alarming news was sent in haste to Capua; from there horsemen galloped to the Roman camp to beg for help

from Valerius. He at once ordered an advance, and leaving a strong force to protect the camp and the baggage, proceeded by forced marches to Suessula. He selected a site for his camp not far from the enemy, and very restricted in area, as with the exception of the horses there were no baggage, animals, or camp-followers to be

provided for. The Samnite army, assuming that there would be no delay in giving battle, formed their lines, and as no enemy advanced against them they marched on towards the Roman camp prepared to

assault it. When they saw the soldiers on the rampart and learnt from the report of the reconnoitring parties who had been sent in every direction that the camp was of small dimensions, they concluded that only a weak force of the enemy

held it. The whole army began to clamour for the fosse to be filled up and the rampart torn down that they might force their way into the camp. If the generals had not checked the impetuosity of their men, their recklessness would have terminated

the war. As it was, however, their huge numbers were exhausting their supplies, and owing to their previous inaction at Suessula and the delay in bringing on an action they were not far from absolute scarcity. They determined, therefore, since, as they imagined, the enemy was afraid to venture outside his camp, to send foraging parties into