Ab urbe condita

They were not to measure the courage of the Samnites by the defeats they had inflicted on the Sidicines and the Campanians; whenever two nations fought together, whatever the qualities they possessed, one side must necessarily be vanquished.

There was no doubt that as far as the Campanians were concerned they owed their defeats more to their want of hardihood and the weakening effects of excessive luxury than to the strength of their enemies. What could two successful wars an the part of the Samnites through all those centuries weigh against the many brilliant achievements at the Roman people,

who reckoned up almost more triumphs than years since the foundation of their City, who had subdued by the might at their arms all the surrounding nations —Sabines, Etruscans, Latins, Hernici, Aequi, Volscians, and Auruncans —who had slain the Gauls in so many battles and driven them at last to their ships?