fugitives, nothing could have prevented their taking Rome and destroying
every one who was left in it; such terror did the beaten troops produce
when they reached home, and such panic fear seized upon every one.
However the barbarians scarcely believed in the completeness of their
victory, and betook themselves to making merry over their success and to
dividing the spoils taken in the Roman camp, so that they afforded those
who left the city time to effect their escape, and those who remained in
it time to recover their courage and make preparations for standing a
siege. They abandoned all but the Capitol to the enemy, and fortified it
with additional ramparts and stores of missiles. One of their first acts
was to convey most of their holy things into the Capitol, while the
Vestal virgins took the sacred fire and their other sacred objects and
fled with them from the city. Some indeed say that nothing is entrusted
to them except the eternal fire, which King Numa appointed to be
worshiped as the origin of all things. For fire has the liveliest motion
of anything in nature; and everything is produced by motion or with some
kind of motion. All other parts of matter when heat is absent lie
useless and apparently dead, requiring the power of fire as the breath
of life, to call them into existence and make them capable of action.
Numa therefore, being a learned man and commonly supposed on account of
his wisdom to hold communion with the Muses, consecrated fire, and
ordered it to be kept unquenched for ever as an emblem of the eternal
power that orders all things. Others say that, as among the Greeks, a
purificatory fire burns before the temple, but that within are other
holy things which no man may see, except only the virgins, who are named
Vestals; and a very wide-spread notion is, that the famous Trojan
Palladium, which was brought to Italy by Aeneas, is kept there. Others
say that the Samothracian gods are there, whom Dardanus brought to Troy
after he had founded it, and caused to be worshipped there, which, after
the fall of Troy, Aeneas carried off and kept until he settled in Italy.
But those who pretend to know most about such matters say that there are
two jars of no great size in the temple, one open and empty, and the
other full and sealed, and that these may be seen only by the holy
virgins. Others think that this is a mistake, arising from the fact
that, at the time of which we are treating, the Vestal virgins placed
most of their sacred things in two jars and concealed them in the earth
under the Temple of Quirinus, which place even to the present day is
called the _Doliola_, or place of the jars.
XXI. However this may be, the Vestals took the most important of their
holy things and betook themselves to flight along the Tiber. Here Lucius
Albinus, a plebian, was journeying among the fugitives, with his wife
and infant children and their few necessaries in a waggon. When he saw
the Vestal virgins, without any attendants, journeying on foot and in
distress, carrying in their bosoms the sacred images of the gods, he at
once removed his wife, children, and property from the waggon and handed
it over to them, to escape into one of the Greek cities in Italy. The
piety of Albinus and his care for the duties of religion at so terrible
a crisis deserve to be recorded.
The rest of the priests and the old men who had been consuls, and been
honoured with triumphs, could not bear to leave the city. At the
instance of Fabius, the Pontifex Maximus, they put on their sacred
vestments and robes of state, and after offering prayer to the gods, as
if they were consecrating themselves as victims to be offered on behalf
of their country, they sat down in their ivory chairs in the Forum in
full senatorial costume, and waited what fortune might befal them.
XXII. On the third day after the battle Brennus appeared, leading his
army to attack the city. At first, seeing the gates open and no guards
on the walls, he feared some ambuscade, as he could not believe that the
Romans had so utterly despaired of themselves. When he discovered the
truth, he marched through the Colline Gate, and captured Rome, a little
more than three hundred and sixty years after its foundation, if we can
believe that any accurate record has been kept of those periods whose
confusion has produced such difficulties in the chronology of later
times. However, an indistinct rumour of the fall of Rome seems at once
to have reached Greece: for Herakleides of Pontus, who lived about that
time, speaks in his book 'On the Spirit,' of a rumour from the west that
an army had come from the Hyperboreans and had sacked a Greek colony
called Rome, which stood somewhere in that direction, near the great
ocean. Now, as Herakleides was fond of strange legends, I should not be
surprised if he adorned the original true tale of the capture of the
city with these accessories of "the Hyperboreans" and "the great ocean."
Aristotle, the philosopher, had evidently heard quite accurately that
the city was taken by the Gauls, but he says that it was saved by one
Lucius: now Camillus's name was Marcus, not Lucius. All this, however,
was pure conjecture.
Brennus, after taking possession of Rome, posted a force to watch the
Capitol, and himself went down to the Forum, and wondered at the men who
sat there silent, with all their ornaments, how they neither rose from
their seats at the approach of the enemy, nor changed colour, but sat
leaning on their staffs with fearless confidence, quietly looking at one
another. The Gauls were astonished at so strange a sight, and for a long
time they forbore to approach and touch them, as if they were superior
beings. But when one of them ventured to draw near to Marcus Papirius
and gently stroke his long beard, Papirius struck him on the head with
his staff, at which the barbarian drew his sword and slew him. Upon this
they fell upon the rest and killed them, with any other Romans whom they
found, and spent many days in plundering the houses, after which they
burned them and pulled them down in their rage at the men in the
Capitol, because they would not surrender, but drove them back when they
assaulted it. For this reason they wreaked their vengeance on the city,
and put to death all their captives, men and women, old and young alike.
XXIII. As the siege was a long one, the Gauls began to want for
provisions. They divided themselves into two bodies, one of which
remained with the king and carried on the siege, while the others
scoured the country, plundering and destroying the villages, not going
all together in a body, but scattered in small detachments in various
directions, as their elation at their success caused them to have no
fear about separating their forces. Their largest and best disciplined
body marched towards Ardea, where Camillus, since his banishment, had
lived as a private person. All his thoughts, however, were bent not upon
avoiding or fleeing from the Gauls, but upon defeating them if possible.
And so, seeing that the people of Ardea were sufficient in numbers, but
wanting in confidence because of the want of experience and remissness
of their leaders, he first began to tell the younger men that they ought
not to ascribe the misfortunes of the Romans to the bravery of the
Gauls, for the misconduct of the former had given them a triumph which
they did not deserve. It would, he urged, be a glorious thing, even at
the risk of some danger, to drive away a tribe of savage barbarians, who
if they were victorious always exterminated the vanquished: while, if
they only showed bravery and confidence, he could, by watching his
opportunity, lead them to certain victory. As the younger men eagerly
listened to these words, Camillus proceeded to confer with the chief
magistrates of the Ardeates. After obtaining their consent also, he
armed all those who were capable of service, but kept them within the
walls, as he wished to conceal their presence from the enemy who were
now close at hand. But when the Gauls after scouring the country
returned laden with plunder and carelessly encamped in the plain, and
when at night by the influence of wine and sleep all was quiet in their
camp, Camillus, who had learned the state of the case from spies, led
out the men of Ardea, and marching over the intervening ground in
silence, about midnight attacked their entrenched camp with loud shouts
and blasts of his trumpet, which threw the Gauls, half-drunk and heavy
with sleep as they were, into great confusion. Few recovered their
senses so far as to attempt to resist Camillus, and those few fell where
they stood; but most of them were slain as they lay helpless with wine
and sleep. Such as escaped from the camp and wandered about the fields
were despatched by cavalry the next day.
XXIV. The fame of this action, when noised among the neighbouring
cities, called many men to arms, especially those Romans who had escaped
to Veii after the battle of the Allia. These men lamented their fate,
saying, "What a general has Providence removed from Rome in Camillus,
whose successes now bring glory to Ardea, while the city that produced
and brought up so great a man has utterly perished. And now we, for want
of a general to lead us, are sitting still inside the walls of a city
not our own, and giving up Italy to the enemy. Come, let us send to the
men of Ardea, and beg their general of them, or else ourselves take up
our arms and march to him. He is no longer an exile, nor are we any
longer his countrymen, for our country is ours no more, but is in the
hands of the enemy."
This was agreed, and they sent to beg Camillus to become their general.
But he refused, saying that he would not do so without a decree from the
citizens in the Capitol; for they as long as they survived, represented
the city of Rome, and therefore although he would gladly obey their
commands, he would not be so officious as to interfere against their
will. The soldiers admired the honourable scruples of Camillus, but
there was a great difficulty in representing them to the garrison of the
Capitol; indeed, it seemed altogether impossible for a messenger to
reach the citadel while the city was in the possession of the enemy.
XXV. One of the younger Romans, Pontius Cominius, of the middle class of
citizens, but with an honourable ambition to distinguish himself,
undertook the adventure. He would not take any writing to the garrison,
for fear that if he were taken the enemy might discover Camillus's
plans. He dressed himself in poor clothes, with corks concealed under
them, and performed most of the journey fearlessly by daylight, but when
he came near the city he went by night. As it was impossible to cross
the river by the bridge, which was held by the Gauls, he wrapped what
few clothes he had round his head, and trusted to his corks to float him
over to the city. After he had landed, he walked round, observing by the
lights and the noise where the Gauls were most wakeful, until he reached
the Carmentan Gate, where all was quiet. At this place the Capitolian
Hill forms a steep and precipitous crag, up which he climbed by a hollow
in the cliff, and joined the garrison. After greeting them and making
known his name, he proceeded to an interview with the leading men. A
meeting of the Senate was called, at which he recounted Camillus's
victory, which they had not heard of, and explained the determination of
the soldiers. He then begged them to confirm Camillus's appointment as
general, because the citizens without the walls would obey no other.
When the Senate heard this, they deliberated, and finally appointed
Camillus dictator, and sent back Pontius by the same way that he came,
which he was able to accomplish as fortunately as before. He eluded the
Gauls, and brought the decree of the senate to the Romans outside the
walls.
XXVI. They heard the news with enthusiasm, so that Camillus when he
came, found that they already numbered twenty thousand, while he drew
many additional troops from the neighbouring friendly cities. Thus was
Camillus a second time appointed dictator, and, proceeding to Veii,
joined the soldiers there, to whom he added many others from the allies,
and prepared to attack the enemy. But meanwhile at Rome, some of the
Gauls happening to pass by the place where Pontius climbed up the
Capitol, noticed in many places the marks of where he had clutched at
the rock with his hands and feet, torn off the plants which grew upon
it, and thrown down the mould. They brought the news to the king, who
came and viewed the place. He said nothing at the time, but in the
evening he called together those Gauls who were lightest and most
accustomed to climb mountains, and thus addressed them: "The road up the
rock, which we by ourselves could not discover, has been proved by our
enemies not to be impassable to men, and it would be disgraceful for us
after having begun so well to leave our enterprise incomplete, and to
give up the place as impregnable after the enemy themselves have shown
us how it may be taken. Where it is easy for one man to climb, it cannot
be hard for many to climb one by one, as their numbers will give them
confidence and mutual support. Suitable honours and presents will be
given to those who distinguish themselves."
XXVII. After this speech of their king, the Gauls eagerly volunteered
for the assault, and about midnight many of them climbed silently up the
rock, which although rough and precipitous was easier of ascent than
they had imagined, so that the first of them reached the top, and were
on the point of preparing to attack the rampart and its sleeping
garrison, for neither men nor dogs noticed them. But there were sacred
geese kept in the temple of Juno, which in other times were fed without
stint, but which then, as there was scarcely food enough for the men,
were somewhat neglected. These birds are naturally quick of hearing and
timid, and now being rendered wakeful and wild by hunger, quickly
perceived the Gauls climbing up, and rushing noisily to the place woke
the garrison, while the Gauls feeling that they were discovered no
longer preserved silence, but violently assaulted the place. The Romans,
snatching up whatever arms came first to hand, ran to repulse them: and
first of all Manlius, a man of consular rank, strong of body and full of
courage, fell in with two of the enemy. As one of them lifted up his
battleaxe, Manlius cut off his right hand with his sword, while he
dashed his shield into the other's face, and threw him backwards down
the cliff. After this he stood upon the wall, and with the help of those
who assembled round him, beat off the rest, for not many had reached the
top, or effected anything commensurate with the boldness of the attempt.
Having thus escaped the danger, the Romans threw their sentinel down the
rock; while on Manlius they conferred by vote a reward for his bravery,
intended more for honour than advantage; for each man gave him a day's
rations, which consisted of half a Roman pound of meal, and the fourth
part of a Greek cotyle of wine.
XXVIII. This affair disheartened the Gauls, who were also in want of
provisions, for they could not forage as before for fear of Camillus,
while disease also crept in among them, encamped as they were in the
ruins of Rome among heaps of dead bodies, while the deep layer of ashes
became blown by the wind into the air, making it dry and harsh, and the
vapours of the conflagrations were injurious to breathe. They were
especially distressed by the change from a cloudy country where there
are plenty of shady retreats, to the flat burning plains of Rome in
autumn, and their siege of the Capitol became wearisome, for they had
now beleaguered it for seven months; so that there was much sickness in
their camp, and so many died that they no longer buried the dead. Yet
for all this the besieged fared no better. Hunger pressed them, and
their ignorance of what Camillus was doing disheartened them; for no one
could reach them with news, because the city was strictly watched by
Gauls. As both parties were in these straits, proposals for a
capitulation took place; at first among the outposts on both sides;
afterwards the chief men on each side. Brennus, the Gaulish king, and
Sulpicius the Roman tribune, met, and it was agreed that the Romans
should pay a thousand pounds of gold, and that the Gauls should, on
receiving it, at once leave the country. Both parties swore to observe
these conditions, but when the gold was being weighed, the Gauls at
first tampered with the scales unperceived, and then openly pulled the
beam, so that the Romans became angry. But at this Brennus insolently
took off his sword and belt, and flung them into the scale; and when
Sulpicius asked, "What is this?" "What should it be," replied the Gaul;
"but woe to the vanquished!" At this some of the Romans were angry and
thought that they ought to take back their gold into the Capitol, and
again endure the siege; while others said that they must put up with
insults, provided they were not too outrageous, and not think that there
was any additional disgrace in paying more than they had agreed, because
in paying any ransom at all, they were acting from sheer necessity
rather than feelings of honour.
XXIX. While the Romans were thus disputing with the Gauls, and with one
another, Camillus with his army was at the gates. Learning what was
being done, he ordered the mass of his soldiers to follow him quietly
and in good order, and himself pushed on with the picked troops to join
the Romans, who all made way for him, and received him as dictator with
silence and respect. He then took the gold from the scales and gave it
to his victors, and ordered the Gauls to take the scales and the beam,
and depart, "for," said he, "it is the custom of the Romans to defend
their country not with gold but with iron." At this Brennus became
angry, and said that he was being wronged by the treaty being broken;
and Camillus answered that the negotiations were illegal, because when
they began he was already dictator, and therefore, as no one else had
any authority, the treaty had been made by the Gauls with persons who
were not authorized to treat. But now, if they wished, they might make
fresh proposals, for he was come with full legal powers to pardon such
as made their submission, and to punish unrepentant evil-doers. Enraged
at this, Brennus began to skirmish, and the two parties, mixed up as
they were, in houses and lands where no military formation was
possible, did go so far as to draw their swords and push one another
about; but Brennus soon recovered his temper, and drew off the Gauls,
with but little loss, in their camp.
During the night he got them all under arms, left the city, and, after a
march of about eight miles, encamped by the side of the Gabinian Road.
But at daybreak, Camillus was upon him, in glittering armour, leading on
the Romans who had now recovered their courage. After a long and
fiercely contested battle they routed the Gauls and took their camp.
Some of the fugitives were at once pursued and slain, but most of them
straggled about the country, and were put to death by the people of the
neighbouring towns and villages who sallied out upon them.
XXX. Thus was Rome strangely taken, and yet more strangely preserved,
after having been for seven months in the possession of the Gauls, for
they entered it a few days after the Ides of Quintilis, and left it
about the Ides of February. Camillus, as we may easily imagine, entered
the city in a triumph, as the saviour of his lost country, and the
restorer of Rome to itself; for as he drove into the city he was
accompanied by those who had before left it, with their wives and
children, while those who had been besieged in the Capitol, and all but
starved there, came out to meet him embracing one another, weeping, and
scarcely believing in their present happiness. The priests and servants
of the gods also appeared with such of the sacred things as they had
saved, either by burying them on the spot, or by carrying them away, and
now displayed these images, which had not been seen for so long a time,
to the citizens, who greeted them with joy, as if the gods themselves
were again returning to Rome. Camillus performed a sacrifice to the
gods, and purified the city in the manner recommended by experts, and
then proceeded to restore all the previously existing temples, while he
himself added another to _Aius Loquutius_, or Rumour, having carefully
sought out the place at which the voice in the night miraculously
foretold the coming of the Gaulish host to Marcus Caedicius.
XXXI. With great difficulty the sites of the temples were cleared of
rubbish by the zeal of Camillus and the labour of the priests; but as
the city was utterly destroyed, and required to be entirely rebuilt, the
people became disheartened at so great an undertaking. Men who had lost
their all were inclined to wait, and indeed required rest after their
misfortunes, rather than labours and toils, which neither their bodies
nor their purses were able to endure. And thus it came to pass that they
turned their thoughts a second time towards Veii, a city which stood
quite ready to be inhabited. This gave opportunities to their mob
orators to make speeches, as usual, which they knew would be pleasing to
the people, in which Camillus was disrespectfully spoken of as depriving
them of a city which stood ready to receive them, for his own prviate
ambition, and was said to be compelling them to live encamped in the
midst of ruins, and re-erect their houses in that vast heap of ashes,
all in order that he might be called, not merely the leader and general
of Rome, but might usurp the place of Romulus and be called her founder.
Fearing disturbances, the Senate would not permit Camillus to lay down
his dictatorship for a year, although he wished to do so, and although
no dictator before this had ever remained in office for more than six
months. In the meantime the senators themselves encouraged and consoled
the people by personal appeals, pointing to the tombs and monuments of
their ancestors, and recalling to their minds the temples and holy
places which Romulus and Numa and the other kings had consecrated and
left in charge to them. More especially they dwelt upon the omen of the
newly severed head which had been found when the foundations of the
Capitol were dug, by which it was proved that that spot was fated to
become the head of Italy, and the fire of Vesta which the virgins had
relighted after the war, and which it would be a disgrace for them to
extinguish, and to abandon the city, whether they were to see it
inhabited by foreigners or turned into fields for cattle to feed in.
While persistently urging these considerations both in public speeches
and in private interviews with the people, they were much affected by
the lamentations of the poor over their helpless condition. The people
begged that, as they had, like people after a shipwreck, saved their
lives and nothing else, they might not, in addition to this misfortune,
be compelled to put together the ruins of a city which had been utterly
destroyed, while another was standing ready to receive them.
XXXII. Under these circumstances, Camillus determined to debate the
question publicly. He himself made a long appeal on behalf of his native
place, and many other speeches were delivered. Finally he rose, and bade
Lucius Lucretius, whose privilege it was, to vote first, and then after
him the rest in order. Silence was enforced, and Lucretius was just on
the point of voting when a centurion in command of a detachment of the
guard of the day marched by, and in a loud voice called to the
standard-bearer: "Pitch the standard here: here it is best for us to
stay." When these words were heard so opportunely in the midst of their
deliberations about the future, Lucretius reverently said that he
accepted the omen, and gave his vote in accordance with it, and his
example was followed by all the rest. The people now showed a strange
revulsion of feeling, for they encouraged one another to begin the work
of rebuilding, not on any regular plan, but just as each man happened to
find a convenient place for his work. Consequently they quickly rebuilt
the city, for within a year it is said that both the city walls and the
private houses were completed; but it was full of intricate, narrow
lanes and inconveniently placed houses.