The Romans and the Falerii were at war. Camillus being named dictator,
attacked these people and besieged their capital. Before the
circumvallation of the place was completed, a schoolmaster came out of
the city and placed all his pupils in the hands of the Romans, as the
readiest means of inducing the inhabitants to surrender. The indignant
dictator ordered the perfidious master to be stripped, had his hands
tied behind him, and, arming the boys with rods, commanded them to
flog the treacherous pedagogue back to the city. Plutarch says that
Camillus was much shocked at this action of the schoolmaster, and
said to those around them,--“War at best is a savage thing, and wades
through a sea of violence and injustice; yet even war itself has its
laws, which men of honour will not depart from; nor do they pursue
victory so as to avail themselves of acts of villany and baseness.
A great general should rely upon his own virtue, and not upon the
treachery of others.”
It is said that the magistrates of the place were so affected by the
magnanimity of the dictator, that they brought him the keys of the city.