ced, in the usual form, the nomination of
Papirius as dictator. When the deputies thanked him for his noble
conquest over his feelings, he listened still in dead silence, and
dismissed them without a word in answer.

We must now pass over years of war, in which both Fabius and Papirius
gained honor and fame, and come to an occasion in which the son of
Fabius led a Roman army as consul, and met with a severe defeat by a
Samnite army. He had been tricked by the Samnites, and great indignation
was aroused against him in Rome. It was proposed to remove him from his
office, a disgrace which no consul ever experienced in Roman history. It
was also proposed that old Fabius should be appointed dictator. But the
aged soldier, to preserve the honor of his son, offered to go with him
as his lieutenant, and the offer was accepted by the senate.

A second battle ensued, in the heat of which the consul became
surrounded by the enemy, and his aged father led the charge to his
rescue. His example animated the Romans, they followed him in a vigorous
assault, and a complete victory was won. Twenty thousand Samnites were
slain, four thousand taken prisoners, and with them their general, C.
Pontius. After other victories the younger Fabius returned to Rome and
was given a triumph, while behind him rode his old father on horseback,
as one of his lieutenants, delighting in the honor conferred on his son.
The Samnite general was made to walk in the procession, and at its end
was taken to the prison under the Capitoline Hill and there beheaded. It
was thus that Rome dealt with its captured foes.

_THE CAUDINE FORKS._

Westward from Rome rise the Apennine Mountains, the backbone of Italy;
and amid their highest peaks, where the snow lies all the year long, and
whence streams flow into the two seas, dwelt the Sabines, an important
people, from whom came the mothers of the Roman state. There is a legend
concerning this people which we have now to tell. For many years they
had been at war with their neighbors, the Umbrians; and at length,
failing to conquer their enemies by their own strength, they sought to
obtain the help of the divinities. They made a vow that if victory was
given to them, all the living creatures born that year in their land
should be held as sacred to the gods.

The victory came, and they sacrificed all the lambs, calves, kids, and
pigs of that year's birth, while they redeemed from the gods such
animals as were