ever,
prevailed, on which he saw that the attention of every body, allies
and enemies, was fixed; and whose fate would be regarded as a proof of
the consequences resulting from defection from the Romans. Leaving
therefore, a great part of his baggage among the Bruttians, and all
his heavier armed troops, he took with him a body of infantry and
cavalry, the best he could select for marching expeditiously, and bent
his course into Campania. Rapidly as he marched he was followed by
thirty-three elephants. He took up his position in a retired valley
behind Mount Tifata, which overhung Capua. Having at his coming taken
possession of fort Galatia, the garrison of which he dislodged by
force, he then directed his efforts against those who were besieging
Capua. Having sent forward messengers to Capua stating the time at
which he would attack the Roman camp, in order that they also, having
gotten themselves in readiness for a sally, might at the same time
pour forth from all their gates, he occasioned the greatest possible
terror; for on one side he himself attacked them suddenly, and on the
other side all the Campanians sallied forth, both foot and horse,
joined by the Carthaginian garrison under the command of Bostar and
Hanno. The Romans, lest in so perilous an affair they should leave any
part unprotected, by running together to any one place, thus divided
their forces: Appius Claudius was opposed to the Campanians; Fulvius
to Hannibal; Caius Nero, the propraetor, with the cavalry of the sixth
legion, placed himself in the road leading to Suessula; and Caius
Fulvius Flaccus, the lieutenant-general, with the allied cavalry, on
the side opposite the river Vulturnus. The battle commenced not only
with the usual clamour and tumult, but in addition to the din of men,
horses, and arms, a multitude of Campanians, unable to bear arms,
being distributed along the walls, raised such a shout together with
the clangour of brazen vessels, similar to that which is usually made
in the dead of night when the moon is eclipsed, that it diverted the
attention even of the combatants. Appius easily repulsed the
Campanians from the rampart. On the other side Hannibal and the
Carthaginians, forming a larger force, pressed hard on Fulvius. There
the sixth legion gave way; being repulsed, a cohort of Spaniards with
three elephants made their way up to the rampart. They had broken
through the centre of the Roman line, and were in a state of anxious
a