army. The command against the new enemy (for by this time an order had
passed for declaring war against the Anagnians, and the rest of the
Hernicians) was decreed to Marcius. These, in the beginning, secured
all the passes between the camps of the consuls, in such a manner,
that no messenger, however expert, could make his way from one to the
other; and each consul spent several days in absolute uncertainty
regarding every matter and in anxious suspense concerning the state of
the other. Apprehensions for their safety spread even to Rome; so that
all the younger citizens were compelled to enlist and two regular
armies were raised, to answer sudden emergencies. The conduct of the
Hernicians during the progress of the war afterwards, showed nothing
suitable to the present alarm, or to the ancient renown of that
nation. Without ever venturing any effort worth mentioning, being
stripped of three different camps within a few days, they stipulated
for a truce of thirty days, during which they might send to Rome, to
the senate, on the terms of furnishing two months' pay, and corn, and
a tunic to every soldier. They were referred back to Marcius by the
senate, whom by a decree they empowered to determine regarding the
Hernicians, and he accepted their submission. Meanwhile, in Samnium,
the other consul, though superior in strength, was very much
embarrassed by the nature of his situation; the enemy had blocked up
all the roads, and seized on the passable defiles, so that no
provisions could be conveyed; nor could the consul, though he daily
drew out his troops and offered battle, allure them to an engagement.
It was evident, that neither could the Samnites support an immediate
contest, nor the Romans a delay of action. The approach of Marcius,
who, after he had subdued the Hernicians, hastened to the succour of
his colleague, put it out of the enemy's power any longer to avoid
fighting: for they, who had not deemed themselves a match in the
field, even for one of the armies, could not surely suppose that if
they should allow the two consular armies to unite, they could have
any hope remaining: they made an attack therefore on Marcius, as he
was approaching in the irregular order of march. The baggage was
hastily thrown together in the centre, and the line formed as well as
the time permitted. First the shout which reached the standing camp of
Cornelius, then the dust observed at a distance, excited a bustle in
the camp of the ot