consuls. Now the
consulship lies open in common to us patricians and to you plebeians;
nor is it, as formerly, the prize of birth, but of valour. Look forward,
therefore, soldiers, to even the highest honour. Though you, as men,
have, with the approbation of the gods, given me this new surname of
Corvus, the ancient surname of our family, Publicolae, has not been
erased from my memory. I ever do and ever have cultivated the good will
of the Roman commons abroad and at home, as a private man and in public
offices, high and low, as tribune equally as when consul, with the same
undeviating line of conduct through all my successive consulships. Now,
with respect to that which is at hand, with the aid of the gods, join
with me in seeking a new and complete triumph over the Samnites."

33. Never was a general on a more familiar footing with his soldiers, by
his performing all the duties among the lowest of the soldiers without
reluctance. Moreover in the military sports, wherein equals vie with
their equals in contests of swiftness and strength, affable and
condescending, he conquered and was conquered with the same countenance;
nor did he spurn any competitor who should offer; in his acts kind
according to the occasion; in his conversation no less mindful of the
ease of others than of his own dignity; and, a thing than which nothing
is more agreeable to the people, he administered his offices by the same
line of conduct by which he had gained them. The whole army therefore,
cheering the exhortation of their leader with the utmost alacrity, march
forth from the camp. The battle commenced with equal hopes and equal
strength on both sides, as much as any battle ever did, with confidence
in themselves, and without contempt of their enemies. Their recent
exploits and their double victory a few days before, increased the
spirits of the Samnites on the other side; the glories of four hundred
years and victory coeval with the building of their city [had the same
effect] on the Romans; to both sides, however, the circumstance of the
enemy being a new one gave additional anxiety. The battle was a proof
what spirits they possessed; for they maintained the conflict in such a
manner, that, for a considerable time, the armies inclined to neither
side. Then the consul, thinking that some confusion should be caused
among them, since they could not be overpowered by force, endeavours to
disorder their foremost battalions by a charge of caval