e Volscians, who hurried out of
their several cities to show respect to his corpse; to which they gave
honorable interment, adorning his sepulchre with arms and trophies, as
the monument of a noble hero and a famous general. When the Romans heard
tidings of his death, they gave no other signification either of honor
or of anger toward him, but simply granted the request of the women,
that they might put themselves into mourning and bewail him for ten
months, as the usage was upon the loss of a father or a son or a
brother; that being the period fixed for the longest lamentation by the
laws of Numa Pompilius.

Marcius was no sooner deceased, than the Volscians felt the need of his
assistance. They quarreled first with the Aequians, their confederates
and friends, about the appointment of the general of their joint forces,
and carried their dispute to the length of bloodshed and slaughter; and
were then defeated by the Romans in a pitched battle, where not only
Tullus lost his life, but the flower of their whole army was cut to
pieces; so that they were forced to submit and accept of peace upon very
dishonorable terms, becoming subjects of Rome, and pledging themselves
to submission.

COMPARISON OF ALCIBIADES AND CORIOLANUS

Having described all their actions that seem to deserve commemoration,
their military ones, we may say, incline the balance very decidedly upon
neither side. They both, in pretty equal measure, displayed on numerous
occasions the daring and courage of the soldier, and the skill and
foresight of the general; unless, indeed, the fact that Alcibiades was
victorious and successful in many contests both by sea and land, ought
to gain him the title of a more complete commander. That so long as they
remained and held command in their respective countries, they eminently
sustained, and when they were driven into exile, yet more eminently
damaged the fortunes of those countries, is common to both. All the
sober citizens felt disgust at the petulance, the low flattery, and
base seductions which Alcibiades, in his public life, allowed himself
to employ with the view of winning the people's favor; and the
ungraciousness, pride, and oligarchical haughtiness which Marcius,
on the other hand, displayed in his, were the abhorrence of the Roman
populace.

Marcius, according to our common conceptions of his character, was
undoubtedly simple and straightforward; Alcibiades, unscrupulous as a
public man, and f