itance, from father to son. Decius Mus, the commander opposed to
Pyrrhus, was the grandson of his namesake referred to above; and now
it was rumored among the Greeks that he intended, as soon as the
armies came into action, to make the destruction of his enemies sure
by sacrificing himself, as his grandfather had done. The soldiers of
Pyrrhus were willing to meet any of the ordinary and natural chances
and hazards of war; but, where the awful and irresistible decrees of
the spiritual world were to be against them, it is not strange that
they dreaded the encounter.

Under these circumstances, Pyrrhus sent a party of messengers to the
Roman camp to say to Decius, that if in the approaching battle he
attempted to resort to any such arts of necromancy to secure the
victory to the Roman side, he would find himself wholly unsuccessful
in the attempt; for the Greek soldiers had all been instructed not to
kill him if he should throw himself among them, but to take him alive
and bring him a prisoner to Pyrrhus's camp; and that then, after the
battle was over, he should be subjected, they declared, to the most
cruel and ignominious punishments, as a magician and an impostor.
Decius sent back word, in reply, that Pyrrhus had no occasion to give
himself any uneasiness in respect to the course which the Roman
general would pursue in the approaching battle. The measure that he
had referred to was one to which the Romans were not accustomed to
resort except in emergencies of the most extreme and dangerous
character, and Pyrrhus ought not to flatter himself with the idea that
the Romans regarded his invasion as of sufficient consequence to
require them to have recourse to any unusual means of defense. They
were fully convinced of their ability to meet and conquer him by
ordinary modes of warfare. To prove that they were honest in this
opinion, they offered to waive the advantage which the river afforded
them as a means of defense, and allow Pyrrhus to cross it without
molestation, with a view to fighting the battle afterward upon the
open field; or they would themselves cross the river, and fight the
battle on Pyrrhus's side of it--whichever Pyrrhus himself preferred.
They asked for no advantage, but were willing to meet their
adversaries on equal terms, and abide by the result.

Pyrrhus could not with honor decline to accept this challenge. He
decided to remain where he was, and allow the Romans to cross the
stream. This they accord