e for defense against the marauders. Meantime
the scattered Romans took courage. They collected at Veii, and here
resolved to recall Camillus from banishment, and appoint him Dictator.
In order to obtain the consent of the Senate, a daring youth, named
Pontius Cominius, offered to swim across the Tiber and climb the
Capitol. He reached the top unperceived by the enemy, obtained the
approval of the Senate to the appointment of Camillus, and returned
safely to Veii. But next day some Gauls observed the traces of his
steps, and in the dead of night they climbed up the same way. The
foremost of them had already reached the top, unnoticed by the sentinels
and the dogs, when the cries of some geese roused M. Manlius from sleep.
These geese were sacred to Juno, and had been spared notwithstanding the
gnawings of hunger; and the Romans were now rewarded for their piety. M.
Manlius thrust down the Gaul who had clambered up, and gave the alarm.
The Capitol was thus saved; and down to latest times M. Manlius was
honored as one of the greatest heroes of the early Republic.

Still no help came, and the Gauls remained before the Capitol. The
Romans suffered from famine, and at length agreed to pay the barbarians
1000 pounds of gold, on condition of their quitting the city and its
territory. Brennus brought false weights, and, when the Romans exclaimed
against this injustice, the Gallic chief threw his sword also into the
scale, crying, "Woe to the vanquished!" But at this very moment Camillus
marched into the forum, ordered the gold to be taken away, and drove the
Gauls out of the city. Another battle was fought on the road to Gabii,
in which the Gauls were completely destroyed, and their leader Brennus
taken prisoner. This tale, however, is an invention of Roman vanity. We
learn from other sources that the Gauls retreated because their
settlements in Northern Italy were attacked by the Venetians; and there
can be little doubt that their departure was hastened by a present of
Roman gold. The Gauls frequently repeated their inroads, and for many
years to come were the constant dread of the Romans.

When the Romans returned to the heap of ruins which was once their city
their hearts sank within them. The people shrank from the expense and
toil of rebuilding their houses, and loudly demanded that they should
all remove to Veii, where the private dwellings and public buildings
were still standing. But Camillus and the Patricians strongly