56 STORY OF THE ROMAN PEOPLE
a Latin should be permitted to enter our senate," one of them cried, I would come with my sword and strike him down with my own hand . War followed . The greatest battle was fought near Mt. Ve-su'vi-us . There is a legend that on the night before the battle each consul dreamed that the side would win whose general should of his own will give his life for his country . Both consuls were eager to sacrifice themselves; but they agreed that the one whose troops first began to give way should be the victim . The troops of De' ci-us Mus were the first to fall back . Then Decius cast his spear upon the ground and , standing upon it, cried aloud, Ye gods, I beg that you will grant victory to the Roman people ; and as a sacrifice I now give myself up to death . He mounted his horse and dashed into the midst of the enemy and was slain .
The other consul , Ti'tus Manlius , made an even greater sacrifice for his country. The two armies were so nearly matched that the Romans needed to take every care . Orders were given that there should be no single combats ; but one of the Latins called to the son of Manlius: Come forth , come forth , and I will show you how much better a Latin can fight than a Roman . The young man forgot his father's commands , galloped forth, and slew his enemy . He and his troop hastened to tell the consul ' of the victory . But the con sul ordered the trumpet to be blown to call the assembly together , and told them of his son's disobedience . I must forget either the state or myself, he said sadly . Then he ordered his son to be bound to a stake and beheaded . It was by such stern patriotism as this that Rome won her victories.
HOW ROME BECAME RULER OF ITALY 57
The Latins were obliged to yield, and they waited anx iously to see how Rome would treat them . Rome was exceed ingly wise . She made a separate treaty with every city ; she allowed them to trade with her , but not with one another ; and she pro mised each city that if its people proved faithful to her, they should some day be counted as Roman citi zens .
It was not long, however, before Rome , too , had to meet defeat. The Samnites attacked a town friendly to her . The Roman troops hurried to the rescue, but on the way they were caught by the enemy in a narrow valley called the Cau'dine Forks and were all taken prisoners. The father of Ga'vi-us Pon'ti-us , the Sam'nite general, was a feeble old man , but of great wisdom ; and Pontius sent a wagon to bring him to the camp to advise what to do with the captives . There is no middle course , said the old man . You must either let them go free, and so win the friendship of the Romans ; or else you must slay every man of them , and so weaken the Roman state that it cannot harm you . Unfor tunately for himself, Pontius did not follow his father's ad vice , but thought he had discovered a middle course ." He made the Roman consuls agree to a disgraceful peace, took away all arms from the troops, and sent the whole army under the yoke .
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SAMNITE FOOTMAN ( From a Vase )
When the Romans heard of this , they put on mourning , closed their shops , and postponed their festivals . Such a treaty must never be kept , they declared . No consuls had any right to make it. Either keep it or else put your troops back into the valley , retorted the Samnites . Their weapons shall be given back , and we will see how the matter will end." The Romans refused , and so the war went on . Before long Pontius found that the advice of his father had been wise ; for the Romans won a decisive victory , captured Pontius, and put him to death . At length the Samnites had to yield.
The peace with the Samnites did not last long , for the Romans were becoming so strong that the Gauls and Etrus cans gladly united with the Samnites to try to conquer them . At Sen - ti'num the Romans in 295 B.C. won a decisive victory, although it was five years longer before the resolute Samnites sued for peace .
It was now plain that Rome was to be mistress of Italy . Even the wealthy Greek towns in the south were under her rule except Ta -ren'tum , and with that she had a treaty . One of the terms of this treaty was that no Roman vessel should enter the harbor of Tarentum . One summer noon the peo ple of the place were sitting in their theatre . The seats ran up the hillside and gave a view of the bay . Suddenly the whole audience left their places and hurried to the shore , for they had caught sight of ten Roman vessels sailing toward their city . The Ta -ren'tines had an excellent navy and were good sailors . They sailed out to meet the Romans, and it was not long before they had sunk four Roman ships and
58 STORY OF THE ROMAN PEOPLE
HOW ROME BECAME RULER OF ITALY 59
taken many captives . When envoys were sent from Rome to demand an explanation , the Tarentines insulted them and laughed at the mistakes they made in trying to talk Greek . War followed . The Tarentines persuaded Pyr'rhus, king of E -pi'rus, to come to their aid . Fortunately for him , he brought twenty elephants with him . Neither the Romans nor their horses were accustomed to elephants, and Pyr rhus won the battle of Her - a - cle'a in 280 B. c . Nevertheless, the Romans fought so bravely and Pyrrhus lost so many men , that he declared a few more such victories would ruin him . He sent to the Ro mans his most eloquent am bassador to discuss making peace. The Romans would have yielded to his request had it not been for one Ap pius Claudius Cæ'cus , a man who had formerly been con sul and also censor .
He was now old and blind ; but notwithstanding this, he entered the senate and in a burning speech begged the sena tors never to make peace so long as Pyrrhus was in Italy . The envoy of Pyrrhus returned to his master. The Roman senate is an assembly of kings , he declared . Still , Pyrrhus did not give up at once . He spent two years in Sicily , help ing the Greek colonies of the island against the Car -tha gin'i-ans of northern Africa; then he met the Romans at
WAR ELEPHANT a