History of Rome

​Nor did the Alban peace last long. The envy of the common people, because the public fortune had been entrusted to three soldiers, corrupted the vain mind of the dictator; and since his upright plans had not turned out well, he began to reconcile the minds of his fellow citizens by wicked means.

​Therefore, seeking war in peace just as he had previously sought peace in war, because he perceived that his own state possessed more of resentment than of strength, he incites other peoples to wage war openly and by decree, while reserving treachery for his own people under the guise of alliance.

​The Fidenates, a Roman colony, having taken the Veientes as allies in their plan, were incited to war and arms by a pact of the Albans’ defection.

​When Fidenae had openly revolted, Tullus, having summoned Mettius and his army from Alba, leads his forces against the enemy. When he crossed the Anio, he pitched camp at Confluentes. Between that place and Fidenae, the army of the Veientes had crossed the Tiber.

​These held the right wing near the river in the battle line; on the left wing, the Fidenates stood closer to the mountains. Tullus directs his men against the Veientine enemy, and stations the Albans against the legion of the Fidenates. The Alban had no more courage than loyalty. Therefore, daring neither to stay nor to cross over openly, he gradually withdrew toward the mountains;

​thence, when he thought he had ascended far enough, he drew up his entire battle line, and wavering in mind, in order to waste time, he deployed his ranks. His plan was to incline his forces to whichever side fortune should give success.

​At first, it was a source of wonder to the Romans who had stood nearest, when they perceived that their flanks were exposed by the departure of their allies; then a horseman at full gallop reports to the king that the Albans were departing. Tullus, in this critical situation, vowed twelve Salii and shrines to Pallor and Pavor.

​Rebuking the horseman in a loud voice so that the enemy might hear, he orders him to return to the battle: saying that there was no need for panic; that by his own command the Alban army was being led around in order to attack the exposed rear of the Fidenates;

​he likewise commands that the horsemen should raise their spears. This action blocked the view of the departing Alban army from a large part of the Roman infantry; those who had seen it, thinking it was as they had heard from the king, fought all the more fiercely. Terror passed over to the enemy; they had both heard what was said in a loud voice, and a large part of the Fidenates, as they were colonists added to the Romans, knew Latin.

​And so, lest they should be cut off from their town by a sudden descent of the Albans from the hills, they turned their backs. Tullus presses on, and having routed the wing of the Fidenates, returns more fiercely against the Veientes, who were struck by the panic of the others. Nor did they bear his onset, but the river thrown in their rear prevented their scattered flight.

​When the flight turned thither, some, shamefully throwing away their arms, rushed blindly into the water; others, while hesitating on the banks, were overwhelmed between the counsel of flight and of fight. No Roman battle before was more atrocious than this.