History of Rome

​As the consuls were now departing, the legates and tribunes from Appius’s army surrounded them; some begged their commander not to reject the help of his colleague, which they would have had to summon voluntarily, now that it was offered of his own accord;

​the majority stood in the way of the departing Volumnius, imploring him not to betray the republic through a perverse rivalry with his colleague; if any disaster should occur, it would be the fault of the deserter rather than the deserted; the situation had been brought to the point ​that all the glory or disgrace of matters well or ill conducted in Etruria was transferred to Lucius Volumnius; no one would ask what Appius’s words had been, but what the fortune of the army had been;

​he was being dismissed by Appius, but was retained by the republic and by the army; let him only test the will of the soldiers.

​By warning and imploring in this manner, they dragged the almost resisting consuls into the assembly. There, longer speeches were delivered to almost the same effect as that which had been contested in few words among a few people.

​And when Volumnius, who had the better cause, did not seem even lacking in eloquence against the remarkable oratorical skill of his colleague, and Appius, taunting him, said they ought to be grateful to himself, ​because they now had, instead of a mute and tongue-tied consul, an eloquent one as well; in his former consulship, especially in the first months, he had been unable to open his mouth, whereas now he was already sowing popular speeches, ”How I should have preferred,” said Volumnius, “that you had learned from me to act vigorously, than that I had learned from you to speak skillfully.” Finally, he proposed a condition which would decide, not who was the better orator—for the republic did not require that—but who was the better general.

​Etruria and Samnium were their provinces; let him choose whichever he preferred: with his own army he would conduct operations either in Etruria or in Samnium.

​Then a shout arose from the soldiers, that both should together undertake the Etruscan war.

​Observing this consensus, Volumnius said: “Since I erred in interpreting my colleague’s will, I will not allow what you want to remain obscure.

​Signify by your shout whether you wish me to stay or to depart.” Then indeed such a great shout arose that it drew the enemy out of their camp. Snatching up their arms, they descended into battle array. And Volumnius ordered the signals to sound and the standards to be carried out of the camp;

​they say that Appius hesitated, seeing that, whether he fought or remained quiet, the victory would belong to his colleague; then, fearing lest his own legions also should follow Volumnius, and since his own men were demanding it, he too gave the signal. On neither side were they drawn up with sufficient convenience;

​for both the Samnite leader, Gellius Egnatius, had gone with a few cohorts to forage, and the soldiers were engaging in battle more by their own impulse than by anyone’s leadership or command, ​and in the Roman armies, neither were both led in unison, nor was there sufficient time to draw them up. Volumnius engaged before Appius could reach the enemy;

​and so they clashed with an uneven front; and, as if by some fate changing the enemies accustomed to one another, the Etruscans faced Volumnius, and the Samnites—having hesitated for a short while because their leader was absent—faced Appius.

​Appius is said to have prayed in the middle of the crisis of the battle, so that he was seen among the first standards with hands raised to heaven, in this manner: “Bellona, if you grant us victory today, I vow a temple to you.”

​Having prayed thus, as if the goddess were instigating him, both he himself equaled the valor of his colleague, and his army equaled that of their leader. Both the generals performed their commander’s duties, and the soldiers strove lest victory should begin earlier from the other side.

​Therefore they routed and put the enemy to flight, who could not easily withstand a greater weight than that with which they had been accustomed to join battle.

​Pressing upon them as they yielded and pursuing them when scattered, they drove them to their camp. There, by the intervention of Gellius and the Sabellian cohorts, the battle was renewed for a short while. Soon, those also being routed, the camp was now being attacked by the victors;

​and while Volumnius himself was bringing the standards to the gate, and Appius, repeatedly celebrating Bellona the Victorious, was inflaming the minds of the soldiers, they burst through the rampart and the ditches.

​The camp was captured and plundered; a huge booty was won and granted to the soldiers. Seven thousand eight hundred of the enemy were slain, and two thousand one hundred and twenty captured.