extus to the mountains
Turned first his horse's head;
And fast fled Ferentinum,
And fast Lanuvium fled. 660
The horsemen of Nomentum
Spurred hard out of the fray,
The footmen of Velitrae
Threw shield and spear away.
And underfoot was trampled, 665
Amidst the mud and gore,
The banner of proud Tusculum,
That never stooped before:
And down went Flavius Faustus,
Who led his stately ranks 670
From where the apple-blossoms wave
On Anio's echoing banks,
And Tullus of Arpinum,
Chief of the Volscian aids,
And Metius with the long fair curls, 675
The love of Anxur's maids,
And the white head of Vulgo,
The great Arician seer,
And Nepos of Laurentum,
The hunter of the deer; 680
And in the back false Sextus
Felt the good Roman steel;
And wriggling in the dust he died,
Like a worm beneath the wheel:
And fliers and pursuers 685
Were mingled in a mass;
And far away the battle
Went roaring through the pass.

[_The Dioscuri ride to Rome with news of victory. No one dares to
ask who they are, and after washing their steeds in Vesta's fountain
they vanish from mortal sight_.]

XXXVII

Sempronius Atratinus
Sate in the Eastern Gate, 690
Beside him were three Fathers,
Each in his chair of state;
Fabius, whose nine stout grandsons
That day were in the field,
And Manlius, eldest of the Twelve[63] 695
Who kept the Golden Shield;
And Sergius, the High Pontiff,[64]
For wisdom far renowned,
In all Etruria's colleges
Was no such Pontiff found. 700
And all around the portal,
And high above the wall,
Stood a great throng of people,
But sad and silent all;
Young lads, and stooping elders 705
That might not bear the mail,
Matrons with lips that quivered,
And maids with faces pale.
Since the first gleam of daylight,
Sempronius had not ceased 710
To listen for the rushing
Of horse-hoofs from the east.
The mist of eve was rising.
The sun was hastening down,
When he was aware of a princely pair 715
Fast pricking towards the town,
So like they were, ma