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oth summer and winter; and now it fell not so much by force as by the art of the engineer. The tidings of this thing being brought to Rome there was great rejoicing; because, for all the prophecies of the soothsayers and the answers of the oracle, and the greatness of Camillus, men had scarce believed that so strong a city, from which so much loss had been suffered in time past, would indeed be conquered, Straightway the temples were crowded with women that gave thanks to the gods. And the Senate decreed a thanksgiving of four days, such as never had been decreed before. As for the Dictator, when he came back to the city, there went out to meet him men of all ranks and conditions. Such honour was rendered to him as had never before been rendered to any man. But when he rode through the city in a chariot drawn by white horses, men said, "This becometh not a citizen, nor indeed a man, how great soever he be. He maketh himself equal to Jupiter or Apollo." Afterwards, having contracted for the building of a temple to Queen Juno on Mount Aventine, and dedicated the temple to Mother Matuta, he resigned the dictatorship. And now came the paying of the tenth of the spoil to Apollo, according to the vow which Camillus had vowed. For the priests affirmed that the people were bound by the vow. It was commanded, therefore, that every man should set a price on the spoil which he had carried away from Veii, and should pay a tenth part to the god. This also turned away the hearts of the Commons from Camillus. CHAPTER XII. ~~ THE STORY OF CAMILLUS. In the next year the Senate would have sent a colony into the country of the Volscians, giving to each man two acres of land and more. But the thing pleased not the Commons, who said, "Why do ye send us into exile in the land of the Volscians while this fair city of Veii lieth within view, having lands both wider and more fertile than are the lands of Rome?" The city also they preferred to their own, both for its situation and for the magnificence of its buildings both public and private. Their counsel, therefore, was that the State should be divided, and that the nobles should dwell at Rome and the Commons at Veii. But the nobles steadfastly withstood it, saying, "We will die rather than that such a thing be done. If there be such trouble in one city, how much more, think ye, will there be in two? Will ye prefer a city that is vanquished to that which is victorious? Will ye l
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