alls.
At Herculaneum, it is true, the consul had two regular engagements
without any decisive advantage on either side, and with greater loss
on his side than on that of the enemy; but afterwards, encamping on
the spot, he shut them up within their works. The town was besieged
and taken. In these three towns were taken or slain ten thousand men,
of whom the prisoners composed somewhat the greater part. On the
consuls casting lots for the provinces, Etruria fell to Carvilius, to
the great satisfaction of the soldiers, who could no longer bear the
intensity of the cold in Samnium. Papirius was opposed at Saepinum
with a more powerful force: he had to fight often in pitched battles,
often on a march, and often under the walls of the city, against the
eruptions of the enemy; and could neither besiege, nor engage them on
equal terms; for the Samnites not only protected themselves by walls,
but likewise protected their walls with numbers of men and arms. At
length, after a great deal of fighting, he forced them to submit to a
regular siege. This he carried on with vigour, and made himself master
of the city by means of his works, and by storm. The rage of the
soldiers on this occasion caused the greatest slaughter in the taking
of the town; seven thousand four hundred fell by the sword; the number
of the prisoners did not amount to three thousand. The spoil, of which
the quantity was very great, the whole substance of the Samnites being
collected in a few cities, was given up to the soldiers.

46. The snow had now entirely covered the face of the country, and
they could no longer dispense with the shelter of houses: the consul
therefore led home his troops from Samnium. While he was on his way to
Rome, a triumph was decreed him with universal consent; and
accordingly he triumphed while in office, and with extraordinary
splendour, considering the circumstances of those times. The cavalry
and infantry marched in the procession, adorned with presents. Great
numbers of civic, vallar, and mural crowns were seen.[Footnote:
These marks of honour were bestowed for having saved the lives of
citizens, or for having been the first to mount walls or ramparts.]
The spoils of the Samnites were inspected with much curiosity, and
compared, in respect of magnificence and beauty, with those taken by
his father, which were well known, from being frequently exhibited as
ornaments of the public places. Several prisoners of distinction,
renowned