the city. He refused; but,
when his wife and mother added their tears, he was induced to withdraw
the army. He was afterwards killed by the Volscians as a traitor.
(Footnote: See Shakespeare's "Coriolanus.")

After the expulsion of Tarquin, the FABII were among the most
distinguished men at Rome. There were three brothers, and for seven
consecutive years one of them was Consul. It looked as if the Fabian
gens would get control of the government. The state took alarm, and the
whole gens, numbering 306 males and 4,000 dependents, was driven from
Rome. For two years they carried on war alone against the Veientes,
but finally were surprised and slain (477). One boy, Quintus Fabius
Vibulanus, alone survived to preserve the name and gens of the Fabii.

In 458 the Romans were hard pressed by the Aequi. Their territory
had been overrun, and their Consuls, cut off in some defiles, were
in imminent danger of destruction. LUCIUS QUINCTUS CINCINNATUS was
appointed Dictator. He was one of the most noted Roman warriors of this
period. The ambassadors sent to inform him of his appointment found him
working with bare arms in his field. Cincinnatus told his wife to throw
over him his mantle, that he might receive the messengers of the state
with proper respect. Such was the simplicity of his character, and yet
so deeply did he reverence authority. The Aequi could not withstand his
vigorous campaign, but were obliged soon to surrender, and made to pass
under the yoke as a sign of humiliation. The Dictator enjoyed a well
earned triumph.

In 451 one of the Decemviri, APPIUS CLAUDIUS, was captivated by the
beauty of a patrician maiden, VIRGINIA, (Footnote: See Macaulay's "Lays
of Ancient Rome.") a daughter of Lucius Virginius, and the betrothed of
Lucius Icilius. He formed, with one of his tools, an infamous plot to
obtain possession of Virginia, under pretence that she was a slave.
When, in spite of all the efforts of the girl's father and lover, the
Decemvir had, in his official capacity, adjudged her to be the slave
of his tool, Virginius plunged a knife into his daughter's bosom, in
presence of the people in the Forum. The enraged populace compelled the
Decemviri to resign, and Appius, to escape worse punishment, put an end
to his own life.

MARCUS FURIUS CAMILLUS was a famous man of a little later period. He
was called a second Romulus for his distinguished services. In 396 he
captured Veii, after a siege of ten years. On his retu