lo, who
must have been a thoroughly gallant man, came in person to the Roman
camp, bringing two young slaves whom he passed off as his own children
and offered as hostages for the sincerity of the offer he made, which
was to place his camp in Caepio's hands. [Sidenote: Caepio defeated
and slain by Silo.] Caepio went with him, and Pompaedius, running up a
hill to look out, as he said, for the enemy, gave a signal to men whom
he had placed in ambush. Caepio and many of his men were slain, and at
last Marius was sole commander. He advanced steadily but warily into
the Marsian country. Silo tauntingly told him to come down and fight,
if he was a great general. [Sidenote: Prudence of Marius.] 'Nay,'
replied Marius, 'if you are a great general, do you make me.' At
length he did fight; and, as he always did, won the day. In another
battle the Marrucinian leader, and 6,000 of the Marsi were slain.
[Sidenote: Success of Sulla.] But Sulla was at that time co-operating
with Marius, having apparently, when the Romans evacuated most of
Campania, marched north to form a junction with him; and beside his
star that of Marius always paled. Marius had shrunk from following the
enemy into a vineyard. Sulla, on the other side of it, cut them off.
Not that Marius was always over-cautious. Once in this war he said
to his men, 'I don't know which are the greatest cowards, you or
the enemy, for they dare not face your backs, nor you theirs.' But
everything he now did was distrusted at home; and while some men
disparaged his successes, and said that he was grown old and clumsy,
others were more afraid of him than of the enemy, with whom indeed
there was some reason to think that he had too good an understanding.
[Sidenote: A secret understanding, possibly, between Marius and the
confederates.] For once, when his army and Silo's were near each
other, both generals and men conversed, cursing the war, and with
mutual embraces adjuring each other to desist from it. If the story be
true, it is a sufficient reason for the Senate's conduct, inexplicable
except by political reasons, in not employing Marius at all in the
following year.

[Sidenote: Revolt of the Umbrians and Etruscans.] It was probably at
the close of this year that the revolt of the Umbrians and Etruscans
took place, and that Plotius defeated the Umbrians, and Porcius Cato
the Etruscans. On a general review of this piecemeal campaign it is
plain that the Romans had been worsted. On th