ead with
his staff, at which the barbarian drew his sword and slew him. Upon this
they fell upon the rest and killed them, with any other Romans whom they
found, and spent many days in plundering the houses, after which they
burned them and pulled them down in their rage at the men in the
Capitol, because they would not surrender, but drove them back when they
assaulted it. For this reason they wreaked their vengeance on the city,
and put to death all their captives, men and women, old and young alike.

XXIII. As the siege was a long one, the Gauls began to want for
provisions. They divided themselves into two bodies, one of which
remained with the king and carried on the siege, while the others
scoured the country, plundering and destroying the villages, not going
all together in a body, but scattered in small detachments in various
directions, as their elation at their success caused them to have no
fear about separating their forces. Their largest and best disciplined
body marched towards Ardea, where Camillus, since his banishment, had
lived as a private person. All his thoughts, however, were bent not upon
avoiding or fleeing from the Gauls, but upon defeating them if possible.
And so, seeing that the people of Ardea were sufficient in numbers, but
wanting in confidence because of the want of experience and remissness
of their leaders, he first began to tell the younger men that they ought
not to ascribe the misfortunes of the Romans to the bravery of the
Gauls, for the misconduct of the former had given them a triumph which
they did not deserve. It would, he urged, be a glorious thing, even at
the risk of some danger, to drive away a tribe of savage barbarians, who
if they were victorious always exterminated the vanquished: while, if
they only showed bravery and confidence, he could, by watching his
opportunity, lead them to certain victory. As the younger men eagerly
listened to these words, Camillus proceeded to confer with the chief
magistrates of the Ardeates. After obtaining their consent also, he
armed all those who were capable of service, but kept them within the
walls, as he wished to conceal their presence from the enemy who were
now close at hand. But when the Gauls after scouring the country
returned laden with plunder and carelessly encamped in the plain, and
when at night by the influence of wine and sleep all was quiet in their
camp, Camillus, who had learned the state of the case from spies, led
ou