him plainly, he ordered him to return to the ranks, that there was no
occasion for alarm; that it was by his order that the Alban army was
being led round to fall on the unprotected rear of the Fidenates. He
likewise commanded him to order the cavalry to raise their spears
aloft; the execution of this order shut out the view of the retreating
Alban army from a great part of the Roman infantry. Those who saw it,
believing that it was even so, as they had heard from the king, fought
with all the greater valour. The alarm was transferred to the enemy;
they had both heard what had been uttered so loudly, and a great part
of the Fidenates, as men who had mixed as colonists with the Romans,
understood Latin. Therefore, that they might not be cut off from the
town by a sudden descent of the Albans from the hills, they took to
flight. Tullus pressed forward, and having routed the wing of the
Fidenates, returned with greater fury against the Veientes, who were
disheartened by the panic of the others: they did not even sustain
his charge; but the river, opposed to them in the rear, prevented a
disordered flight. When their flight led thither, some, shamefully
throwing down their arms, rushed blindly into the river; others, while
lingering on the banks, undecided whether to fight or flee, were
overpowered. Never before was a more desperate battle fought by the
Romans.

Then the Alban army, which had been a mere spectator of the fight,
was marched down into the plains. Mettius congratulated Tullus on his
victory over the enemy; Tullus on his part addressed Mettius with
courtesy. He ordered the Albans to unite their camp with that of the
Romans, which he prayed heaven might prove beneficial to both; and
prepared a purificatory sacrifice for the next day. As soon as it
was daylight, all things being in readiness, according to custom, he
commanded both armies to be summoned to an assembly. The heralds,
beginning at the farthest part of the camp, summoned the Albans first.
They, struck also with the novelty of the thing, in order to hear the
Roman king deliver a speech, crowded next to him. The Roman forces,
under arms, according to previous arrangement, surrounded them; the
centurions had been charged to execute their orders without delay.
Then Tullus began as follows: "Romans, if ever before, at any other
time, in any war, there was a reason that you should return thanks,
first to the immortal gods, next to your own valour, it was