it, but
left it to the enemy. It seems that he indeed thought it a good place
to encamp in, but much better to lay an ambuscade in; and, wishing to
use it rather for this purpose, he filled the woods and glens with
javelin-men and spearmen, persuaded that the place itself would, from
its excellent qualities, attract the Romans into it. Nor was he
deceived in this expectation; for at once there was much talk in the
Roman army about the necessity of occupying the hill, and men pointed
out the advantages which would be gained over the enemy by encamping
on it, or if necessary, by fortifying it. Now Marcellus determined to
ride forward with a few horsemen and reconnoitre it, so he sent for a
soothsayer and offered sacrifice. When the first victim was slain, the
soothsayer showed him that the liver had no head. On sacrificing for
the second time the head appeared of unusual size, while all the other
organs were excellent, and this seemed to set at rest the fear which
had been caused by the former. Yet the soothsayers said that they were
even more disturbed and alarmed at this; for when after very bad and
menacing victims unusually excellent ones appear, the sudden change is
itself suspicious. But

"Not fire, not walls of iron can hinder fate,"

as Pindar says. Marcellus rode forth with his colleague Crispinus and
his son, who was military tribune, in all two hundred and twenty
horsemen. Of these none were Romans; they were Etruscans, with the
exception of twenty men from Fregellae, who had given constant proofs
of their courage and devotion to Marcellus. On the overhanging crest
of the woody hill, a man, unseen by the Romans, was watching their
army. He signalled to the men in ambush what was going on, so that
they permitted Marcellus to ride close to them, and then suddenly
burst out upon him, and surrounding his little force on all sides,
struck and threw their darts, pursued such as ran away, and fought
with those who stood their ground. These were the twenty Fregellans.
The Etruscans at the outset ran away panic-stricken; but these men
forming together defended the consuls until Crispinus, struck by two
darts, galloped away, and Marcellus was pierced through the side with
a lance. Then even the few survivors of the Fregellans left him lying
there, and snatching up his son, who was wounded, made their way back
to the camp. The loss amounted to little over forty killed, and five
lictors and eighteen horsemen taken.