15. The decemviri, being in possession of all the military as well as
of the civil power, divided their army into three parts; whereof one
continued with Ap'pius in the city, to keep it in awe; the other two
were commanded by his colleagues, and were led, one against the AE'qui,
and the other against the Vol'sci. 16. The Roman soldiers had now
adopted a method of punishing the generals whom they disliked, by
suffering themselves to be vanquished in the field. They put it
in practice upon this occasion, and shamefully abandoned their camp
upon the approach of the enemy, 17. Never was victorious news more
joyfully received at Rome, than the tidings of this defeat; the
generals, as is always the case, were blamed for the treachery of
their men; some demanded that they should be deposed, others cried out
for a dictator to lead the troops to conquest. 18. Among the rest, old
Sic'cius Denta'tus, the tribune, spoke his sentiments with his usual
openness; and, treating the generals with contempt, pointed out the
faults of their discipline in the camp, and their conduct in the
field.
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