17. The general, struck with the treachery of a
wretch whose duty it was to protect innocence, and not to betray it,
for some time regarded the traitor with a stern silence: but, at last,
finding words, "Execrable villain!" cried the noble Roman, "offer thy
abominable proposals to creatures like thyself, and not to me; what,
though we are the enemies of your city, are there not natural ties
that bind all mankind, which should never be broken? There are duties
required from us in war, as well as in peace: we fight not against the
age of innocence, but against men--men who have used us ill indeed;
but yet, whose crimes are virtues, when compared to thine. Against
such base acts, let it be my duty to use only the Roman ones--valour
and arms." 18. So saying, he ordered him to be stript, his hands to be
tied behind him, and, in that ignominious manner, to be whipped into
the town by his own scholars. 19. This generous behaviour in Camil'lus
effected more than his arms could do; the magistrates of the town
submitted to the senate, leaving to Camil'lus the condition of their
surrender; who only fined them a sum of money to satisfy the army, and
received them under the protection, and into the alliance, of Rome.
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