Ancient history

Consul Flaminius gives the signal for combat

Consul Flaminius gives the signal for battle

After having seen many men and mules perish in a terrible way, Hannibal, finally out of the marshes, encamps on the first dry ground which lends itself to it, and learns with certainty, by the scouts sent ahead, that the Roman army is under the walls of Arretium. Then, the projects and the state of mind of the consul, the nature of the country and its roads, the resources to obtain provisions easily, and all other useful information, were, for him, the object of the most intense investigation. careful. The country was one of the most fertile in Italy; they were the Etruscan plains which extend between Faesulae and Arretium, rich in corn, in cattle, in productions of all kinds. The consul was proud of his first consulship, and not only feared neither the majesty of the laws, nor that of the senate, but not even that of the gods. This innate lightness, fortune, giving Flaminius success at home and in war, had fueled it. So it was clear that, without consulting either gods or men, he would always act with pride and haste. To lead him further to these defects, the Carthaginian prepares to harass and excite him:leaving the enemy on his left, and starting from Faesulae for the center of the Etruscan territory, in order to plunder it, he does all the possible devastations by the murder and the fires which it shows from afar to the consul. Flaminius, who, even before a quiet enemy, was unwilling to remain so, when he then sees, almost before his eyes, taking away or taking away the goods of his allies, considering it a personal dishonor that the Carthaginian, henceforth, walks in the middle of Italy, and, without any opposition, goes to attack the very walls of Rome; despite the advice, more salutary than brilliant, of all the members of his council, maintaining that he must wait for his colleague to carry out with him, and their united armies, this affair, with the same heart and the same plan, and that in the meantime it is only necessary, with the cavalry and the lightly armed auxiliaries, to contain the unbridled freedom of pillage of the enemy; Flaminius, I say, throws himself irritably out of the council, and, having given the signal both for march and for battle, exclaims:"Let us rather be quiet under the walls of Arretium! Here evidently is our homeland and let Hannibal, escaping from our hands, ravage the whole of Italy:that laying waste and burning all he arrives before the walls of Rome:we, do not move from here until the senators have summoned, as formerly Camillus of Veii, Caius Flaminius of Arretium!"

As, while thus growling, he ordered the standards to be raised quickly, and had himself jumped on horseback, his mount suddenly fell, causing his rider to slip over his head and fall. Everyone around the consul was frightened by it, like a bad omen to start an action, when it comes to announce, moreover, that the standard-bearer, although he tries with all his might, cannot pull off earth teaches him. Then the consul, turning to the messenger:"Do you also bring me a letter from the senate, to prevent me from acting? Go, tell them to take a pickaxe, if, to tear down the sign, fear paralyzes their hands." Then the army set off, the officers, besides having disapproved of this design, being frightened at the double prodigy, the soldier, in general, happy with the boldness of his leader, and considering his hope rather than the reasons on what to base this hope.