Ab urbe condita

Titus Livius (Livy)

Livy. History of Rome, Volumes 1-2. Roberts, Canon, Rev, translator. London, New York: J. M. Dent and Sons; E. P. Dutton and Co., 1912.

But whether it was that they had got together the whole strength out of every community in Samnium, or that their courage was stimulated by the thought that their very existence as a nation depended upon this battle, they certainly did succeed in creating a good deal of alarm in the Roman ranks, even though they were fighting in a fair field.