Ab urbe condita

The Samnite army had come to them completely provided with arms and a war chest, and were ready to follow them at once, even if they led them to an attack on Rome itself.

While they were thus busy with their intrigues in Etruria the warfare which the Romans were carrying on in Samnium was terribly destructive. When P. Decius had ascertained through his scouts the departure of the Samnite army he summoned a council of war.

“Why,” he asked, “are we roaming through the country districts, making war only upon the villages? Why are we not attacking the walled cities? There is no army to defend them, the army has abandoned its country and gone into voluntary exile.”

His proposal was unanimously adopted and he led them to the attack of Murgantia, a powerfully fortified city. Such was the eagerness of the soldiers, due partly to the affection they felt for their commander and partly to the expectation of a larger amount of plunder than they were securing in the country districts, that they stormed and captured the city in a single day.