Ab urbe condita

The Samnites were waiting quietly till the whole of the column should descend into the lowest part of the valley, but meantime P. Decius, a military tribune, descried a peak jutting out on the pass which commanded the enemy's camp. This height would have been a difficult one for a heavy-armed force to climb but not for one in light marching order.

Decius came up to the consul, who was in a great state of alarm, and said to him: “Do you see, A. Cornelius, that height above the enemy?