judgment of the senate, he triumphed; and the people paid every honour
to the day. The historical accounts regarding this year are by no
means consistent; Claudius asserts, that Postumius, after having taken
several cities in Samnium, was defeated and put to flight in Apulia;
and that, being wounded himself, he was driven, with a few attendants,
into Luceria. That the war in Etruria was conducted by Atilius, and
that it was he who triumphed. Fabius writes, that the two consuls
acted in conjunction, both in Samnium and at Luceria; that an army was
led over into Etruria, but by which of the consuls he has not
mentioned; that at Luceria, great numbers were slain on both sides;
and that in that battle, the temple of Jupiter Stator was vowed, the
same vow having been formerly made by Romulus, but the fane only, that
is, the area appropriated for the temple, had been yet consecrated.
However, in this year, the state having been twice bound by the same
vow, it became a matter of religious obligation that the senate should
order the temple to be erected.

38. In the next year, we find a consul, distinguished by the united
splendour of his own and his father's glory, Lucius Papirius Cursor,
as also a war of vast importance, and a victory of such consequence,
as no man, excepting Lucius Papirius, the consul's father, had ever
before obtained over the Samnites. It happened too that these had,
with the same care and pains as on the former occasion, decorated
their soldiers with the richest suits of splendid armour; and they
had, likewise, called in to their aid the power of the gods, having,
as it were, initiated the soldiers, by administering the military
oath, with the solemn ceremonies practised in ancient times, and
levied troops in every part of Samnium, under an ordinance entirely
new, that "if any of the younger inhabitants should not attend the
meeting, according to the general's proclamation, or shall depart