discovered a path, and one dark night were on the point of scaling the
height when some geese, sacred to the goddess Juno, cackled and flapped
their wings until the garrison was aroused and the Gauls hurled headlong
down the precipice. The garrison was saved, but the city was burned.
This happened in Rome just one hundred years after the battle of
Marathon in Greece.

THE CAUDINE FORKS. Another adventure did not have so happy an
ending. The Romans were at war with the Samnites, a tribe living on the
slopes of the Apennines, who were continually attacking the Greek cities
on the coast. The war was caused by the attempt of the Romans to protect
one of the Greek cities. The Roman generals, with a large army, in
making their way into the Samnite country attempted to march through a
narrow gorge which broadened out into a plain and then was closed again
at the farther end by another gorge. When they reached this second gorge
they found the road blocked by fallen trees and heaps of stones. They
also saw Samnites on the heights above them. In alarm they hastened to
retrace their steps, only to find the other entrance closed in the same
way. After vain attempts to force a passage or to scale the surrounding
heights they were obliged to surrender.

[Illustration: THE REGION OF THE CAUDINE FORKS]

[Illustration: ITALY BEFORE THE GROWTH OF ROMAN POWER]

The Samnites compelled the Roman army, both generals and soldiers, each
clad in a single garment, to pass "under the yoke" made of two spears
set upright with one laid across, while they stood by and jeered. If any
Roman looked angry or sullen at his disgrace, they struck or even killed
him. This was called the disaster of the Caudine Forks, from the pass