After this
victory the Carthaginians, with whom Rome was to have a desperate war
afterwards, sent congratulations, accompanied by a golden crown for the
shrine of Jupiter in the capitol. It is said that at the time of the
expulsion of the Tarquins, the Romans and Carthaginians had entered
into a treaty of friendship, which had been renewed five years before
the war with the Samnites, but we are not certain of it.
The results of the burning of Rome by the Gauls had not all ceased to
be felt, and many of the plebeians were still suffering under the
burden of debts that they could not pay. A portion of the army,
composed, as we know, of plebeians, was left to winter at Capua. There
it saw the luxurious extravagance of the citizens, and felt its own
burdens more than ever by contrast. A mutiny ensued, and though it was
quelled, more concessions were made to the plebeians, and their debts
were generally abolished. Meantime the Latins saw evidence that the
power of Rome was growing more rapidly than their own, and they,
therefore, determined to go to war to obtain the equality that they
thought the terms of the treaty between the nations authorized them to
expect. The Samnites were now the allies of Rome, and fought with her.
Pages:
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144