of the enemy having fled by night.  They then rode up leisurely to the gates, from whence, with perfect safety, they took a clear view through straight streets quite across the city.  They report to the consul, that the city was abandoned by the enemy, as was plain from the solitude, the recent tracks on their retreat, and the things which, in the confusion of the night, they had left scattered up and down.  On hearing this, the consul led round the army to that side of the city which had been examined, and making the troops halt at a little distance from the gate, gave orders that five horsemen should ride into the city; and when they should have advanced a good way into it, then, if they saw all things safe, three should remain there, and the other two return to him with intelligence.  These returned and said, that they had proceeded to a part of the town from which they had a view on every side, and that nothing but silence and solitude reigned through the whole extent of it.  The consul immediately led some light-armed cohorts into the city; ordering the rest to fortify a camp in the mean time.  The soldiers who entered the town, breaking open the doors, found only a few persons, disabled by age or sickness; and such effects left behind as could not, without difficulty, be removed.  These were seized as plunder:  and it was discovered from the prisoners, that several cities in that quarter had, in pursuance of a concerted plan, resolved on flight; that their towns-people had gone off at the first watch, and they believed that the same solitude they should find in the other places.  The accounts of the prisoners proved well-founded, and the consul took possession of the forsaken towns.

35.  The war was by no means so easy with the other consul, Marcus Atilius.  As he was marching his legions towards Luceria, to which he was informed that the Samnites had laid siege, the enemy met him on the border of the Lucerian territory.  Rage supplied them, on this occasion, with strength to equal his:  the battle was stubbornly contested, and the victory doubtful; in the issue, however, more calamitous on the side of the Romans, both because they were unaccustomed to defeat, and that, on leaving the field, they felt more sensibly, than during the heat of the action, how much more wounds and bloodshed had been on their side.  In consequence of this, such dismay spread through the camp, as, had it seized them during the engagement, a signal defeat would have been the result.  Even as the matter stood, they spent the night in great anxiety; expecting, every instant, that the Samnites would assault the camp; or that, at the first light, they should be obliged to stand a battle with a victorious enemy.  On the side of the enemy, however, although there was less loss, yet there was not greater courage.  As soon as day appeared, they wished to retire without any more fighting; but there was only one road, and that leading close by the post of their enemy; on their