Then the fierce trumpet-flourish
    From earth to heaven arose. 630
  The kites know well the long stern swell
    That bids the Romans close. 
  Then the good sword of Aulus
    Was lifted up to slay: 
  Then, like a crag down Apennine, 635
    Rushed Auster through the fray. 
  But under those strange horsemen
    Still thicker lay the slain: 
  And after those strange horses
    Black Auster toiled in vain. 640
  Behind them Rome’s long battle
    Came rolling on the foe,
  Ensigns dancing wild above,
    Blades all in line below,
  So comes the Po in flood-time 645
    Upon the Celtic plain:[61]
  So comes the squall, blacker than night,
    Upon the Adrian main. 
  How, by our Sire Quirinus,[62]
    It was a goodly sight 650
  To see the thirty standards
    Swept down the tide of flight. 
  So flies the spray of Adria
    When the black squall doth blow,
  So corn-sheaves in the flood-time 655
    Spin down the whirling Po. 
  False Sextus to the mountains
    Turned first his horse’s head;
  And fast fled Ferentinum,
    And fast Lanuvium fled. 660
  The horsemen of Nomentum
    Spurred hard out of the fray,
  The footmen of Velitrae
    Threw shield and spear away. 
  And underfoot was trampled, 665
    Amidst the mud and gore,
  The banner of proud Tusculum,
    That never stooped before: 
  And down went Flavius Faustus,
    Who led his stately ranks 670
  From where the apple-blossoms wave
    On Anio’s echoing banks,
  And Tullus of Arpinum,
    Chief of the Volscian aids,
  And Metius with the long fair curls, 675
    The love of Anxur’s maids,
  And the white head of Vulgo,
    The great Arician seer,
  And Nepos of Laurentum,
    The hunter of the deer; 680
  And in the back false Sextus
    Felt the good Roman steel;
  And wriggling in the dust he died,
    Like a worm beneath the wheel: 
  And fliers and pursuers 685
    Were mingled in a mass;
  And far away the battle
    Went roaring through the pass.

[The Dioscuri ride to Rome with news of victory.  No one dares to ask who they are, and after washing their steeds in Vesta’s fountain they vanish from mortal sight.]

  XXXVII

  Sempronius Atratinus
    Sate in the Eastern Gate, 690
  Beside him were three Fathers,
    Each in his chair of state;
  Fabius, whose nine stout grandsons
    That day were in the field,
  And Manlius, eldest of the Twelve[63]