A knight named Musonius Rufus had attached himself to the envoys. 81 He was a student of philosophy and an enthusiastic advocate of Stoicism.  He mingled with the armed soldiers offering them advice and discoursing on the advantages of peace and the perils of war.  This amused many of them and bored still more.  Some, indeed, wanted to maul him and kick him out, but the advice of the more sober spirits and the threats of others persuaded him to cut short his ill-timed lecture.  The Vestal Virgins, too, came in procession to bring Antonius a letter from Vitellius, in which he demanded one day’s postponement of the final crisis, saying that everything could easily be settled, if only they would grant this respite.  Antonius sent the Virgins away with all respect, and wrote in answer to Vitellius that the murder of Sabinus and the burning of the Capitol had broken off all negotiations.  However, he summoned the legions to a meeting and 82 endeavoured to mollify them, proposing that they should pitch their camp near the Mulvian Bridge and enter the city on the following day.  His motive for delay was a fear that the troops, when once their blood was up after a skirmish, would have no respect for civilians or senators, or even for the temples and shrines of the gods.  But they suspected every postponement as a hindrance to their victory.  Moreover, some colours which were seen glittering along the hills, gave the impression of a hostile force, although none but peaceful citizens accompanied them.

The attack was made in three columns.  One advanced from its original position on the Flaminian road, one kept near the bank of the Tiber, and the third approached the Colline Gate along the Salarian road.  The cavalry rode into the mob and scattered them.  But the Vitellian troops faced the enemy, themselves, too, in three separate divisions.  Again and again they engaged before the walls with varying success.  But the Flavians had the advantage of being well led and thus more often won success.  Only one of the attacking parties suffered at all severely, that which had made its way along narrow, greasy lanes to Sallust’s Gardens[219] on the left side of the city.  Standing on the garden walls, the Vitellians hurled stones and javelins down upon them and held them back until late in the day.  But at last the cavalry forced an entrance by the Colline Gate and took the defenders in the rear.  Then the opposing forces met on the Martian Plain itself.  Fortune favoured the Flavians and the sense of victories won.  The Vitellians charged in sheer despair, but, though driven back, they gathered again in the city.