by an enemy's cavalry, never by their infantry, never in open fight,
never on equal ground," but our army "has defeated and will defeat a
thousand armies more formidable than those of Alexander and the
Macedonians, provided that the same love of peace and solicitude about
domestic harmony in which we now live continue permanent." This is what
patriotism says for Rome, and we can hardly say less, when we remember
that when she came into conflict with great Carthage, led by diplomatic
and scientific Hannibal, she proved the victor. We are, however, more
interested now in what the Roman arms actually accomplished than in
enquiries, however interesting, about what they might have done. They
subjugated the world, and that is enough for us.

One of the most favored and celebrated families in the history of Rome
for a thousand years was that called Valerian, and at the time to which
our thoughts are now directed, one of the members comes into prominence
as the most illustrious general of the era. Marcus Valerius Corvus was
born at about the time when the rogations of Licinius Stolo became
laws, and in early life distinguished himself as a soldier in an
assault made on the Romans by the Gauls, who seem not to have all been
swept away for a long time. It was in the year 349. The dreaded enemy
rushed upon Rome, and the citizens took up arms in a mass. One soldier,
Titus Manlius, met a gigantic Gaul on a bridge over the Anio, and after
slaying him, carried off a massy chain that he bore on his neck.
_Torquatus_ in Latin means "provided with a chain," and this word
was added to the name of Manlius ever after. It was at the same time
that Marcus Valerius encountered another huge Gaul in single combat,
and overcame him, though he was aided by a raven which settled on his
helmet, and in the contest picked at the eyes of the barbarian.
_Corvus_ is the Latin word for raven, and it was added to the other
names of Valerius. A golden crown and ten oxen were presented to him,