age should meet him on the field of Mars by sunset with food sufficient
for five days. At the appointed hour the army was ready, and, so
rapidly did it march, that before midnight the camp of the enemy was
reached. The Æquians, not expecting such promptness, were astonished to
hear a great shout, and to find themselves shut up between two Roman
armies, both of which advanced and successfully hemmed them in. They
were thus forced to surrender, and Cincinnatus obliged them to pass
under the yoke, in token of subjugation. (_Sub_, under, _jugum_, a
yoke.) The yoke in this case was made of two spears fastened upright in
the ground with a third across them at the top. In the short space of
twenty-four hours, Lucius Quintius Cincinnatus raised an army, defeated
an enemy, and laid down his authority as dictator! It was decreed that
he should enter the city in triumph. He rode in his chariot through the
streets, the rejoicing inhabitants spreading tables in front of their
houses, laden with meat and drink for the soldiers. The defeated chiefs
walked before the victor, and after them followed the standards that
had been won, while still farther behind were the soldiers, bearing the
rich spoils. It was customary in those days for a conqueror to take
every thing from the poor people whom he had vanquished,--homes, lands,
cattle, wealth of every sort,--and then even to carry the men, women,
and children away into slavery themselves. Thus a subjugated country
became a desolation, unless the conquerors sent settlers to occupy the
vacant homes and cultivate the neglected farms. Bad and frightful as
war is now, it is not conducted on such terrible principles as were
followed in early times.

Though from time to time concessions were made to the commons, they
continued to feel that they were deprived of many of their just
political rights, and the antagonism remained lively between them and
the patricians. The distresses that they suffered were real, and