The Etruscans were not the only enemies of Rome. From the very beginning of the city's existence, he had to stubbornly fight the Sabines. During one of these wars, the Sabines, who were supported by the Aequians, began to defeat the Romans. The Roman army, led by the consul, besieged the Aequi in their own camp. The second consul's attempt to free the besieged failed. Then the Roman people again decided to resort to dictatorship. Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus was appointed dictator.
When the appointment took place, Cincinnatus himself was not in Rome. At that time he was cultivating his land beyond the Tiber, and he only had four jugers (1 hectare). While working, Cincinnatus unexpectedly saw the ambassadors of the Senate and heard in response to his greeting a request to immediately put on a toga if the well-being of Rome was dear to him. Cincinnatus wiped the sweat from his forehead, ordered his wife to bring a toga, and then listened carefully to the envoys of the Senate. They explained the difficult situation the state was in and said that Rome’s only hope was in him. Cincinnatus immediately agreed to leave his field and hurry to Rome, but he did not even have a boat to cross the Tiber and get to the city. The Senate equipped a ship for him at public expense, on which he arrived in Rome.
Based on his dictatorial powers, Cincinnatus actually stopped all life in the city so that nothing would interfere with preparations for war. He ordered all men of military age to gather on the Campus Martius with weapons and wooden stakes, and the old men to prepare food for their warrior neighbors. When everyone had gathered, he set out on a campaign early in the morning, ordering them to move as quickly as possible, and by evening he reached the place where the Aequians had besieged the camp of the Roman consul. After examining the position, Cincinnatus made a decision. He deployed his formation in one line, covering the entire enemy camp, and at night he ordered the construction of an embankment with a palisade, accompanying the construction with warlike cries. The besieged Romans, hearing these cries, realized that help had come to them and entered the battle in order to break through the enemy camp to their own. The Aequi, not knowing what to do or whom to oppose, decided that it was more important to prevent the besieged from escaping, and began a battle with them. So Cincinnatus won the whole night to build his own camp and in the morning entered into battle with the enemy, already tired of the night battle. The Aequi, who were attacked from both sides, were completely defeated. They only begged the Roman commanders not to turn their victory into a total massacre.
Cincinnatus ordered the enemy commanders to be shackled, and held the rest under the “yoke.” It was done like this: two spears were placed vertically at a short distance from each other, another spear was fixed horizontally between their tops, and the prisoners had to bend over and pass through such a “gate.” Passing under the yoke was considered the greatest disgrace for any warrior. Cincinnatus divided the booty captured from the enemies only among his soldiers, considering the consul's soldiers who were under siege to be unworthy of receiving any reward, and deprived the consul himself of his powers.
Having won such a brilliant victory, Cincinnatus returned to the city in triumph. Having delayed a little longer to resolve the court case, sixteen days after his appointment as dictator, he resigned his dictatorial powers, although by law he had the right to exercise them for six months. Having become a private man again, Cincinnatus returned to his humble field.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru