They saw no one could save them but Cincinnatus, so they met in haste and chose him Dictator, though he was not present.

Messengers were sent to his little farm on the Tiber, and there they found him holding the stilts of the plough.

When they told their errand, he turned to his wife, who was helping him, and said, "Racilia, fetch me my toga;" then he washed his face and hands, and was saluted as Dictator.

A boat was ready to take him to Rome, and as he landed, he was met by the four-and-twenty lictors belonging to the two consuls and escorted to his dwelling.

In the morning he named as general of the cavalry Lucius Tarquitius, a brave old patrician who had become too poor even to keep a horse.