Stones were thrown at them by the Gauls, then a shout was raised at the next Roman post, and several ran forward on both sides.

And now matters were not far from a regular engagement, had not the contest been quickly stopped by the centurions.

By this event the testimony of Tullius was certainly confirmed with the dictator; and the matter not admitting of further delay, a proclamation is issued that they were to fight on the day following.

The dictator however, as one who went into the field relying more on the courage of his men than on their numerical strength, began to look about and consider how he might by some artifice strike terror into the enemy.

With a sagacious mind he devises a new project, which many generals both of our own and of foreign countries have since adopted, some indeed in our own times.