Night was now coming on; that prevented their assaulting the works; but they did not conceal their intention of doing so next day, as soon as the light should appear.

The dictator found that there would be a necessity for fighting sooner than he had expected, and lest the situation should be an obstruction to the bravery of the troops, he led away the legions in silence, leaving a great number of fires the better to deceive the enemy.

On account of the proximity of the camps, however, he could not escape their observation: their cavalry instantly pursued, and pressed closely on his troops, in such a way as to refrain from attacking them until the day appeared.

Their infantry did not even quit their camp before daylight.

As soon as it was dawn, the cavalry venturing to attack the enemy by harassing the Roman rear, and pressing them in places of difficult passage, considerably delayed their march.