On the other side, the consul desired the Romans to remember that "on that day, for the first time, they fought as free men in defence of Rome, now a free city.

That it was for themselves they were to conquer, and not that they should be the prize of the decemvirs, after conquering.

That it was not under the command of Appius that the action was being conducted, but under their consul Valerius, descended from the liberators of the Roman people, himself too a liberator.

That they should show that in former battles it had been the fault of the generals, and not of the soldiers, that they did not conquer.

That it was shameful to have had more courage against their own countrymen than against their enemies, and to have dreaded slavery more at home than abroad.