same day on which he approached the walls.  At Herculaneum, it is true, the consul had two regular engagements without any decisive advantage on either side, and with greater loss on his side than on that of the enemy; but afterwards, encamping on the spot, he shut them up within their works.  The town was besieged and taken.  In these three towns were taken or slain ten thousand men, of whom the prisoners composed somewhat the greater part.  On the consuls casting lots for the provinces, Etruria fell to Carvilius, to the great satisfaction of the soldiers, who could no longer bear the intensity of the cold in Samnium.  Papirius was opposed at Saepinum with a more powerful force:  he had to fight often in pitched battles, often on a march, and often under the walls of the city, against the eruptions of the enemy; and could neither besiege, nor engage them on equal terms; for the Samnites not only protected themselves by walls, but likewise protected their walls with numbers of men and arms.  At length, after a great deal of fighting, he forced them to submit to a regular siege.  This he carried on with vigour, and made himself master of the city by means of his works, and by storm.  The rage of the soldiers on this occasion caused the greatest slaughter in the taking of the town; seven thousand four hundred fell by the sword; the number of the prisoners did not amount to three thousand.  The spoil, of which the quantity was very great, the whole substance of the Samnites being collected in a few cities, was given up to the soldiers.

46.  The snow had now entirely covered the face of the country, and they could no longer dispense with the shelter of houses:  the consul therefore led home his troops from Samnium.  While he was on his way to Rome, a triumph was decreed him with universal consent; and accordingly he triumphed while in office, and with extraordinary splendour, considering the circumstances of those times.  The cavalry and infantry marched in the procession, adorned with presents.  Great numbers of civic, vallar, and mural crowns were seen.[Footnote:  These marks of honour were bestowed for having saved the lives of citizens, or for having been the first to mount walls or ramparts.] The spoils of the Samnites were inspected with much curiosity, and compared, in respect of magnificence and beauty, with those taken by his father, which were well known, from being frequently exhibited as ornaments of the public places.  Several prisoners of distinction, renowned for their own exploits and those of their ancestors, were led in the cavalcade.  There were carried in the train two millions and thirty-three thousand asses in weight.[Footnote:  L4940 13s. 6d.] This money was said to be produced by the sale of the prisoners.  Of silver, taken in the cities, one thousand three hundred and thirty pounds.  All the silver and brass were lodged in the treasury, no share of this part of the spoil being given to the soldiers.  The ill humour in the commons was further exasperated,