The consuls now resumed the siege of Capua in earnest, and everything necessary for the task was brought together and got into readiness. [2] Corn was stored at Casilinum; at the mouth of the Vulturnus, where the town of Vulturnum now stands, a fort was constructed and a garrison was placed in it and in Puteoli also, which Fabius had previously fortified, so that they might command both the river and the adjacent sea. [3] The corn which had lately been sent from Sardinia as well as that which M. Junius had purchased in Etruria was conveyed from Ostia into these two maritime fortresses, that the army might have a supply throughout the winter. [4] Meantime the disaster which had overtaken Centenius in Lucania was aggravated by another which resulted from the death of Gracchus. The volunteer slaves who had done excellent service when he was alive to lead them, looked upon his death as discharging them from further military duties and accordingly disbanded themselves. [5] Hannibal was anxious not to neglect Capua or desert friends who were in such a critical position, but after his easy victory through the foolhardiness of one Roman general he was watching for an opportunity of crushing another. [6] Envoys from Apulia had informed him that Cn. Fulvius, who was attacking some of their cities which had seceded to him, had at first conducted his operations with care and prudence, but afterwards, intoxicated with success and loaded with plunder, he and his men had given themselves up to such idleness and self-indulgence that all military discipline had disappeared. [7] Hannibal knew by repeated experience, and especially within the last few days, what state an army gets into under an incompetent commander and he at once moved into Apulia.
Livy. History of Rome. English Translation by. Rev. Canon Roberts. New York, New York. E. P. Dutton and Co. 1912. 1. Livy. History of Rome. English Translation. Rev. Canon Roberts. New York, New York. E. P. Dutton and Co. 1912. 2.
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