[9,4] Ταῦθ´ ὁ στρατηγὸς μαθὼν ἠναγκάσθη πᾶσι δοῦναι τὸ παράγγελμα τῆς ἐξόδου δείσας τὴν ἀναρχίαν αὐτῶν καὶ τὸ θράσος. οἱ δ´ ὥσπερ ἐκ φυγῆς ἀνασωζόμενοι τάχει πολλῷ συνάπτουσι τῇ πόλει περὶ τὸν ὄρθρον. καὶ οἱ ἐπὶ τῶν τειχῶν ἀγνοήσαντες, ὅτι φίλιον ἦν στράτευμα, ὅπλα τ´ ἐνεδύοντο καὶ ἀλλήλους ἀνεκάλουν, ἥ τ´ ἄλλη πόλις, ὡς ἐπὶ συμφορᾷ μεγάλῃ, ταραχῆς ἐγεγόνει μεστὴ καὶ θορύβου· καὶ οὐ πρότερον ἀνέῳξαν αὐτοῖς τὰς πύλας οἱ φύλακες, ἢ λαμπράν τε ἡμέραν γενέσθαι καὶ γνωσθῆναι τὸ οἰκεῖον στράτευμα. ὥστε πρὸς τῇ αἰσχύνῃ, ἣν ἐκ τοῦ καταλιπεῖν τὸν χάρακα ἠνέγκαντο, καὶ κίνδυνον οὐ τὸν ἐλάχιστον αὐτοὺς ἀναρρῖψαι, σκότους ἀπιόντας διὰ τῆς πολεμίας ἀτάκτως. εἴ γ´ οὖν τοῦτο καταμαθόντες οἱ πολέμιοι ἐκ παντὸς ἀπιοῦσιν αὐτοῖς ἠκολούθησαν, οὐδὲν ἂν ἐκώλυσεν ἅπασαν ἀπολωλέναι τὴν στρατιάν. τῆς δ´ ἀλόγου ταύτης ἀπάρσεως ἢ φυγῆς τὸ πρὸς τὸν ἡγεμόνα ἐκ τοῦ δήμου μῖσος, ὥσπερ ἔφην, αἴτιον ἦν, καὶ ὁ φθόνος τῆς ἐκείνου τιμῆς, ἵνα μὴ θριάμβου καταγωγῇ κοσμηθεὶς ἐπιφανέστατος γένηται. τῇ δ´ ἑξῆς ἡμέρᾳ μαθόντες οἱ Τυρρηνοὶ τὴν ἄπαρσιν τῶν Ῥωμαίων νεκρούς τ´ αὐτῶν ἐσκύλευσαν καὶ τραυματίας ἀράμενοι ἀπήνεγκαν τάς τε καταλειφθείσας ἐν τῷ χάρακι παρασκευάς - πολλαὶ δ´ ἦσαν ὡς εἰς χρόνιον παρεσκευασμέναι πόλεμον - διεφόρησαν, καὶ ὡς δὴ κρατοῦντες τῆς χώρας τῶν πολεμίων τὴν ἐγγυτάτω λεηλατήσαντες ἀπῆγον τὴν στρατιάν.

[9,4] When the general was informed of this, he was forced to give the command for all to depart, so great was his fear of their disobedience and audacity. And the soldiers retired with as great precipitation as if they were saving themselves from a rout, and reached the city about daybreak. The guards upon the walls, not knowing that it was an army of friends, began to arm themselves and call out to one another, while all the rest of the city was full of confusion and turmoil, as if some great disaster had occurred; and the guards did not open the gates to them till it was broad day and they could distinguish their own army. Thus, in addition to the ignominy they incurred in deserting their camp, they also exposed themselves to great danger in returning in the dark through the enemy's country, without observing any order. Certainly, if the Tyrrhenians had learned of it and had followed close on their heels as they departed, nothing could have prevented the army from being utterly destroyed. The motive of this unaccountable withdrawal or flight was, as I have said, the hatred of the populace against the general and the begrudging of any honour to him, lest he should be granted a triumph and so acquire the greatest glory. The next day the Tyrrhenians, having learned of the withdrawal of the Romans, stripped their dead, took (p299) up and carried off their wounded, and plundered all the stores they had left in their camp, which were very abundant as having been prepared for a long war; then, like conquerors, they laid waste the adjacent territory of the enemy, after which they returned home with their army.