Before leading his army against the dreaded foe, the Dictator ordered smooth and polished helmets of iron to be made. In other days he had seen that the swords of the Gauls swept down with relentless force on the heads and shoulders of the Romans. Now he hoped that their blows would glance off the smooth surface of the iron helmets, or be broken.
The Roman shields, too, were made of wood, but Camillus ordered their rims to be strengthened with bands of brass.
With his army thus equipped, the Dictator felt that victory was secure.
The Gauls, already laden with the plunder that they had taken on their march, were encamped near the river Anio.
Within sight of the camp was a hill with hollows, behind which it would be easy to hide from the enemy. To this hill Camillus led his men, carefully concealing the larger number of them behind these hollows so that from the Gallic camp the Roman soldiers seemed but a small company.
The Gauls were indeed completely deceived. It seemed to them that the Romans did not mean to attack them; that they had fled for safety to the hills.
Camillus, wishing to lure the Gauls into danger, never stirred, even when the enemy ventured close to his trenches in search of plunder.
Soon, careless of the enemy, the barbarians scattered over the country in search of forage, while those left in the camp spent day and night in song and feast.
Then the Dictator knew that the time for action had come.
He sent a small company of his men to harass the enemy, while early the following morning he marched with his whole army to the foot of the hill.