At length, worn out with the unequal struggle, the barbarian fell, and Valerius was hailed as victor.
The crow, as though content with the result of the battle, now flew away and was seen no more; but from that time Valerius was called Corvus, corvus being the Latin word for a crow.
After the victory of Camillus, the Gauls left Rome undisturbed until the end of the third Samnite war, in 290 B.C.
About the Samnite wars I am now going to tell you.
CHAPTER XLI
THE DREAM OF THE TWO CONSULS
The Samnites were a rough and hardy race of warriors, whose homes were among the mountains of the Apennines.
In 343 B.C. they determined to wrest Campania, in the south of Italy, from the Romans.
The wars of the Samnites lasted for many long years, and when at length Rome conquered, she was mistress of Italy. But before she was victorious, the first, second, and third Samnite wars had been fought and won.
Of the first Samnite war little is known, save that it lasted for three years, and that the Romans won three battles.