Lartius. He had, my lord, and that it was which caused
Our swifter composition.
(III. i. 1.)
Moreover, all the preparations of the Volsces are complete for a new incursion. Cominius, indeed, cannot believe that they will again tempt fortune so soon.
They are worn, lord consul, so
That we shall hardly in our ages see
Their banners wave again.
(III. i. 6.)
But Cominius is wrong. In the little intercalated scene between the Roman and the Volsce, we learn that they have mustered an army which the latter thus describes:
A most royal one; the centurions and their charges, distinctly billeted, already in the entertainment, and to be on foot at an hour’s warning.