the raising of Men, and so tedious in furnishing them with Arms, that they could scarce
draw out any considerable force against them, till the Enemy was as far as the River
Allia which is within ten miles of Rome, and when their Army was come thither, it was
not encamped by the Tribunes with the usual diligence and discretion, they having neither
chosen a good place, nor drawn their line, nor fortified themselves with Trenches, nor
Stoccadoes as formerly, nor done any thing for their security, either humane, or divine:
When they came to fight, they drew up their men so awkwardly and untowardly, that
neither Soldier nor Officer did any thing worthy of the Discipline of the Romans, so that
the Battel was lost without any effusion of Blood, the Romans running at the very first
charge, the greatest part of them to Veii, the rest to Rome, and in such consternation,
that they fled directly to the Capitol before they went home to their houses. So that the
Senate without so much as thinking to defend their City, any more than the rest, never
caused the Gates to be shut, but part of them fled away, and part into the Capitol. There,
it is true they began to observe better orders than before, and managed things with less
confusion; They discharged all those that were unserviceable, and furnished themselves
with what provision they could get, that they might be able to hold out. The greatest
part of those useless people which were turn'd out of the Capitol, as old Men, Women,
and Children, fled into the Neighbouring Cities; the rest continued in Rome, and were
a prey to the French. So that if a man should have read their Exploits in former
times, and compared them with their actions then, he would not have believed them to be
the same people; and Titus Livius gives the reason after he had described all the disorders
aforesaid in these words, Adeo obcaecat animos fortuna, cum vim suam ingruentem refringi
non vult. So strangely does fortune blind other people, when she would not be obstructed in
her designs; and there can be nothing more true. Wherefore men are not so much to be
blamed or commended for their adversity or prosperity; for it is frequently seen, some are
hurried to ruine, and others advanced to great honour by the swing and impulse of their
fate, wisdom availing little against the misfortunes of the one, and folly as little against
the felicity of the other. When fortune designs any great matter, she makes choice of
some man of such courage and parts, as is able to discern when she presents him with an
occasion: and so on the otherside, when she intends any great destruction, she has her
Instruments ready to push on the wheel, and assist to her designs; and if there be any
man capable of obstructing them in the least, she either rids him out of the way, or
deprives him of all authority, and leaves him without any faculty to do good. And
this is abundantly cleared by this place, where Fortune, to amplifie Rome, and bring it
to that Grandeur to which it arrived afterwards; thought fit to debase it, (as we shall
show at large in the beginning of our third Book) but would not utterly destroy it:
For which reason, though she permitted Camillus to be banished, she would not suffer
him to be killed; though she let Rome be taken, she preserved the Capitol: Though she
intimidated the Romans, and would suffer them to do nothing wisely for the safety of the
City, yet she left them so much wisdom as secured the Capitol: That Rome might be
taken, she caused the greatest part of the Army that was defeated upon the Allia, to retire
to Veii, thereby cutting off all ways for the defence of Rome: But in the midst of her
Career, when she seem'd in such haste, and so impatient of its destruction, she prepared
every thing that was necessary for its preservation; having conveyed a good Army to Veii,
and Camillus to Ardea, that once again they might make head under a General whose repu∣tation
was never fully'd with the ignominy of such a loss, but stood clear and entire for
the recovery of his Country: And here we might bring store of modern examples to
prove what is said, were not this sufficient without them. Yet this I shall assert again (and
by the occurrences in all History there is nothing more true) That men may second their
fortune, not resist it; and follow the order of her designs, but by no means defeat them:
Nevertheless men are not wholly to abandon themselves, because they know not her end;
for her ways being unknown and irregular, may possibly be at last for our good; so that
we are always to hope the best, and that hope is to preserve us in whatever troubles or
distresses we shall fall.