The Fall of the Capitol

Abstract

Three times Silius Italicus refers to the Gallic catastrophe in a somewhat startling manner : Pun. I, 525 f. ‘Gallisque ex arce fugatis Arma revertentis pompa gestata Camilli’; 4, 150 f. ‘ipse tumens atavis Brenni se stirpe ferebat Crixus et in titulos Capitolia capta trahebat’; 6, 555 f. ‘Allia et infandi Senones captaeque recursat Attonitis arcis facies.’ Taken individually each passage can be explained away: ‘ex arce fugatis’ may be a metrical substitute for ‘de arce depulsis’ Crixus may boast and exaggerate; and in their terror at the news of Lake Trasimene the Romans may see more than actually happened. Taken together, however, the three statements very strongly suggest that Silius had in mind a story according to which not only the city but the Capitol itself was captured. Or did Vergil's ‘Galli per dumos aderant arcemque tenebant’ (see below), though not actually misinterpreted by him, create a formal pattern in his mind, which he applied without considering its content ? Silius apart, tradition is unanimous in making the geese and the prompt action of Manlius save the Capitol; in fact the defenders do not even suffer any casualties.