Not far from Ardea, Camillus surprised and slaughtered a large throng of Gauls. While the siege of the Capitol continued at Rome, at the city of Ardea, the Roman general Marcus Furius Camillus rallied the citizens against Gallic raiding parties. however, AT the Temple of Juno, the honking of her sacred geese finally alerted the guards. The Gauls gained the summit, eluded the Roman guards & did not even wake the dogs. They then turned to finish off the defenders on the Capitol. The Gauls burnt and killed until the city was reduced to ruins and ashes. Stationing a cordon of troops around the Capitol Hill, the Gallic army ransacked the city. They were surprised that large numbers of people had already slipped through their fingers. Two days or so later, the Gauls entered the city unopposed. The priests fled the city carrying their religious relics, alongside many of the plebs who cleared surrounding fields of anything edible. There the Senate and the men of military age, along with their families, sought refuge. The only hope was that the Citadel on the steep Capitol Hill could be defended. Most Romans considered their city doomed the few remaining fighting men could never hold the walls, which were little more than an agger (earth rampart) protected by a ditch. At night, the yelling enemy cavalry was heard outside the city walls, but no attack came. Inside Rome, the crying for the fallen was replaced by a silent terror.
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