The Volsci and the Aequi were together defeated again in 485 BC. The consul
Quintus Fabius Vibulanus incurred the anger of the plebs by lodging the spoils of victory with the
publicum. Hostilities with the Volsci and Aequi were renewed in 484 BC. The Romans, led by the consul
Lucius Aemilius Mamercus, defeated the enemy, and the Roman cavalry slaughtered many in the rout which followed. The Aequi took up arms again in 482 BC. In 481 BC they laid siege to the Latin town of
Ortona, and the Romans raised an army and placed it under the command of the consul
Kaeso Fabius. The Romans met the Aequi in battle, and routed them solely by a cavalry charge. Due to popular discontent amongst the Roman army, both with the
patricians and with Fabius himself, the Roman infantry refused to pursue the enemy. Fabius exhorted them to attack the fleeing enemy, but they refused, and returned to camp. Nevertheless Fabius and the army returned to Rome victorious. In 479 BC Kaeso Fabius was again consul. The Aequi invaded Latin territory, and Fabius was assigned an army to deal with the threat. No significant battle was fought, because the Aequi retreated to their walled towns. When word arrived that the other consul
Titus Verginius Tricostus Rutilus was threatened by the Veientes, Fabius took his army to rescue his colleague. In 475 BC the Aequi together with the Volsci invaded the Latin territory. The
Latins, joined by the
Hernici but without the assistance of any Roman troops or Roman commander, repelled the enemy and captured a significant amount of booty. In 471 BC the Aequi again invaded, as did the Volsci. The consul
Titus Quinctius Capitolinus Barbatus was given command of the Roman forces against the Aequi. He successfully ravaged the enemy territory. In contrast to his colleague
Claudius who had offended the plebeians and therefore lost the discipline of his troops, Quinctius suffered no military ill-discipline. Indeed his troops returned to Rome with praises for Quinctius, calling him their 'parent'. In the following year the Roman consul
Lucius Valerius Potitus again led Roman troops into Aequian territory. He unsuccessfully attempted to assault the Aequian army camp, and instead ravaged the Aequian territory. Three years later in 467 BC, the Roman consul
Quintus Fabius Vibulanus was sent into the Aequian territory with a Roman army. The Aequi sued for peace, and peace was agreed. However the Aequi broke the peace shortly after by a raid into Latin territory. In 466 BC the consul
Quintus Servilius Priscus Structus led a Roman army into Aequian territory to continue the war. However an illness through the Roman camp prevented any military engagement. In 465 BC Quintus Fabius Vibulanus, Roman consul for the second time, was given a special command against the Aequi. He sought to persuade the Aequi to make peace, however the Aequi rejected that offer, and marched to
Algidum. The Romans were so offended by the Aequian behaviour that the second consul,
Titus Quinctius Capitolinus Barbatus, was sent with another Roman army against the Aequi. A battle was fought and the Romans were successful, following which the Aequi retreated to their own territory. However the Aequi immediately returned to Latium and began pillaging the countryside. News of this fresh attack, at a time when both consuls were still absent from the city, caused panic in Rome. The consul Quinctius returned to the city, and to calm the populace he declared the
justitium and appointed
Quintus Servilius Priscus Structus as
praefectus urbi during the consuls' absence. Quinctius and his army then left Rome again, but were unable to locate the enemy to engage in battle. He returned to Rome four days later and declared the justitium concluded. Meanwhile the other consul Fabius successfully ambushed the Aequi and routed them, recovering all the bounty that had been taken from Latin territory. He then pursued the Aequi into their own territory and ravaged their lands, later returning to Rome with much bounty and glory. Hostilities continued in 464 BC. The Aequi allied with the Volscian town of
Ecetra (already under Roman rule) against Rome. The Hernici learnt of this alliance, and warned Rome that the Ecetrans had revolted. The Romans also suspected that the Volscian town of
Antium (which included a Roman colony) would also revolt. This suspicion arose because Antium had been defeated by Rome in 468 BC, and many of the chief opponents of Rome from Antium had fled to the Aequi, and had fought with the Aequi against Rome, and had subsequently returned to Antium. The Roman consuls
Aulus Postumius Albus Regillensis and
Spurius Furius Medullinus Fusus summoned the chief men of Antium to Rome to explain their position, but they attended without reluctance and answered sufficiently that they were allowed return to Antium. The Aequi invaded the Hernican territory, and the Roman consul Furius marched against them. In an initial battle the Aequi were victorious, and the Roman forces were besieged in their camp. The Hernici sent news of the defeat to Rome, and the senate declared the emergency decree, the
senatus consultum ultimum (the first recorded occasion of that decree), urging the remaining consul Postumius to take all measures to protect the state. Postumius remained at Rome to levy troops and Titus Quinctius, consul the previous year, was granted command of fresh Roman forces as
proconsul. The Latin allies, the Hernici, and Antium, were each ordered to provide emergency troops. Aequian forces were sent to invade Roman territory, and if possible to attack the city. The remaining consul Postumius was sent to meet this new threat and Lucius Valerius, the consul of 470 BC, was left to defend Rome. A justitium was declared for several days. Meanwhile the Roman forces led by the consul Furius burst forth from their besieged camp and attacked the Aequi. The Roman attack initially succeeded, however the consul's brother
Publius, (who had been consul in 472 BC and was serving as a
legatus under his brother's command) led his forces too far from the main Roman force, and was cut off and killed. This led the consul to pursue him, and he was himself wounded and only just rescued from the enemy. The Aequi besieged the Romans in their camp once again, and displayed the head of the consul's brother. But then the proconsul Quinctius arrived with Latin and Hernican forces, and attacked the Aequian army. The besieged Roman army again broke forth from the camp, and the Aequian army was soundly defeated. Postumius was also successful against the Aequian forces in Roman territory, and he was joined in the attack by the returning Roman armies of Quinctius and Furius. Livy, relying on
Valerius Antias, gives the number of Romans dead in Hernican territory as 5,300, and 2,400 Aequi killed in Roman territory plus a further 4,230 Aequians killed fleeing with booty. The Roman forces returned to Rome. The justitium was ended. The Latin and Hernican troops were returned with much thanks. A force of 1,000 from Antium arrived too late to give assistance and were dismissed. A number of portents were witnessed in Rome at the conclusion of this war, and a solemn festival of three days was declared to appease the gods. ==Aequi uprising in 388 BC==