In eum haec gloriantem cum globo ferocissimorum iuvenum Romulus impetum facit. Ex equo tum forte Mettius pugnabat; eo pelli facilius fuit. Pulsum Romani persequuntur; et alia Romana acies audacia regis accensa fundit Sabinos. Mettius in paludem sese strepitu sequentium trepidante equo conciecit; averteratque ea res etiam Sabinos tanti periculo viri. Et ille quidem adnuentibus ac vocantibus suis favore multorum addito animo evadit....

While he pronounced this boast a band of gallant youths, led on by Romulus, assailed him. It chanced that Mettius was fighting on horseback at the time, and was therefore the more easily put to flight. As he fled, the Romans followed; and the rest of their army, too, fired by the reckless daring of their king, drove the Sabines before them. Mettius plunged into a swamp, his horse becoming unmanageable in the din of the pursuit, and even the Sabines were drawn off from the general engagement by the danger to so great a man. As for Mettius, heartened by the gestures and shouts of his followers and the encouragement of the throng, he made his escape....