It now seemed high time that their country should be recovered and rescued from the hands of the enemy. But a head was wanting to this strong body. The very place put them in mind of Camillus, and a considerable part of the soldiers were men who had fought successfully under his guidance and auspices. Caedicius declared that he would not give occasion for any one, whether god or man, to terminate his command; but, mindful of his own rank, he would rather himself call for the appointment of a general. With universal consent it was resolved that Camillus should be sent for from Ardea, but that first the senate at Rome should be consulted: so far did a sense of propriety regulate every proceeding, and so carefully did they observe proper distinctions in their almost desperate circumstances. Someone had to pass at great risk through the enemy’s guards. For this purpose a spirited youth, Pontius Cominius, offered his services, and supporting himself on cork was carried down the Tiber to the city. Then, where the distance from the bank was shortest, he made his way into the Capitol over a portion of the rock that rose abruptly and therefore was neglected by the enemy’s guard; and being conducted to the magistrates he delivers the instructions received from the army. Then having received a decree of the senate, that Camillus, recalled from exile by the comitia curiata, should be forthwith appointed dictator by order of the people, and that the soldiers should have the general whom they wished, the messenger passed out the same way and proceeded to Veii. Then deputies were sent to Camillus at Ardea, and conducted him to Veii: or else the law was passed by the curias, and he was nominated dictator in his absence; for I am more inclined to believe that he did not set out from Ardea until he found that the law was passed; because he could neither change the country of his residence without an order from the people, nor hold the auspices in the army until he was nominated dictator.