A field of battle between the Roman and the Volscian camps.
[Alarum. Enter, from opposite sides, MARCIUS and AUFIDIUS.]
MARCIUS
I'll fight with none but thee, for I do hate thee
Worse than a promise-breaker.
AUFIDIUS
We hate alike:
Not Afric owns a serpent I abhor
More than thy fame and envy. Fix thy foot.
MARCIUS
Let the first budger die the other's slave,
And the gods doom him after!
AUFIDIUS
If I fly, Marcius,
Halloo me like a hare.
MARCIUS
Within these three hours, Tullus,
Alone I fought in your Corioli walls,
And made what work I pleas'd: 'tis not my blood
Wherein thou seest me mask'd: for thy revenge
Wrench up thy power to the highest.
AUFIDIUS
Wert thou the Hector
That was the whip of your bragg'd progeny,
Thou shouldst not scape me here.—
[They fight, and certain Volsces come to the aid of AUFIDIUS.]
Officious, and not valiant,—you have sham'd me
In your condemned seconds.
