Brennus Lays His Sword on the Scales

Brennus and the Romans agreed to end the siege of the Gauls if the Romans paid a thousand pounds of gold. A large scale was placed on which the Gauls put weights. Brennus became furious when the Romans suggested that the Gauls used false weights. He then threw his own sword onto the weight as extra punishment and spoke the words: Vae victis! (Woe to the vanquished!).