Regum et imperatorum apophthegmata

Catulus Lutatius, in the Cimbrian War, was encamped beside the Atiso [*](Presumably the same river which the Roman writers call the Athesis.) River. The Romans, seeing the barbarians crossing to attack, retreated, and he, not being able to check them, made haste to put himself in the front rank of those who were running away so that they might not seem to flee from the enemy, but to be following their commander. [*](Cf. Plutarch’s Life of C. Marius, chap. xxiii. (418 F).)