Res Gestae

At daybreak the enemy were already in sight, and we then saw them for the first time in their gleaming helmets and bristling with stiff coats of mail; but our soldiers rushed to battle at quick step, and fell upon them most valiantly. And although the bows were bent with strong hand and the flashing gleam of steel added to the fear of the Romans, yet anger whetted their valour, and covered with a close array of shields they pressed the enemy so hard that they could not use their bows.

Inspired by these first-fruits of victory, our soldiers came to the village of Macepracta, where the half-destroyed traces of walls[*](Xenophon saw these walls, which enclose a canal (Anab. i. 7, 16 f.).) were seen; these in early times had a wide extent, it was said, and protected Assyria from hostile inroads.