Res Gestae

At this the emperor was roused to righteous indignation, had their standards taken from them and their lances broken, and forced all those who were charged with running away to march with the packs, baggage, and prisoners; but their leader, who alone had fought bravely, was given the command of another troop, whose tribune was found guilty of having shamefully left the field.

Also four other tribunes of the cavalry were dismissed for similar disgraceful conduct; for in view of the impending difficulties the emperor contented himself with this mild form of punishment.

We then advanced for seventy stadia, while every kind of supplies grew less, since the grass

Leaving this place as well, the whole army had come to a district called Maranga, when near daybreak a huge force of Persians appeared with Merena, general of their cavalry, two sons of the king, and many other magnates.

Moreover, all the companies were clad in iron, and all parts of their bodies were covered with thick plates, so fitted that the stiff joints conformed with those of their limbs; and the forms of human faces were so skilfully fitted to their heads, that, since their entire bodies were plated with metal, arrows that fell upon them could lodge only where they could see a little through tiny openings fitted to the circle of the eye, or where through the tips of their noses they were able to get a little breath.

Of these some, who were armed with pikes, stood so motionless that you would think them held fast by clamps of bronze. Hard by, the archers (for that nation has especially trusted in this art from the very cradle)[*](The Persian boys from the age of five were taught to ride, to use the bow, and to speak the truth (Hdt. i. 136).) were bending their flexible bows with such wide-stretched arms that the strings touched their right breasts, while the arrow-points were close to their left hands; and by a highly skilful stroke of the fingers the arrows flew hissing forth and brought with them deadly wounds.

Behind them the gleaming elephants, with their awful figures and savage, gaping mouths could scarcely be endured by the faint-hearted; and their trumpeting, their odour, and their strange aspect alarmed

Seated upon these, their drivers carried knives with handles bound to their right hands, remembering the disaster suffered at Nisibis; and if the strength of the driver proved no match for the excited brute, that he might not turn upon his own people (as happened then) and crush masses of them to the ground, he would with a mighty stroke cut through the vertebra which separates the head from the neck. For long ago Hasdrubal, brother of Hannibal, discovered that in that way brutes of this kind could quickly be killed.[*](Livy, xxvii. 49, 1 ff.)

Although these sights caused no little fear, the emperor, guarded by troops of armed men and with his trustworthy generals, full of confidence, as the great and dangerous power of the enemy demanded, drew up his soldiers in the form of a crescent with curving wings to meet the enemy.

And in order that the onset of the bowmen might not throw our ranks into confusion, he advanced at a swift pace, and so ruined the effectiveness of the arrows.[*](By reaching the enemy before they could use their bows at all (ante iactum sagittarum (Justin, l. c.)), or with good effect. Cf. Frontinus, Strat. ii. 2, 5, Ventidius . . . ita procursione subita . . . se admovit, ut sagittas, quibus ex longinquo usus est, comminus adplicitus eluderet. Similar tactics were used by Miltiades at Marathon; Hdt. vi. 112; Just. ii. 9, 11.) Then the usual signal for battle was given, and the Roman infantry in close order with mighty effort drove the serried ranks of the enemy before them.

And in the heat of the combat that followed, the clash of shields, the shouts of the men, and the doleful sound of the whirring arrows continued without intermission. The plains were covered with blood and dead bodies, but the Persian losses were greater; for they often lacked endurance in battle and could with difficulty maintain a close contest man to man, since they were accustomed to fight bravely at long range,

In this battle (as was said) the loss of the Persians was clearly the greater, while that of our men was very slight. But noteworthy among the various calamities of the combats was the death of Vetranio,[*](osimus,, iii. 28, calls him Brettanio. The Zianni were probablya Thracian tribe; see Index II.) a valiant fighter, who commanded the legion of the Zianni.

After this three days were devoted to a truce, while each man gave attention to his own wound or his neighbour’s, but since we were without supplies we were tormented by hunger that was already unendurable; and because grain and fodder had everywhere been burned, and both men and animals experienced extreme danger, a great part of the food which the pack-animals of the tribunes and generals carried was distributed even to the lowest soldiers, who were in dire want.

And the emperor, who had no dainties awaiting him, after the manner of princes, but a scant portion of porridge under the low poles of a humble tent—a meal which would have been scorned even by one who served as a common

Moreover, when he was forced for a time to indulge in an anxious and restless sleep, he threw it off in his usual manner, and, following the example of Julius Caesar, did some writing in his tent. Once when in the darkness of night he was intent upon the lofty thought of some philosopher, he saw somewhat dimly, as he admitted to his intimates, that form of the protecting deity of the state which he had seen in Gaul when he was rising to Augustan dignity,[*](Cf. xx. 5, 10) but now with veil over both head and horn of plenty, sorrowfully passing out through the curtains of his tent.

And although for a moment he remained sunk in stupefaction, yet rising above all fear, he commended his future fate to the decrees of heaven, and now fully awake, the night being now far advanced, he left his bed, which was spread on the ground, and prayed to the gods with rites designed to avert their displeasure. Then he thought he saw a blazing torch of fire, like a falling star, which furrowed part of the air and disappeared. And he was filled with fear lest the threatening star of Mars had thus visibly shown itself.[*](Cf. xxiv. 6, 17.)

That fiery brilliance was of the kind that we call διάσσων,[*](ἀστὴρ διαίσσων,a shooting star; of. Iliad, iv. 75-77.) which never falls anywhere or touches the earth; for anyone who believes that bodies can fall from heaven is rightly considered a layman,[*](I.e. not versed in astronomy.) or a fool. But this sort of thing happens in many ways, and it will be enough to explain a few of them.

Some believe that sparks glowing from

Accordingly, before dawn the Etruscan soothsayers were hastily summoned, and asked what this unusual kind of star portended. Their reply was, that any undertaking at that time must be most carefully avoided, pointing out that in the Tarquitian books,[*](So-called from their author Tarquitius, whom some identify with Tages; cf. xvii. 10, 2; xxi. 1, 10.) under the rubric On signs from heaven it was written, that when a meteor was seen in the sky, battle ought not to be joined, or anything similar attempted.

When the emperor scorned this also, as well as many other signs, the soothsayers begged that at least he would put off his departure for some hours; but even this they could not gain, since the emperor was opposed to the whole science of divination,[*](I.e. when it opposed his plans. As Montaigne (Book II, ch. 19) rightly says, he was besotted with the art of divination cf. xxii. 1, 1; xxiii. 3, 3; xxv. 4, 17.) but since day had now dawned, camp was broken.