re contextures of twigs, and boards of no
substance flourished over with paint; their first rank was armed with
pikes, in some sort, the rest had only stakes burned at the end, or
short darts. And now to come to their persons, as they were terrific to
sight, and vigorous enough for a brief effort, so they were utterly
impatient of wounds; unaffected with shame for misconduct, and destitute
of respect for their generals. They would quit their posts or run away
before the enemy; cowards in adversity, in prosperity despisers of all
divine, of all human laws; if weary of marches and sea voyages, they
wished an end of these things, by this battle it was presented to them.
The Elbe was now nearer than the Rhine; there was nothing to subdue
beyond this; they had only to place him, crowned with victory, in the
same country which had witnessed the triumphs of his father and uncle,
in whose footsteps he was treading." The ardor of the soldiers was
kindled by this speech of the general, and the signal for the onset was
given.

Neither did Arminius or the other chiefs neglect solemnly to assure
their several bands that "these were Romans; the most desperate
fugitives of the Varian army, who, to avoid the hardships of war, had
put on the character of rebels; who, without any hope of success, were
again braving the angry gods, and exposing to their exasperated foes,
some of them backs burdened with wounds, others limbs enfeebled with the
effects of storms and tempests. Their motive for having recourse to a
fleet and the pathless regions of the ocean was that no one might oppose
them as they approached or pursue them when repulsed; but when they
engaged hand-to-hand, vain would be the help of winds and oars after a
defeat. The Germans needed only remember their rapine, cruelty, and
pride; was any other course left them than to maintain their liberty,
and, if they could not do that, to die before they took a yoke upon
them?"

The enemy thus inflamed, and calling for battle, were led into a plain
called Idistavisus. It lies between the Visurgis and the hills, and
winds irregularly along, as it is encroached upon by the projecting
bases of the mountains or enlarged by the receding banks of the river.
At their rear rose a majestic forest, the branches of the trees shooting
up into the air, but the ground clear between their trunks. The army of
barbarians occupied the plain and the entrances of the forest; the
Cheruscans alone sat in amb