ere
fought, foot-to-foot. Behind the enemy was the morass, behind the Romans
the mountains or the river; no room for either to retreat, no hope but
in valor, no safety but in victory.

The Germans were not inferior in courage, but in their method of
fighting and the nature of their arms; as their vast numbers, hampered
in narrow places, could not push forward, nor recover their immense
spears, nor practise their usual assaults and rapid motions, being
compelled by their crowded condition to adopt a stationary manner of
fighting. On the contrary, our soldiers, with shields fitted to their
breasts, and their hands firmly grasping their sword hilts, could gash
the brawny limbs and naked faces of the barbarians, and open themselves
a way with havoc to the enemy. Besides, the activity of Arminius now
failed him, being either exhausted by a succession of disasters or
disabled by his recent wound. Nay, Inguiomer, too, who flew from place
to place throughout the battle, was abandoned by fortune rather than
courage. Germanicus, to be the easier known, pulled off his helmet, and
exhorted his men "to prosecute the slaughter; they wanted no captives,"
he said; "the extermination of the people alone would put an end to the
war!" It was now late in the day and he drew off a legion to pitch a
camp; the rest glutted themselves till night with the blood of the foe;
the horse fought with doubtful success.

Germanicus, having in a public harangue praised his victorious troops,
raised a pile of arms with this proud inscription: "That the army of
Tiberius Caesar, having subdued the nations between the Rhine and the
Elbe, had consecrated these memorials to Mars, to Jupiter, and to
Augustus." Of himself he made no mention; either fearful of provoking
envy or that he felt satisfied with the consciousness of his own merit.
He next charged Stertinius with the war among the Angrivarians, and he
would have proceeded had they not made haste to submit; approaching as
supplicants, and making a full confession of their guilt, they received
pardon without reserve.

The summer being now far advanced, some of the legions were sent back
into winter quarters by land; the greater part Caesar put on board the
fleet and conveyed them along the Amisia to the ocean. The sea, at first
serene, resounded only with the oars of a thousand ships or their
impulse when under sail; but presently a shower of hail poured down from
a black mass of clouds; at the same ti