followed was more of a massacre
than a battle. The Nervian cohorts, either from panic or treachery,
left our flanks exposed; thus the legions had to bear the brunt. They
had already lost their standards and were being cut down in the
trenches, when a fresh reinforcement suddenly changed the fortune of
the fight. Some Basque auxiliaries,[322] originally levied by Galba,
who had now been summoned to the rescue, on nearing the camp heard the
sound of fighting, and while the enemy were occupied, came charging in
on their rear. This caused more consternation than their numbers
warranted, the enemy taking them for the whole Roman force, either
from Novaesium or from Mainz. This mistake encouraged the Roman
troops: their confidence in others brought confidence in themselves.
The best of the Batavians, at least of their infantry, fell. The
cavalry made off with the standards and prisoners taken in the earlier
stage of the battle. Though our losses that day were numerically
larger, they were unimportant, whereas the Germans lost their best
troops.

On both sides the generals deserved defeat, and failed to make 34
good use of their success. Their fault was the same. Had Civilis
furnished the attacking column with more troops, they could never have
been surrounded by such a small force, and having stormed the camp
would have destroyed it. Vocula, on the other hand, had not even set
scouts to warn him of the enemy's approach, and consequently no sooner
sallied out than he was beaten. Then, when he had won the victory, he
showed great lack of confidence, and wasted day after day before
moving against the enemy. If he had made haste to follow up his
success and struck at the enemy at once, he might have raised the
siege of Vetera at one blow.

Meanwhile Civilis had been playing upon the feelings of the besieged
by pretending that the Romans had been defeated and success had
favoured his arms. The captured standards and colours were carried
round the walls and the prisoners also displayed. One of these did a
famous deed of heroism. Shouting at the top of his voice, he revealed
the truth. The Germans at once struck him dead, which only served to
confirm his information. Soon, too, the besieged saw signs of harried
fields and the smoke of burning farms, and began to realize that a
victorious army was approaching. When he was in sight of the camp
Vocula ordered his men to plant the standards and construct a trench
and rampart