ich are impressed permanently on the
soil of so many European countries, attesting the presence in the olden
time of the imperial eagles.

On the morrow the Romans renewed their march, the veteran officers who
served under Varus now probably directing the operations and hoping to
find the Germans drawn up to meet them, in which case they relied on
their own superior discipline and tactics for such a victory as should
reassure the supremacy of Rome. But Arminius was far too sage a
commander to lead on his followers, with their unwieldy broadswords and
inefficient defensive armor, against the Roman legionaries, fully armed
with helmet, cuirass, greaves, and shield, who were skilled to commence
the conflict with a murderous volley of heavy javelins hurled upon the
foe when a few yards distant, and then, with their short cut-and-thrust
swords, to hew their way through all opposition, preserving the utmost
steadiness and coolness, and obeying each word of command in the midst
of strife and slaughter with the same precision and alertness as if upon
parade. Arminius suffered the Romans to march out from their camp, to
form first in line for action and then in column for marching, without
the show of opposition.

For some distance Varus was allowed to move on, only harassed by slight
skirmishes, but struggling with difficulty through the broken ground,
the toil and distress of his men being aggravated by heavy torrents of
rain, which burst upon the devoted legions, as if the angry gods of
Germany were pouring out the vials of their wrath upon the invaders.
After some little time their van approached a ridge of high wooded
ground, which is one of the offshoots of the great Hercynian forest, and
is situated between the modern villages of Driburg and Bielefeld.
Arminius had caused barricades of hewn trees to be formed here, so as to
add to the natural difficulties of the passage. Fatigue and
discouragement now began to betray themselves in the Roman ranks. Their
line became less steady; baggage wagons were abandoned from the
impossibility of forcing them along; and, as this happened, many
soldiers left their ranks and crowded round the wagons to secure the
most valuable portions of their property; each was busy about his own
affairs, and purposely slow in hearing the word of command from his
officers.

Arminius now gave the signal for a general attack. The fierce shouts of
the Germans pealed through the gloom of the forests, an