s of regal extraction, by a long train of high-spirited nobles,
and by thirty-five thousand of the bravest warriors of the tribes of
Germany. The confidence derived from the view of their own strength, was
increased by the intelligence which they received from a deserter, that
the Caesar, with a feeble army of thirteen thousand men, occupied a
post about one-and-twenty miles from their camp of Strasburgh. With this
inadequate force, Julian resolved to seek and to encounter the Barbarian
host; and the chance of a general action was preferred to the tedious
and uncertain operation of separately engaging the dispersed parties of
the Alemanni. The Romans marched in close order, and in two columns; the
cavalry on the right, the infantry on the left; and the day was so far
spent when they appeared in sight of the enemy, that Julian was desirous
of deferring the battle till the next morning, and of allowing his
troops to recruit their exhausted strength by the necessary refreshments
of sleep and food. Yielding, however, with some reluctance, to the
clamors of the soldiers, and even to the opinion of his council, he
exhorted them to justify by their valor the eager impatience, which,
in case of a defeat, would be universally branded with the epithets of
rashness and presumption. The trumpets sounded, the military shout was
heard through the field, and the two armies rushed with equal fury to
the charge. The Caesar, who conducted in person his right wing, depended
on the dexterity of his archers, and the weight of his cuirassiers. But
his ranks were instantly broken by an irregular mixture of light horse
and of light infantry, and he had the mortification of beholding
the flight of six hundred of his most renowned cuirassiers. [75] The
fugitives were stopped and rallied by the presence and authority of
Julian, who, careless of his own safety, threw himself before them,
and urging every motive of shame and honor, led them back against the
victorious enemy. The conflict between the two lines of infantry was
obstinate and bloody. The Germans possessed the superiority of strength
and stature, the Romans that of discipline and temper; and as the
Barbarians, who served under the standard of the empire, united the
respective advantages of both parties, their strenuous efforts, guided
by a skilful leader, at length determined the event of the day. The
Romans lost four tribunes, and two hundred and forty-three soldiers, in
this memorable b