army
might lie concealed, and those who appeared might be thought to have
betaken themselves, through fear, to those upper grounds. And the
more to increase this opinion in them, he suffered them, without any
disturbance, to spoil and pillage even to his very trenches, keeping
himself quiet within his works, which were well fortified; till, at
last, perceiving that part of the enemy were scattered about the country
foraging, and that those that were in the camp did nothing day and night
but drink and revel, in the night time he drew up his lightest-armed
men, and sent them out before to impede the enemy while forming into
order, and to harass them when they should first issue out of the their
camp; and early in the morning brought down his main body, and set them
in battle array in the lower round, numerous and courageous army, not,
as the barbarians had supposed, an inconsiderable and fearful division.
The first thing that shook the courage of the Gauls was, that their
enemies had, contrary to their expectation, the honor of being
aggressors. In the next place, the light-armed men, falling upon them
before they could get into their usual order or range themselves in
their proper squadrons, so disturbed and pressed upon them, that they
were obliged to fight at random, without any order at all. But at last,
when Camillus brought on his heavy-armed legions, the barbarians, with
their swords drawn, went vigorously to engage them; the Romans, however,
opposing their javelins, and receiving the force of their blows on those
parts of the defences which were well guarded with steel, turned the
edge of their weapons, beingmade of a soft and ill-tempered metal, so
that their swords bent and doubled up in their hands; and their shields
were pierced through and through, and grew heavy with the javelins
that stuck upon them. And thus forced to quit their own weapons, they
endeavored to take advantage of those of their enemies, laid hold of the
javelins with their hands, and tried to pluck them away. But the Romans,
perceiving them now naked and defenceless, betook themselves to their
swords, which they so well used, that in a little time great slaughter
was made in the foremost ranks, while the rest fled over all parts of
the level country; the hills and upper grounds Camillus had secured
beforehand, and their camp they knew it would not be difficult for
the enemy to take, as, through confidence of victory, they had left
it unguard