by every motion of their huge bodies threatened
destruction to all who came near them, and our men had been taught to
fear them by past experience.

9. On this the emperor, according to the arrangement of the Greek army
as mentioned by Homer,[150] allotted the centre space between his two
lines to his weakest infantry, lest if they were placed in the front
rank, and should then misbehave, they should disorder the whole of his
line; or lest, on the other hand, if posted in the rear, behind all the
other centuries, they should flee without shame, since there would be no
one to check them: he with his light-armed auxiliaries moving as might
be required between the lines.

10. Therefore when the two armies beheld each other, the Romans
glittering with their crested helmets, and brandishing their shields,
proceeded slowly, their bands playing an anapaestic measure; and after a
preliminary skirmish, carried on by the missiles of the front rank, they
rushed to battle with such vehemence that the earth trembled beneath
them.

11. The battle-shout was raised on all sides, as was usual, the braying
trumpets encouraged the eagerness of the men: all fought in close combat
with spears and drawn swords, so that the soldiers were free from all
danger of arrows the more rapidly they pressed onwards. Meanwhile,
Julian, like a gallant comrade, at the same time that he was a skilful
general, hasten to support his hardly-pressed battalions with reserves,
and to cheer on the laggards.

12. So the front line of the Persians wavered, having been never very
fierce; and at last, no longer able to support the heat of their armour,
they retreated in haste to their city, which was near: they were pursued
by our soldiers, weary as they were with having fought in those torrid
plains from daybreak to sunset; and we, pressing close on their heels,
drove them, with their choicest generals, Pigranes, the Surena, and
Narses, right up to the walls of Ctesiphon, inflicting many wounds on
their legs and backs.

13. And we should have forced our entrance into the city if a general
named Victor had not, by lifting up his hands and his voice, checked us,
being himself pierced through the shoulder with an arrow, and fearing
lest if the soldiers allowed themselves to be hurried within the walls
without any order, and could then find no means of returning, they might
be overwhelmed by the mass of their enemies.

14. Let the poets celebrate the ancient bat