Such, at any rate, was the order of the eagles and standards. In the
darkness the soldiers were confused and took their places at random.
The band of Guards[60] was next to the Third, and the auxiliaries on
the wings, while the cavalry were disposed in support round the flanks
and the rear. Sido and Italicus with their picked band of Suebi[61]
fought in the front line.
For the Vitellians the right course was to rest at Cremona and 22
recuperate their strength with food and a night's rest, and then on
the next day to crush and rout the Flavians when they were stiff with
cold and weak from hunger. But they had no general;[62] they had no
plan. Though it was nearly nine at night they flung themselves upon
the Flavians, who were standing steady in their places to receive
them. In their fury and the darkness the Vitellian line was so
disordered that one can hardly venture to describe the disposition of
their troops. However, it has been stated that the Fourth Macedonian
legion were on the right flank; in the centre were the Fifth and
Fifteenth with the detachments of the Ninth, the Second and the
Twentieth from Britain; the Sixteenth, the Twenty-second, and the
First formed the left wing. The men of the Rapax and Italian
legions[63] were distributed among all the companies.[64] The cavalry
and auxiliaries picked their own position. All night the battle raged
with varying fortune, never decided, always savagely contested.
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