Our cavalry charged, but
found the enemy in good order ready to receive them, and came flying
back on to their own infantry. What followed was more of a massacre
than a battle. The Nervian cohorts, either from panic or treachery,
left our flanks exposed; thus the legions had to bear the brunt. They
had already lost their standards and were being cut down in the
trenches, when a fresh reinforcement suddenly changed the fortune of
the fight. Some Basque auxiliaries,[322] originally levied by Galba,
who had now been summoned to the rescue, on nearing the camp heard the
sound of fighting, and while the enemy were occupied, came charging in
on their rear. This caused more consternation than their numbers
warranted, the enemy taking them for the whole Roman force, either
from Novaesium or from Mainz. This mistake encouraged the Roman
troops: their confidence in others brought confidence in themselves.
The best of the Batavians, at least of their infantry, fell. The
cavalry made off with the standards and prisoners taken in the earlier
stage of the battle. Though our losses that day were numerically
larger, they were unimportant, whereas the Germans lost their best
troops.
On both sides the generals deserved defeat, and failed to make 34
good use of their success. Their fault was the same. Had Civilis
furnished the attacking column with more troops, they could never have
been surrounded by such a small force, and having stormed the camp
would have destroyed it.
Pages:
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363