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During this harangue, whilst Agricola was still addressing the men, a more than common ardour glowed on every countenance. As soon as the general ended, the field rung with shouts of applause. Impatient for the onset, the soldiers grasped their arms. Agricola restrained their violence, till he formed his order of battle. The auxiliary infantry, in number about eight thousand, occupied the centre. The wings consisted of three thousand horse. The legions were stationed in the rear, at the head of the intrenchments,* as a body of reserve to support the ranks, if necessary, but otherwise, to remain inactive, that a victory, obtained without the effusion of Roman blood, might be of higher value. The Caledonians kept possession of the rising grounds, extending their ranks as wide as possible, to present a formidable show of battle. Their first line was ranged on the plain, the rest, in a gradual ascent on the acclivity of the hill. The intermediate space between both armies was filled with the charioteers and cavalry of the Britons, rushing to and fro in wild career, and traversing the plain with noise and tumult. The enemy being greatly superior in number, there was reason to apprehend that the Romans might be attacked both in front and flank at the same time. To prevent that mischief, Agricola ordered his ranks to form a wider range. Some of the

* The words of Tacitus are—legiones pro vallo stetêre, literally, "the legions were posted for a rampart," that is, instead of a rampart, behind which the auxiliaries could rally, if overpowered by the enemy. It is a moot point; but we incline to think the translator has here mistaken the import of the expression of the historian. The Romans never fought close to their intrenchments when they could avoid it.

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officers saw that the lines* were weakened into length, and therefore advised that the legions should be brought forward into the field of action. But the general was not of a temper to be easily dissuaded from his purpose. Flushed with hope, and firm in the hour of danger, he immediately dismounted, and, dismissing his horse, took his stand at the head of the colours. The battle

began, and at first was maintained at a distance. The Britons neither wanted skill nor resolution. With their long swords, and targets of small dimension, they had the address to elude the missive weapons of the Romans, and, at the same time, to discharge a thick volley of their own. To bring the conflict to a speedy decision, Agricola ordered three Batavian and two Tungrian cohorts to charge the enemy sword in hand. To this mode of attack these troops had been long accustomed, but to the Britons it was every way disadvantageous. Their small targets afforded no protection, and their unwieldy swords, not sharpened to a point, could do but little execution in a close engagement. The Batavians rushed to the attack with impetuous fury; they redoubled their blows, and, with the bosses of their shields, bruised the enemy in the face; and, having overpowered all resistance on the plain, began to force

* Tacitus says,—diductis ordinibus, quamquam porrectior acies futura erat, literally, - "from the troops being parted," that is, posted with greater intervals than usual,-the disposition of the forces was, however, about to be weakened.

The words of Tacitus are-pedes ante vexilla constitit, literally," he took his station before the colours." We suppose, however, the historian meant, that Agricola advanced on foot before the banners. It is evident that the Romans did not wait to receive the charge; and it was not their mode to do so. We are afterward told that Agricola was every where present.

their way up the ascent of the hill in regular order of battle. Incited by their example, the other cohorts advanced with a spirit of emulation, and cut their way with terrible slaughter. Eager in pursuit of victory, they pressed forward with determined fury, leaving behind them numbers wounded, but not slain, and others not so much as hurt. The Roman cavalry, in the mean time, was forced to give ground. The Caledonians, in their armed chariots, rushed at full speed into the thick of the battle, where the infantry were engaged. Their first impression struck a general terror; but their career was soon checked by the inequalities of the ground, and the close embodied ranks of the Romans. Nothing could less resemble an engagement of the cavalry. Pent up in narrow places, the barbarians crowded upon each other, and were driven or dragged along by their own horses. A scene of confusion followed. Chariots without a guide, and horses without a rider, broke from the ranks in wild disorder, and, flying every way, as fear and consternation urged, they overwhelmed their own files, and trampled down all who came in their way. Meanwhile the Britons, who had hitherto kept their post on the hills, looking down with contempt on the scanty numbers of the Roman army, began to quit their station. Descending slowly, they hoped, by wheeling round the field of battle, to attack the victors in the rear. To counteract their design, Agricola ordered four squadrons of horse, which he had kept as a body of reserve, to advance to the charge. The Britons poured down with impetuosity, and retired with equal precipitation. At the same time, the cavalry, by the directions of the general, wheeled round from the wings,

and fell with great slaughter on the rear of the enemy, who now perceived that their own stratagem was turned against themselves. The field presented a dreadful spectacle of carnage and destruction. The Britons fled; the Romans pursued: they wounded, gashed, and mangled, the runaways; they seized their prisoners, and, to be ready for others, butchered them on the spot. Despair and horror appeared in various shapes: in one part of the field the Caledonians, sword in hand, fled in crowds from a handful of Romans; in other places, without a weapon left, they faced every danger, and rushed on certain death. Swords and bucklers, mangled limbs and dead bodies, covered the plain. The field was red with blood. The vanquished Britons had their

moments of returning courage, and gave proofs of virtue and of brave despair. They fled to the woods, and, rallying their scattered numbers, surrounded such of the Romans as pursued with too much eagerness. Agricola was every where present. He saw the danger; and, if he had not in the instant taken due precaution, the victorious army would have had reason to repent of too much confidence in success. The light-armed cohorts had orders to invest the woods. Where the thickets were too close for the horse to enter, the men dismounted to explore the passes, and where the woods gave an opening, the rest of the cavalry rushed in, and scoured the country. The Britons, seeing that the pursuit was conducted in compact and regular order, dispersed a second time, not in collected bodies, but in consternation, flying in different ways to remote lurking places, solicitous only for their personal safety, and no longer willing to wait for their fellow-soldiers. Night

coming on, the Romans, weary of slaughter, desisted from the pursuit. Ten thousand of the Caledonians fell in this engagement: on the part of the Romans, the number of slain did not exceed three hundred and forty, among whom was Aulus Atticus, the prefect of a cohort. His own youthful ardour, and the spirit of a high-mettled horse, carried him with too much impetuosity into the thickest of the enemy's ranks. The Roman army, elated with success, and enriched with plunder, passed the night in exultation. The Britons, on the other hand, wandered about, uncertain which way to turn, helpless and disconsolate. The mingled cries of men and women filled the air with lamentations. Some assisted to carry off the wounded; others called for the assistance of such as escaped unhurt; numbers abandoned their habitations, or, in their phrensy, set them on fire. They fled to obscure retreats, and, in the moment of choice, deserted them; they held consultations, and, having inflamed their hopes, changed their minds in despair. They beheld the pledges of tender affection, and burst into tears; they viewed them again, and grew fierce with resentment. It is a fact well authenticated, that some laid violent hands upon their wives and children, determined, with savage compassion, to end their misery. The following day displayed to view the nature and importance of the victory. A deep and melancholy silence all around;* the hills deserted; houses at a distance involved in smoke and fire, and not a mortal discovered by the scouts: the whole a vast and dreary solitude. Agricola was at length informed by those who were sent out to explore

* "Vastum ubique silentium.”

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