Some of the troops did the killing, while the rest outside the ring dug huge pits, to which they dragged the fallen and threw them in until they were filled with bodies. Earth was thrown on top of them and a vast communal burial mound quickly raised. Lots of people were half alive when they were dragged away, and unwounded men were forced into the grave along with the rest. Still worse, several soldiers lost their lives, because, when those who were still alive and fairly vigorous were being pushed into the pits, they pulled the soldiers in with them by hanging on to them.
Edition :
Herodian. History of the Empire, Volume I: Books 1-4. Translated by C. R. Whittaker. Loeb Classical Library 454. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1969.
Herodian. History of the Empire, Volume II: Books 5-8. Translated by C. R. Whittaker. Loeb Classical Library 455. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1970.
