Mox autem audito, quod ad ultimum paene tractus exitium, in abrupto staret adhuc imperator, antiquissimum omnium exercitus ratus eum iuvare (nondum enim exemptum periculis aestimavit salutis) fastu fidentior, licet ob procursionem subitam semitectus, sonorum et Martium frendens, barbarorum mori obstinatorum catervis semet immersit. Et quia virtute dedecus purgatura, ardens copia nostrorum erupit, iras in hostem perfidum parans, obvia quaeque obtruncabat, sine parsimonia vivos conculcans et semineces et peremptos; et antequam exsatiaret caedibus barbaricis manus, acervi constipati sunt mortuorum. Urgebantur enim rebelles, aliis trucidatis, aliis terrore disiectis, quorum pars spem vitae cassis precibus usurpando multiplicatis ictibus caedebantur,
Translation :
But when presently it was heard that the emperor had all but been drawn into extreme peril and was not yet on safe ground, the soldiers considered it their first duty to aid him (for they thought him not yet free from danger of death); so, with greater confidence because of their contempt of the enemy, although the attack was so sudden that they were only partly armed, with a loud battle cry they plunged into the bands of the savages, who were regardless of their lives. And so eagerly did our forces rush forth in their desire to wipe out the disgrace by valour, at the same time venting their wrath on the treacherous foe, that they butchered everything in their way, trampling under foot without mercy the living, as well as those dying or dead; and before their hands were sated with slaughter of the savages, the dead lay piled in heaps. For the rebels were completely overthrown, some being slain, others fleeing in terror in all directions; and a part of them, who hoped to save their lives by vain entreaties, were cut down by repeated strokes.
Edition :
Ammianus Marcellinus. With An English Translation. John C. Rolfe, Ph.D., Litt.D. Cambridge. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1935-1940.
Remark :
source: The quote extends into 19.11.15.
Notes :
For the previous attack on Constantius II., please refer to "Limigantes attack Constantius II. during a tribunal, injuring or killing several of his attendants while he escapes."
