35.
Which command having been most carefully obeyed, when any cohort had quitted the
circle and made a charge, the enemy fled very precipitately. In the mean time,
that part of the Roman army, of necessity, was left
unprotected, and the weapons received on their open flank. Again, when they had
begun to return to that place from which they had advanced, they were surrounded
both by those who had retreated and by those who stood next them; but if, on the
other hand, they wish to keep their place, neither was an opportunity left for
valor, nor could they, being crowded together, escape the weapons cast by so
large a body of men. Yet, though assailed by so many disadvantages, [and] having
received many wounds, they withstood the enemy, and, a great portion of the day
being spent, though they fought from day-break till the eighth hour, they did
nothing which was unworthy of them. At length, each thigh of T. Balventius, who the year before had been chief centurion, a brave
man and one of great authority, is pierced with a javelin; Q.
Lucanius, of the same rank, fighting most valiantly, is slain while
he assists his son when surrounded by the enemy; L.
Cotta, the lieutenant, when encouraging all the cohorts and
companies, is wounded full in the mouth by a sling.
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