46.
The town wall was 1200 paces distant from the plain and
foot of the ascent, in a straight line, if no gap intervened; whatever circuit
was added to this ascent, to make the hill easy, increased the length of the
route. But almost in the middle of the hill, the Gauls had previously built a wall six feet high, made of large
stones, and extending in length as far as the nature of the ground permitted, as
a barrier to retard the advance of our men; and leaving all the lower space
empty, they had filled the upper part of the hill, as far as the wall of the
town, with their camps very close to one another. The soldiers, on the signal
being given, quickly advance to this fortification, and passing over it, make
themselves masters of the separate camps. And so great was their activity in
taking the camps, that Teutomarus, the king of the
Nitiobriges, being suddenly surprised in his tent, as he had
gone to rest at noon, with difficulty escaped from the hands of the plunderers,
with the upper part of his person naked, and his horse wounded.
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