30.
Basilus does as he was commanded; having performed his
march rapidly, and even surpassed the expectations of all, he surprises in the
fields many not expecting him; through their information he advances toward
Ambiorix himself, to the place in which he was said to be with
a few horse. Fortune accomplishes much, not only in other matters, but also in
the art of war. For as it happened by a remarkable chance, that he fell upon
[Ambiorix] himself unguarded and unprepared, and that his
arrival was seen by the people before the report or information of his arrival
was carried thither; so it was an incident of extraordinary fortune that,
although every implement of war which he was accustomed to have about him was
seized, and his chariots and horses surprised, yet he himself escaped death. But
it was effected owing to this circumstance, that his house being surrounded by a
wood (as are generally the dwellings of the Gauls,
who, for the purpose of avoiding heat, mostly seek the neighborhood of woods and
rivers), his attendants and friends in a narrow spot sustained for a short time
the attack of our horse. While they were fighting, one of his followers mounted
him on a horse; the woods sheltered him as he fled. Thus fortune tended much
both toward his encountering and his escaping danger.
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