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[13] But at the order of their chiefs the horns sounded and the battle was renewed, and in the same way the Romans held the upper hand, since almost no bullet from the thong of a slinger, 1 or any other missile when hurled, missed its mark. For the chiefs, inflamed by a desire to carry off the treasures which Valens had acquired by his ill-gotten gains took their place in the foremost ranks and were followed by the rest, who made a display of equalling the dangers of their superiors. For some were writhing mortally wounded, either crushed by great masses of stone, or with their breasts pierced with javelins; others who carried scaling-ladders and were preparing to mount the walls from every side were buried under their own burdens, as stones, fragments and whole drums of columns were thrown down upon them.

1 There seems to be no other mention of the use of the amentum by slingers. It usually means a thong by means of which a javelin, or a spear, was given a whirling flight, or it may mean the missile itself (so perhaps here?). See T.L.L. s.v.

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.

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