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[14] Nevertheless both armies fought with clouds of stones thrown by hand; neither side gave way, but the hot fight continued with great determination from dawn until nightfall, and ended indecisively. Then, on the following day, they continued the [p. 419] battle most fiercely, many fell on both sides, and their equal strength held the victory in balance. Whereupon the emperor, hastening to try every lucky throw amid the mutual slaughter, surrounded by a band in wedge-formation, and protected from the fall of arrows by shields held closely together, in swift assault with a company of vigorous warriors, came near the enemy's gate, which was heavily overlaid with iron.

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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