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[48] On the other hand, the Romans, although very few in number, nevertheless brave in spirit and encouraged by their former victories, pressed side to side in close order and with shields closely held together in the tortoise-formation, 1 stood fast and resisted them; and the battle was continued from sunrise to the end of the day. A little before evening Firmus was seen, mounted on a tall horse, his purple cloak 2 trailing out and spreading wide, urging our soldiers with loud shouts to take advantage of the opportunity and give up Theodosius, if they wished to be saved from the dangers to which they were exposed, calling him a fierce savage and a cruel deviser of inhuman punishments.

1 See the illustration at xxiii. 4, 1.

2 For a similar use of the sagum see xviii. 6, 13, xxv. 6, 14 (sagulum).

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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