The Eburones were rough adversaries; but by their number and their courage, the Romans might have maintained the struggle. Although abandoned by their chief and by fortune, they relied upon themselves for everything, and every time that a cohort fell upon the enemies, it made a great carnage of them. Ambiorix perceived this: he shouted loudly his commands that his men should throw their missiles from a distance, and not approach near; that they should retire whenever the Romans rushed forward, and only attack them in their retreat, when they returned to their ensigns—a manœuvre easy to the Eburones, practised in such exercises, and nimble on account of the lightness of their equipment.
The order was faithfully executed. When a cohort quitted the circle to charge the enemies, they fled with speed; but the cohort, in its advance, left its right flank (not protected, like the left flank, by the bucklers) exposed to the missiles; when it resumed its former position, it was surrounded on all sides both by those who had retreated, and by those who had remained on its flanks.
If, instead of sending forward their cohorts in succession, the Romans stood firm in their circle, they lost the advantage of attacking, and their close ranks made them more exposed to the multitude of missiles. Meanwhile, the number of the wounded increased every moment. It was two o’clock; the combat had lasted from sunrise, and yet the Roman soldiers had not ceased to show themselves worthy of themselves. At this moment the struggle becomes more desperate. T. Balventius, a brave and respected man, who, in the previous year, had commanded as primipilus, has his two thighs transpierced by a javelin; Q. Lucanius, an officer of the same grade, is killed fighting valiantly to rescue his son, who is surrounded by enemies. Cotta himself, while he runs from rank to rank to encourage the soldiers, is wounded in the face by a missile from a sling.
At this sight, Sabinus, discouraged, sees no other help but to treat with Ambiorix. Perceiving him at a distance in the act of urging on his troops, he sends to him his interpreter Cn. Pompeius, to pray him to spare him and his men. Ambiorix replies that he is quite willing to enter into negotiations with Sabinus, whose person he undertakes under the obligation of his oath to cause to be respected; that further, he hopes to obtain from the Eburones safety of life for the Roman soldiers. Sabinus communicates this reply to Cotta, who is already wounded, and proposes that they should go together to confer with Ambiorix; this step may secure the safety of themselves and the army. Cotta refuses obstinately, and declares that he will never treat with an enemy in arms.
Sabinus enjoins to the tribunes of the soldiers who stand round him, and to the centurions of the first class, to follow him. Arriving near Ambiorix, he is summoned to lay down his sword: he obeys, and orders his men to imitate his example. While they discuss the conditions in an interview which the chief of the Eburones prolongs intentionally, Sabinus is gradually surrounded and massacred. Then the barbarians, raising, according to their custom, wild cries, rush upon the Romans and break their ranks. Cotta and the greatest part of his soldiers perish with their arms in their hands; the others seek refuge in the camp of Aduatuca, from whence they had started. The ensign-bearer, L. Petrosidius, pressed by a crowd of enemies, throws the eagle into the retrenchments, and dies defending himself bravely at the foot of the rampart. The unfortunate soldiers strive to sustain the combat till night, and that very night they kill one another in despair. A few, however, escaping from the field of battle, cross the forests, and gain by chance the quarters of T. Labienus, to whom they give information of this disaster.[429]
Attack on Cicero’s Camp.
XIII. Elated by this victory, Ambiorix immediately repairs with his cavalry into the country of the Aduatuci, a people adjoining to his states, and marches without interruption all the night and the following day: the infantry has orders to follow him. He announces his successes to the Aduatuci, and urges them to take up arms. Next day he proceeds to the Nervii, presses them to seize this occasion to avenge their injuries and deliver themselves for ever from the yoke of the Romans; he informs them of the death of two lieutenants, and of the destruction of a great part of the Roman army; he adds that the legion in winter quarters among them, under the command of Cicero, will be easily surprised and annihilated; he offers his alliance to the Nervii, and easily persuades them.
These immediately give information to the Ceutrones, the Grudii, the Levaci, the Pleumoxii, and the Geiduni, tribes under their dependence: they collect all the troops they can, and proceed unexpectedly to the winter quarters of Cicero, before he had learnt the disaster and death of Sabinus. There, as it had happened recently at Aduatuca, some soldiers, occupied in cutting wood in the forest, are surprised by the cavalry. Soon a considerable number of Eburones, Aduatuci, and Nervii, with their allies and clients, proceed to attack the camp. The Romans rush to arms, and mount the vallum; but that day they make head with difficulty against an enemy who has placed all his hope in the promptness of an unforeseen attack, and was convinced that after this victory nothing further could resist him.[430]
Cæsar marches to the succour of Cicero.
XIV. Cæsar was still at Amiens, ignorant of the events which had just taken place. Cicero immediately wrote to him, and promised great recompenses to those who should succeed in delivering his letters to him; but all the roads were watched, and nobody could reach him. During the night twenty towers were raised, with an incredible celerity, by means of the wood which had been already brought for fortifying the camp,[431] and the works were completed. Next day, the enemies, whose forces had increased, returned to the attack and began to fill the fosse. The resistance was as energetic as the day before, and continued during the following days; among these heroic soldiers constancy and energy seemed to increase with the peril. Each night they prepare everything necessary for the defence on the morrow. They make a great number of stakes hardened by fire, and pila employed in sieges; they establish with planks the floors of the towers, and by means of hurdles make parapets and battlements. They work without intermission: neither wounded nor sick take repose. Cicero himself, though a man of feeble health, is day and night at work, in spite of the entreaties of his soldiers, who implore him to spare himself.