60 When he had made a
complete survey, he gave the signal with the trumpet, and ordered the cohorts
to advance slowly. The army of the enemy followed his example; and when they
approached so near that the action could be commenced by the light-armed
troops, both sides, with a loud shout, rushed together in a furious charge.
They threw aside their missiles, and fought only with their swords. The
veterans, calling to mind their deeds of old, engaged fiercely in the closest
combat. The enemy made an obstinate resistance; and both sides contended with
the utmost fury. Catiline, during this time, was exerting himself with his
light troops in the front, sustaining such as were pressed, substituting fresh
men for the wounded, attending to every exigency, charging in person, wounding
many an enemy and performing at once the duties of a valiant soldier and a
skillful general.
When Petreius, contrary to his expectation, found Catiline attacking him with
such impetuosity, he led his praetorian cohort against the centre of the enemy,
amongst whom, being thus thrown into confusion, and offering but partial
resistance, he made great slaughter, and ordered, at the same time, an assault
on both flanks. Manlius and the Faesulan, sword in hand, were among the first
that fell; and Catiline, when he saw his army routed, and himself left with but
few supporters, remembering his birth and former dignity, rushed into the
thickest of the enemy, where he was slain, fighting to the last.
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