37 Those of the Britons who,
having as yet taken no part in the engagement, occupied the hill-tops, and who
without fear for themselves sat idly disdaining the smallness of our numbers,
had begun gradually to descend and to hem in the rear of the victorious army, when
Agricola, who feared this very moment, opposed their advance with four
squadrons of cavalry held in reserve by him for any sudden emergencies of
battle. Their repulse and rout was as severe as their onset had been furious.
Thus the enemy’s design recoiled on himself, and the cavalry which by the
general’s order had wheeled round from the van of the contending armies,
attacked his rear. Then, indeed, the open plain presented an awful and hideous
spectacle. Our men pursued, wounded, made prisoners of the fugitives only to
slaughter them when others fell in their way. And now the enemy, as prompted by
their various dispositions, fled in whole battalions with arms in their hands
before a few pursuers, while some, who were unarmed, actually rushed to the front
and gave themselves up to death. Everywhere there lay scattered arms, corpses,
and mangled limbs, and the earth reeked with blood. Even the conquered now and
then felt a touch of fury and of courage. On approaching the woods, they
rallied, and as they knew the ground, they were able to pounce on the foremost
and least cautious of the pursuers. Had not Agricola, who was present
everywhere, ordered a force of strong and lightly-equipped cohorts, with some
dismounted troopers for the denser parts of the forest, and a detachment of
cavalry where it was not so thick, to scour the woods like a party of huntsmen,
serious loss would have been sustained through the excessive confidence of our
troops. When, however, the enemy saw that we again pursued them in firm and
compact array, they fled no longer in masses as before, each looking for his
comrade; but dispersing and avoiding one another, they sought the shelter of
distant and pathless wilds. Night and weariness of bloodshed put an end to the
pursuit. About 10,000 of the enemy were slain; on our side there fell 360 men,
and among them Aulus Atticus, the commander of the cohort, whose youthful
impetuosity and mettlesome steed had borne him into the midst of the enemy.
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