Book II
Chapter III
Of their deficiency in battle, and base and
dishonourable flight
In war this nation is very severe in the first attack,
terrible by their clamour and looks, filling the air with
horrid shouts and the deep-toned clangour of very long
trumpets; swift and rapid in their advances and frequent
throwing of darts. Bold in the first onset, they cannot bear
a repulse, being easily thrown into confusion as soon as
they turn their backs; and they trust to flight for safety,
without attempting to rally, which the poet thought
reprehensible in martial conflicts:
"Ignavum scelus est tantum fuga;"
and elsewhere -
"In vitium culpae ducit fuga, si caret arte."
The character given to the Teutones in the Roman History,
may be applied to this people. "In their first attack they
are more than men, in the second, less than women." Their
courage manifests itself chiefly in the retreat, when they
frequently return, and, like the Parthians, shoot their
arrows behind them; and, as after success and victory in
battle, even cowards boast of their courage, so, after a
reverse of fortune, even the bravest men are not allowed
their due claims of merit. Their mode of fighting consists
in chasing the enemy or in retreating. This light-armed
people, relying more on their activity than on their
strength, cannot struggle for the field of battle, enter
into close engagement, or endure long and severe actions,
such as the poet describes:
"Jam clypeo clypeus, umbone repellitur umbo,
Ense minax ensis, pede pes, et cuspide cuspis."
Though defeated and put to flight on one day, they are
ready to resume the combat on the next, neither dejected by
their loss, nor by their dishonour; and although, perhaps,
they do not display great fortitude in open engagements and
regular conflicts, yet they harass the enemy by ambuscades
and nightly sallies. Hence, neither oppressed by hunger or
cold, nor fatigued by martial labours, nor despondent in
adversity, but ready, after a defeat, to return immediately
to action, and again endure the dangers of war; they are as
easy to overcome in a single battle, as difficult to subdue
in a protracted war. The poet Claudian thus speaks of a
people similar in disposition:-
"Dum percunt, meminere mali: si corda
parumper
Respirare sinas, nullo tot funera censu
Praetercunt, tantique levis jactura cruoris."
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