Cassius was again much dissatisfied: but he gave over advising
Crassus, who was out of humour with him, though Cassius himself abused
the barbarian. "What evil dæmon," he said, "vilest of men, brought you
to us, and by what drugs and witchcraft have you persuaded Crassus to
plunge his army into a boundless wilderness and an abyss, and to
pursue a path more fit for a nomadic chief of robbers than for a Roman
Imperator?" But the barbarian, who was a cunning follow, with abject
servility, prayed him to endure a little longer; and, while running
along with the soldiers and giving them his help, he would jeer at
them in a laughing mood, and say, "I suppose you think that you are
marching through Campania, and you long for the fountains, and
streams, and shades, and baths, and taverns? Have you forgotten that
you are crossing the confines of the Arabs and Assyrians?" Thus the
barbarian amused the Romans, and before his treachery was discovered
he rode off, not, however, without the knowledge of Crassus, after
making him believe that he would serve the Roman army, and put the
affairs of the enemy in confusion.

XXIII. It is said that on that day Crassus did not appear, as is the
custom of Roman generals, in a purple dress, but in black, which he
immediately changed on observing what he had done: and it is also said
that the men who carried the standards had much difficulty in raising
some of them up, for they stuck in the ground as if they were firmly
rooted there. Crassus ridiculed all these omens, and quickened his
march, urging the infantry to follow after the cavalry, till at last a
few of those who had been sent forward as scouts came up, and reported
that the rest of them had been cut off by the enemy, and they had
escaped with difficulty, and that the Parthians were advancing with a
large force, and full of confidence. This threw all the army into
confusion, and Crassus was completely confounded, and began to put his