intrust one of them with the command of the whole army; but the
commander-in-chief was answerable for all the acts of his legate.
[344] _Tumulti_ for _tumultus_, as _senati_ for _senatus_.

60. Sed ubi, omnibus rebus exploratis, Petreius tuba signum dat, cohortes
paulatim incedere jubet, idem facit hostium exercitus. Postquam eo ventum
est, unde a ferentariis[345] proelium committi posset, maximo clamore cum
infestis signis[346] concurrunt; pila omittunt, gladiis res geritur.
Veterani, pristinae virtutis memores, comminus acriter instare; illi haud
timidi resistunt; maxima vi certatur. Interea Catilina cum expeditis in
prima acie versari, laborantibus succurrere; integros pro sauciis
accersere, omnia providere, multum ipse pugnare saepe, hostem ferire;
strenui militis et boni imperatoris officia simul exequebatur. Petreius,
ubi videt Catilinam, contra ac ratus erat, magna vi tendere, cohortem
praetoriam[347] in medios hostes inducit, eosque perturbatos atque alios
alibi resistentes interficit; deinde utrimque ex lateribus ceteros
aggreditur. Manlius et Faesulanus in primis pugnantes cadunt. Postquam
fusas copias seque cum paucis relictum videt Catilina, memor generis
atque pristinae suae dignitatis, in confertissimos hostes incurrit ibique
pugnans confoditur.

[345] _Ferentarii_ are light-armed troops fighting at a distance with
javelins.
[346] The banners being turned hostilely against one another. Respecting
_cum_, see Zumpt, S 473; for we also find _infestis signis
concurrere_, without _cum_, as an ablative of the instrument.
[347] The _cohors praetoria_ was a battalion which, in forming an army,
was composed of the ablest and most tried soldiers, as the bodyguard
of the commander-in-chief. They had to protect him, and assist him in
contriving to bring any engagement to the point where he wished it