order, to the level ground. Having then sent away the horses of all
the cavalry, in order to increase the men's courage by making their
danger equal, he himself, on foot, drew up his troops suitably to
their numbers and the nature of the ground. As a plain stretched
between the mountains on the left, with a rugged rock on the right, he
placed eight cohorts in front, and stationed the rest of his force, in
close order, in the rear.[290] From among these he removed all the
ablest centurions,[291] the veterans,[293] and the stoutest of the
common soldiers that were regularly armed, into the foremost
ranks.[293] He ordered Caius Manlius to take the command on the right,
and a certain officer of Faesulae[294] on the left; while he himself,
with his freedmen[295] and the colonists,[296] took his station by the
eagle,[297] which Caius Marius was said to have had in his army in the
Cimbrian war.

On the other side, Caius Antonius, who, being lame,[298] was unable to
be present in the engagement, gave the command of the army to Marcus
Petreius, his lieutenant-general. Petreius, ranged the cohorts of
veterans, which he had raised to meet the present insurrection,[299]
in front, and behind them the rest of his force in lines. Then, riding
round among his troops, and addressing his men by name, he encouraged
them, and bade them remember that they were to fight against unarmed
marauders, in defense of their country, their children, their temples,
and their homes.[300] Being a military man, and having served with
great reputation, for more than thirty years, as tribune, praefect,
lieutenant, or praetor, he knew most of the soldiers and their
honorable actions, and, by calling these to their remembrance, roused
the spirits of the men.

LX. When he had made a complete survey, he gave the signal with the