5and had not Caesar snatched a shield,37Scuto ab novissimis uni militi detracto (B. G. ii. 25, 2). made his way through the combatants in front of him, and hurled himself upon the Barbarians; and had not the tenth legion, at sight of his peril, run down from the heights and cut the ranks of the enemy to pieces, not a Roman, it is thought, would have survived. As it was, however, owing to Caesar’s daring, they fought beyond their powers, as the saying is, and even then did not route the Nervii, but cut them down as they defended themselves; for out of sixty thousand only five hundred are said to have come off alive, and only three of their senators out of four hundred.
Notes
[37] Scuto ab novissimis uni militi detracto (B. G. ii. 25, 2).