,6 Aglrhlmr Tho Hhtorlru
pended on the nature of the terraln, eince the rlv* whlell flowed to hla right
seemed to constiture a natural brier against atteck, [Io had brought greot
numbers of wagons with him. Taking ofi their wheels and fitring them to.
gether rim to rim in a conrinuous line he stucl< their felloes into the grouncl
and covered them with earth right up to the hubs, so that only a half circle
of wheel protruded above ground-leve1 in eadr case. 6 After ba.rricading
his entire camp with these and numerous other wooden objects he 1eft a
naffow exit unfenced, to allow them to sally forth against the enemy and
retrrn agaia as they wished. z The bridge over e river constituted a
possible source of trouble if le{t unguarded. so he seized it in advance and
built a wooden tower on it in which he placed as many as he could of his
best armed soldiers apd his 6nest tghting men so that they might do battle
{rom a safe point of vanrage and repel the Romans should they decide to
closs over.
8 Having arranged eadr particular as described he felt that adequate
mesures had been taken and that he had made himself masrer of the
situation. The initiative in the fighting would rest with him alone and the
battle would take place when, and only when, he wished it. 9 He had not
yet received any intelligence of what had happened to his brother in Venetia
but he was surprised that he had not sent his army as had been agreed. He
surmised, however, that they would not have delayed so long unless some
direicalamity had befallen them. But even without their assisrance he thought
he could beat the enemy, since he was still superior to them in numbers.
ro His remaining forces amounted to thirty thousand fighting men all told.
The strength of the Romans was scarcely eighteen thousand.
5. Butilinus himself was in high spirits and urged ail his men ro consider
that the impending struggle would be decisive. "7e are faced", he said,
"with the alternative either of becoming the masters of ltaly, which was
our object in coming here, or of being annihilated on the ,poi.'It is in our
poriler, my brave soldiers, providing we ght courageously, to adrieve the
fullrnent of our ambitions. can there b. *y doubt about which alternarive
we should droose? ".
z He kept on orhorting the toops in this strain and succeeded in boosting
their morale considerably. Eadr in his ovm way, rhey began ro make ready
their weapons. fn one place axes in large numbers were being sharpened
and in another, tle native spears or "angone" as they are called. Elsewhere
broken shields were being mended and pressed inro service. 3 A1l their pre-
parations proceeded with ease since as a narion their style of fighting-equip-
ment is simple and of a kind whicl does not require a varlety of mechanical
skills for its maintainance but can, I believe, be pur right, in case of damage,
by the men themselves who wear it. They are ignorant of the use of breast-
plates and greaves and most of them fight with their heads unprotected,
Bookz ,7
thgush there erg n fcw u'ho wcat helmets, BacI( and chegt are bate as far as
thc waiat, the legr bcing encased in linen or leathet trousers. 4. Rarely if
lver do thcy uoc horoes, being adepts in infanuy fighting, whidr, is the
urtomy mode of waffare of their nation. They wear a sword slung from
he thigh and a shield hanging at the left side. Bows and arrows, slings and
other weapons capable of hitting a distant target form no part of their
Gquipment. Two-headed axes and their "angones" are in fact the arms with
which they do most of their fighting. 5 Angones are spets which are
ncither especially short nor especially long, but can be used both as javelins
rd, if need be, as thrusting weapons in close combat. They are almost enti-
rcly encased in iron so that very little of the wood shows t}rough and even
the spike at the butt end of the spear is partly concealed. At the top of the
qleatpoint, presumably on either side of the spear-head itself, cuwed barbs
pfoiect and are bent round, not unlike fish-hooks. 6 Now your Frank
throws this ango of his in the midst of the fray.If. it suikes any part of the
body then the point goes in, of course, and it is no easy taslc eithet for the
wounded man or for anybody else to pull out the spear. The barbs prevent
It, stid<ing to the flesh and making the pain more agonizing, so that even if
It should happen that the enemy has not been mortally wounded he still
dies. 7 If it pierces a shield then it remains attadred to it with the butt-end
trailing on te ground. The man whose shield has been hit is unable to pull
out the spear because its barbs ate embedded in his shield. He cannot hacl<
it offi with his sword, either, because the interposing layers of iron prevent
him from getting to the wood. 8 As soon as he perceives this the Frank
puts his foot out suddenly and stepping onto the butt weighs the shield
down, so that the man holding it loosens his grip and his head and drest are
left unprotected. He then makes short work of his defenceless victim either
striking him in the front part of the face with an axe or driving another spear
through his windpipe. 9 This then is the type of equiprnent the Franks
have and the manner in which they were preparing for battle.
6. On learning of these prE)arations Narses left Rome with his entire
army and encamped so close to te enemy that he could both hear the noise
they were making and see clearly the outlines of their fortification. z Vith
tlre armies in fulI sight of eadr other there was a geat bustle of war-
Iike preparations. Guards u/'ere patrolling in large numbers, sentries were
posted at frequent intervals and the generals kept inspecting t}eir men.
There were all the usual con*adictory emotions whidr beset men on the eve
of, a great battle. The mood altetnated rapidly on either side between the
e)(tremes of hope and f.eat. The cities of ltaly were in a stte of feverish
encitement and suspense, wondering into whose hands they would fall.
3 Meanwhile the Franks were ravaging the neighbouring villages and
openly bringing in provisions for themselves. 7hen Narses saw this he