Here were scattered the limbs of
horses, there pieces of broken javelins; and the trunks of trees bore the
skulls of men. In the adjacent groves were the savage altars; where, of
the tribunes and principal centurions, the barbarians had made a horrible
immolation. Those who survived the slaughter, having escaped from
captivity and the sword, related the sad particulars to the rest: "Here
the commanders of the legions were slain; there we lost the Eagles; here
Varus had his first wound; there he gave himself another, and perished by
his own unhappy hand. In that place, too, stood the tribunal whence
Arminius harangued; in this quarter, for the execution of his captives, he
erected so many gibbets; in that such a number of funeral trenches were
digged; and with these circumstances of pride and despite he insulted the
ensigns and Eagles."
Thus the Roman army buried the bones of the three legions, six years after
the slaughter: nor could any one distinguish whether he gathered the
particular remains of a stranger, or those of a kinsman; but all
considered the whole as their friends, the whole as their relations; with
heightened resentments against the foe, at once sad and revengeful.
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