On both sides were powerful stimulations: on
ours the hopes of victory almost gained, if we persisted; and thence the
more glaring infamy, if we recoiled: on theirs, the last struggle for
their life; most of them, too, inspired with the affecting presence of
their mothers and wives, and made desperate by their dolorous wailings.
The night was an advantage to the cowardly and the brave; by it, the
former became more resolute; by it, the latter hid their fear: blows were
dealt, the striker knew not upon whom; and wounds received, the wounded
knew not whence: such was the utter indistinction of friend and foe. To
heighten the general jumble and blind confusion, the echo from the
cavities of the mountain represented to the Romans the shouts of the enemy
as behind them: hence in some places they deserted their lines, as
believing them already broken and entered: and yet such of the enemy, as
broke through, were very few. All the rest, their most resolute champions
being wounded or slain, were at the returning light driven back to their
fort; where they were at length forced to surrender; as did the places
circumjacent of their own accord.
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